Central Park is My Backyard

Shari & I went to Central Park this morning before she met a friend at the AMNH. I don't especially enjoy birding Central Park because it is usually too full of people to make birding enjoyable and it is so big that you can only go to one or two spots in a day which limits the number of birds you'll find. In Prospect Park, by contrast, you rapidly pass through a number of habitats, plus you have the water course to follow and structure your trip.

It was cold and a little slippery, but not nearly as icy as PP was yesterday. We went first to The Ramble because the feeders are usually reliable and while there were no surprises (like siskins last year) we found the usual variety of birds, just not in great numbers.

Later I walked around the reservoir. I'd never done that. I always get turned around once I'm in the middle of Central Park, so going out of my way to walk in a circle has never been that appealing. I was halfway around when I read a sign directing everyone to walk or run counterclockwise. Naturally, I was walking clockwise. Happily there wasn't much foot traffic on the path, since it had not been shoveled--otherwise I'd probably have been flattened before I took 10 steps. Dumb rube from Prospect Park that I am.

The reservoir looks big. I was dubious about walking all around it. But it didn't take me any time at all to circumperambulate the perimeter. The only real surprise was a Bufflehead, plus 2 crows standing on the ice among all the gulls. I like the contrast when they do that.

The list for the day (with GBBC numbers first).
Central Park

Observation date:     2/13/10

Number of species:     21

Canada Goose     5/5

American Black Duck     1/1

Mallard     10/36

Bufflehead     1/1

Ring-billed Gull     200/300

Herring Gull     2/5

Great Black-backed Gull     14/16

Rock Pigeon     5/20

Red-bellied Woodpecker     1/1

Downy Woodpecker     1/2

Blue Jay     1/5

American Crow     2/3

Black-capped Chickadee     1/2

White-breasted Nuthatch     1/1

American Robin     1/1

White-throated Sparrow    20/50

Dark-eyed Junco     4/6

Northern Cardinal     2/3

Common Grackle     1/1

House Finch     4/6

House Sparrow     20/25