Pine Warbler
During this week’s cold snap and snow, a Pine Warbler has been consistently showing up at the feeders in the Evodia field in Central Park. It’s a nice bright bird and very cooperative, eating mostly at either of the two suet feeders.
Gull Bands
There were three American Herring Gulls with bands on the Central Park Reservoir this afternoon. All the auxiliary makers, colored leg bands, appeared to be orange with black lettering, on the left leg, “below the knee”.
Update: Over the last few days, I’ve seen more banded gulls, both Ring-billed and American Herring species. Here are the ones I’ve seen so far. As I get responses back, I’ll update where and when they were banded. What has been interesting is that none of the bands have repeated, which means we’re getting lots of different gulls cycling through the reservoir on each day.
| Date | Species | Band # | Color | Banding Location | Banding Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/24/25 | American Herring Gull | 100 | Black on Orange | Near Rikers Island, NYC (40.79111 -73.88278) | 6/3/15, hatched in 2014 or earlier |
| 1/24/25 | American Herring Gull | C71 | Black on Orange | ||
| 1/24/25 | American Herring Gull | V67 ? | Black on Orange | ||
| 1/25/25 | Ring-billed Gull | 6U5 | White on Blue | Near Varennes, Québec (45.7122; -73.4408) | 6/30/16 |
| 1/25/25 | Ring-billed Gull | ERY | White on Blue | ||
| 1/25/25 | Ring-billed Gull | ZRP | White on Blue | ||
| 1/26/25 | American Herring Gull | 02E | Black on Orange | ||
| 1/27/25 | American Herring Gull | 356 | Black on Orange | ||
| 1/27/25 | Ring-billed Gull | U47 | White on Blue | Near Varennes, Québec (45.7122; -73.4408) | 6/27/14 |
| 1/28/25 | Ring-billed Gull | 713 | White on Blue | ||
| 1/29/25 | Ring-billed Gull | 59L | White on Blue |
Bird 1 – C71
Bird 2 – 100
Bird 3 – Numbers are unclear, possibly V67
El Dorado Peregrine Falcons
I hadn’t seen falcons on the El Dorado this winter, so I was happy to see a pair of Peregrine Falcons there today. One was on each tower.
I first spotted one circling over the Central Park Reservoir, and watched it land on the building. But then I noticed a second falcon on the other tower.
Watching them take off and land, I could see at least one of them was banded. It’s going to be tough to read the numbers from the ground. It looked like there was both a standard band and a larger colored letter/number band.
Black-headed Gull
Central Park’s Reservoir has had a Black-headed Gull for the last few days. Originally found by Leo Wexler-Mann on Friday and relocated by Julius on Saturday. It is a small gull with red legs and a red to black bill. During the winter, especially as lakes and rivers freeze upstate, the reservoir has rare visitors. We should have more as the temperatures drop this week.
Great Horned Owl
I had a nice look at a Great Horned Owl today in upper Manhattan. I arrived to the sound of American Crows calling, and they led me to the correct spot. There were a few birders already there and they pointed out the tree the bird was in. I had hoped to stay for fly out, but as the sun went down I started to get too cold, even with long johns on.
American Woodcock in Union Square
Thanks to a report from Alice Deutsch this morning, I saw the American Woodcock in Union Square this afternoon.
The woodcock rested in some ivy for about 90 minutes before being harassed by a Brown Rat. Eventually, it needed to fly from a fairly protected area to a fenced off plaza. Luckily, it was dark enough that the local Cooper’s Hawk didn’t see it.
