Owl Walk with No Owls

We went to Orchard Beach/Hunter Island this morning for the "Superb Owl" walk with my brother and a friend of his who knows where the owls are. Last year we saw 2 Long-eared Owls almost immediately. This year, not much luck. We found pellets from Saw-whet and Great Horned Owls, but the owls themselves remained elusive.

No Dovekie last week, no owls this week. Still, I knew we'd see ducks and we did find quite a few of them, plus the bonus was when my brother spotted a Killdeer, a bird I don't normally expect to find A) on a beach and B) in the winter.

Walking around Orchard Beach, looking out on the sound it is hard to believe you're in The Bronx with all the freight that term carries. Afterward we went to City Island for lunch and there, a little fishing village gone to sleep in the winter,  it is well nigh impossible to believe that it is part of NYC, much less The Bronx.

Orchard Beach/Hunter Island

Observation date:     2/7/10

Number of species:     19

Brant     4

Canada Goose     13

Gadwall     5

American Wigeon     20

American Black Duck     25

Bufflehead     10

Common Goldeneye     4

Red-breasted Merganser     3

Killdeer     1

Herring Gull     15

Great Black-backed Gull     1

Rock Pigeon     6

Red-bellied Woodpecker     2

Downy Woodpecker     2

Blue Jay     4

American Crow     2

White-breasted Nuthatch     2

Northern Mockingbird     1

Northern Cardinal     1