Central Park, 2022
New York, NY
Tuesday 18 January 2022
34 °F
With a new semester beginning tomorrow, it’s time for a post of the limited birding I was able to do this winter break. Tian and I stayed in Manhattan for the break and apart from one foray to Brooklyn about which I wrote in a previous post, we stayed on the island (mostly sheltering in the dorm due to omicron raging outside). After the aforementioned Brooklyn trip, I didn’t use any public transit due to the pandemic so birding for me was limited to the northern half of Central Park which is walkable from the School of Music.
On the way there we passed by the Cathedral of St. John the Divine where I noticed something different about one of the angels—
In the form of a RED-TAILED HAWK:
Central Park hosted a fair diversity of waterfowl on the Pool and the Reservoir including this female BUFFLEHEAD:
Male NORTHERN SHOVELER:
LESSER SCAUP:
Many, many RUDDY DUCKS can be found on the southwest corner of the Reservoir:
A pair of HOODED MERGANSERS:
And more BUFFLEHEAD pictured with CANADA GEESE and MALLARDS:
A tiny GREEN-WINGED TEAL pictured with the rump of a Mallard:
My first herp of 2021 was an old male Red-eared Slider (introduced) at Morningside Park, amazingly out basking in the cold weather:
And finally, to end, a sunset view from our dormitory building looking north toward the George Washington Bridge.
You may have wondered what happened to the pelagic day cruise — well, thankfully it wasn’t canceled but it was postponed to January 29 so barring any bad weather or further outbreak situations, you should be hearing about that from me fairly soon. Also, I will be posting a 10-year recap of my birding highlights as it was exactly 10 years ago, January 2012, when a Cooper’s Hawk flew into my Oak Park backyard igniting this avian passion of mine.
Good birding and stay healthy.
Henry
World Life List: 1127 Species
So glad that you and Tian are staying safe and at the same time getting out and about! Thanks for the posts and take care!
by Susie Nies