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1Palm
2Pine 3Yellow Rumped 4Mourning 5Wilson's 6Black and white 7Blackpoll 8Nashville 9Northern Parula 10Magnolia 11Worm eating 12black throated blue 13Black throated green 14Yellow 15bay breasted 16common yellowthroat 17Blackburnian Prairie 18OvenBird 19Northern waterthrush 20Chestnut sided 21American Redstart 22Canada 23Cape May 24Nashville 12/15 NYBG 25Blue headed vireo 26warbling vireo 27red eyed vireo 28Great Crested Flycatcher 29Olive sided flycatcher 30Eastern Wood peewee 31Least flycatcher 32Alder flycatcher 33Yellow bellied flycatcher 34Willow Flycatcher 35Western Flycatcher 36Scarlet Tanager 37Eastern Phoebe 38Indo Bunting 39Panted bunting 40Baltimore Oriole 41Golden crowned kinglet 42Ruby crowned kinglet 43Chickadee 44Tufted Titmouse 45White breasted Nuthatch 46red breasted nuthatch 47Cardinal 48Bluejay 49Carolina Wren 50House wren 51Marsh wren 52Winter wren 53Mourning Dove 54Rock Dove 55Song Sparrow 56Fox 57Savannah 58Swamp 59Lincoln's 60White throated 61White crowned 62Vesper 63Nelson's 64Field 65House sparrow 66Pine Siskins 67Dark eyed Junco 68Eastern Towhee 69Gray catbird 70American Robin 71Mockingbird 72American Crow 73Raven 74Red tailed hawk 75Cooper's hawk 76Kestrel 77Sharp shinned 78Rough legged 79Black vulture 80Turkey vulture 81Merlin 82Great Horned Owl 83Red winged bb 84Rusty Blackbird 85Grackle 86Northern Shoveler 87Ring necked duck 88Hooded Merganser 89Ruddy 90Coot 91Gadwall 92Bufflehead 93Mallard 94Eared grebe 95Horned grebe 96pied billed grebe 97common loon 98red throated loon 99black 100wood 101scaup greater 102scaup lesser 103redhead 104canada goose 105brant 106red breasted merganser 107common merganser 108hooded merganser 109Great egret 110snowy egret 111Great blue heron 112Black crowned night heron 113Green heron 114Bittern Downy woodpecker Hairy woodpecker Red bellied woodpecker yellow bellied sapsucker N. Flicker european starling I was contacted by CBS reporter Meg Baker, to comment on the Couch's Kingbird that has been hawking insects on Jane Street in the West Village. Happy to oblige I left work, on my lunch hour, and headed downtown. There were still quite a mob of birders with 400-600mm lens and binoculars scouting the area trying to locate the yellow Tyrannus couchii on trees and balconies in the immediate area. The reporter seemed interested and amused by the birders who were so dedicated to their hobby of finding, photographing, recording and listing birds. We are an odd, but dedicated bunch of people who chase birds (twitchers) and stalk them until we get the "ahhh." For some it can almost be a religious experience, others a competitive sport to try and see more birds in a year than your fellow birders (big year). We have a separate way of speaking with codes and time references. Gestures, winks, pointing and facial expressions that let our fellow birders know what we see and how they can see it too. We are a close knitted society of dedicated individuals. Some of us are loners and depend on the birds to bring us together at a familiar birding site. Others bring their families or partner with a spouse who also enjoys the sport. Many plan vacations based on life birds they have yet to see and record.
So while all the fuss in the West Village may seem strange to some it is a lot of fun for birders. Seeing a rare bird in NYC is amazing. And one of this magnitude that has never even been close to this part of the world simply amazing. The Couch's kingbird most likely was swept up the coast, from its home territory of Mexico and Guatemala by a storm with high winds. Will he survive a NYC winter? We certainly hope so, but if the insects begin to disappear we certainly hope this holiday treat will take his cue and look for warmer areas to hawk his insects and delight others. Thank you Meg Baker, CBS http://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/10987764-rare-find-has-new-york-bird-watching-community-chirping-with-excitement/ 
These lucky birders got to see a pair of Great Horned Owls! Excellent birding day at NYBG. We started out by chasing a TREE SPARROW that darted through the birches in the Native Plant Garden. A small flash caught our eyes and an ORANGE CROWNED WARBLER jumped up and then quickly down. Suddenly a flock of small birds flew by our heads landing in an adjacent tree- PINE SISKINS on every branch! There were PURPLE FINCH throughout the garden along with House Finch- more numbers than we have seen in many years. American Goldfinch were feeding in the sweet gum as were the Purple Finch and Siskins. .
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We had a brisk and chilly bird walk at NYBG today. Highlights include AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, PURPLE FINCH and Rusty Blackbirds. 
Highlights from my Saturday morning bird walk include Rusty blackbirds and a Pine Siskin. |
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