Prospect Park / BBG 1/16

A snowy walk through Prospect Park this morning. Very pleasant but nothing exciting. I did get my first Kings County Ruddy Duck on the lake today. Only one among the shovelers and Mallards in a very small area of open water. About 90% of the water in the park is frozen, keeping the waterfowl numbers down.

We decided to have lunch at the Botanic Gardens then walk through to the 2 train. We found very few birds--there's no fruit in the trees and the grass is blanketed in snow. On a culinary side note, the garden's cafe makes a very good beef chili.
Our lists:
Prospect Park
Number of species:    20

Canada Goose    39

Mute Swan    6

Mallard    205

Northern Shoveler    68

Ruddy Duck    1

Red-tailed Hawk    2

American Coot    13

Ring-billed Gull    500

Great Black-backed Gull    1

Mourning Dove    4

Red-bellied Woodpecker    1

Downy Woodpecker    2

Blue Jay    1

Black-capped Chickadee    15

Northern Mockingbird    1

Fox Sparrow    1    Lamppost 249

White-throated Sparrow    5

Northern Cardinal    7

American Goldfinch    2

House Sparrow    20

Feeders:

Number of species:    7
Downy Woodpecker    1
Black-capped Chickadee    5
White-breasted Nuthatch    1
Dark-eyed Junco    5
Northern Cardinal    1
House Finch    4
American Goldfinch    7

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Number of species:    7 
Red-tailed Hawk    1
Red-bellied Woodpecker    2
Blue Jay    1
Black-capped Chickadee    2
Northern Mockingbird    1
White-throated Sparrow    4
House Sparrow    3