American Woodcocks are one of the parks strangest, but wonderful birds. Adapted to eating insects living underground, the bird has a long beak and a wonderful “dance” to help find the insects. The also are one of the hardest birds to find in the park. They can sit still for hours and blend in with the leaf litter.
A Northern Saw-Whet Owl was found in the Eastern Pinetum this afternoon. It’s a great little owl! I got some great looks of it just before fly out.
The Barred Owl that was in the Tupelo Meadow was rediscovered a few hundred yards further south today. Bird Watchers also found the Barred Owl in the North Woods, that hadn’t been seen for a few days. I had a chance to photograph the one in the Ramble.
Turtle Pond had a nice selection of ducks today, including the escaped Mandarin Duck which has been in the news.
Hawks don’t spend much time on their nests outside of breading season, but they do make visits like one of the Fifth Avenue hawks did today. Later in the day, I saw a young hawk at 78th and Fifth on a communications dish above the French cultural center. It will be interesting to see how long it takes Pale Male and Octavia to kick the youngster out.
Thursday, I searched the park hoping to find a Saw-whet Owl but came up empty. However, I did get nice looks at a Red-tailed Hawk in the West Pinetum of Central Park.
