An Afternoon in Central Park
Manhattan, NYC
Sunday 16 February 2020
43 °F
I took advantage of an afternoon of walking through Central Park with Tian to try to find some of the noteworthy birds which have recently been frequenting the park. A BROWN CREEPER was nice to start off the day:
Look at that camouflage! 
Then, I found my friend the immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER at its usual spot west of the ballfields. Its red feathers have even further developed since I last saw it:
Every time I observe it, the woodpecker is either stashing nuts in one of its holes or on “excavation duty:”
We found the large flock of COMMON GRACKLES by 96th St today, but unfortunately failed to track down the Boat-tailed. So, it was off to the Central Park Reservoir for waterfowl. A female RUDDY DUCK showed nicely:
Male:
As did NORTHERN SHOVELERS:
And this male BUFFLEHEAD:
Once again, I was able to locate the immature SNOW GEESE roosting with the Canada Goose flock in the southeast corner of the Reservoir. Luckily, they were awake this time!
Snowdrops, a sure sign of warmer weather to come:
As we continued south in the park, evening fell upon us rather soon, but one last bird seen in the Central Park Ramble was one of the park’s resident RED-TAILED HAWKS, a particularly impressive sighting for Tian:
It was a great afternoon in the park — thanks Tian for putting up with my birding! Bird-of-the-day to the Snow Geese with runner-up to the Red-headed Woodpecker, both of which are very quality species for the park.
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1109 Species
