There has been a Great Horned Owl in Central Park for at least a week now. Tonight, I was able to follow it from its roost tree to the Compost Heap. It perched in a tree that the Snowy Owl often used last year. It then went down to the Conservatory Garden and returned to a tree a bit further northeast. I couldn’t be sure, but I think it had prey.
On February 26th last year, I had one of most incredible experiences of my life, seeing both a Snowy Owl and an Eastern Coyote on the North Meadow of Central Park. With the anniversary of the Snowy Owl’s arrival, I started to review old footage. Last year, I had presented the video as two different post. But we saw them at the same time.
As the Snowy Owl moved from a backstop on the eastern side of the North Meadow to one on the western side, she basically flew over the Eastern Coyote drawing our attention to the animal. It was an evening I will never forget, and something I never expect to see again. So, don’t let anyone tell you Central Park isn’t wild!
In the middle of the worst periods of COVID-19 pandemic, a Snowy Owl made an appearance in Central Park and stayed for over a month. Over that period of time, I got to watch the owl hunt, eat, play, and bathe. Like I have with Red-tailed Hawks, I observed as much as I could on those cold winter nights and came away with a new understanding of the species. I’ve edited down my daily videos to a 40 minute collection of the “best” examples of her behaviors. They show what we learned better than any description I could write.
It’s been a year since the Snowy Owl appeared in Central Park and stayed for about a month. What an incredible adventure we had watching her. To learn more about her, see my posts from last year.
The female Long-tailed Duck continues to be seen on the Reservoir in the large raft of Ruddy Ducks. Depending on the light, she can be easy or hard to find. Late in the day, finding her sometimes feels like playing “Where’s Waldo”.
The Bald Eagle continues to visit Central Park’s Reservoir. Yesterday, I couldn’t get to the park, but many photographers were able to photograph the eagle and were able to see its band number, R over 7, which matches an individual often seen in Brooklyn. Today, it made at least three visits to the Reservoir. I saw two of the passes, one of which was after sunset.
With unusual gulls, ducks, a perched Peregrine and the Eagle’s flights the Reservoir is the “hot” location in the late afternoon in Central Park this week.
Update: From the Connecticut Fish and Wildlife @CTFishWildlife4h: Central Park birders were recently treated to the uncommon sight of a bald eagle capturing a gull in mid-flight! “R7”, or locally known as Rover, was banded by CT DEEP wildlife biologists in New Haven, CT, on May 11, 2018, and he has been hanging around NYC since mid 2020!
