Tompkins Square Park
The temperatures are dropping and Red-tailed Hawk pairs are returning to their old hunts. Both hawks were in Tompkins Square Park this evening. Nice to see them enjoying the park.
More Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
I spent the afternoon watching more Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at the Oven in Central Park, just as I had yesterday. They’re so much fun to watch!
Central Park’s Oven
In the Ramble of Central Park is an area of the Lake called the Oven. It has a patch of Jewelweed that attracts Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks during the fall migration. It also attracted a Tennessee Warbler today as well.
Fewer Bats
Now that we’re in late September that number of bats seems to be declining at the Model Boat Pond. Tonight I got 8 recordings of Big Brown Bats, 29 recordings of Eastern Red Bats and 29 recordings of Silver-haired Bats. Of course a single bat will have multiple recordings. These number are a lot fewer than a few weeks ago, although the Silver-haired Bat number are the highest I’ve seen for this species.
Male Hooded Warbler
Fall Migration is in full swing with lots of different species in Central Park. My favorite of the day was this male Hooded Warbler.
Ratio Changes
Tonight, the ratio of Eastern Red Bats to Big Brown Bats recordings was 129 to 38, where last week it was an even split. But I don’t know if it was a change in the number of bats or if the Eastern Reds just hung out longer. Last week, the Eastern Red Bats came out early, followed by the Big Brown Bats. Tonight, the Eastern Red Bats stayed until it was very dark.
I have no idea if the number of bats has changed or if the food sources changed. Unlike Bird Watching, which has a long history of citizen science and great databases (eBirds, Christmas Bird Counts, etc.), there are almost no resources for bats. There are no hot spot maps for bats for example! Or online records of when to expect different bat species to be present in Central Park. This is going to take time to figure out!
