Central Park 1/17--Wood Duck, Baltimore Oriole

Hen & Drake Wood Ducks

I created a deliberate deja vu today, if that's possible. Last year on January 17, I had to be in NYC and while at Central Park I saw my first Wood Ducks of the year. Today, I had to be in NYC so I went to Central Park, marched to the reservoir, went to exactly the same place as last year and once again, had my FOY Wood Ducks. Waterfowl was abundant on the reservoir, but mostly Mallards, geese, and gulls. There were a few more interesting ducks, including one that I didn't realize was considered a rarity until I got home. Ring-necked Ducks are common enough in south Jersey in the winter that I didn't pay any special heed to the drake I saw on the south end of the reservoir, but in New York, they're listed on eBird as rare. This strikes me as strange, since I remember seeing them fairly regularly at Prospect Park when we lived in Brooklyn and I don't remember having to list them as rare until the spring when, two years in a row, a drake hung around on the Upper Pool.

I always feel rushed when I go to NYC nowadays, since birding isn't my primary reason to be there, so I didn't do a full circuit of the reservoir. Instead, I race walked down to The Ramble. I figured the best place to rack up birds would be the feeders at Evodia Field and I was right. The happy surprise here was another winter rarity--a male and female Baltimore Oriole that have been hanging around the feeders there since the beginning of the month, feasting on the orange halves and peanut butter/corn meal mix that whoever maintains those feeders has been putting out. With all the expensive cameras and their high-powered lenses there, I was embarrassed to pull out my little p&s, but I did manage to get a couple of "for the record" shots of the female.

My only disappointment for the day was not seeing a Black-capped Chickadee. Apparently there have been a dearth of them and titmice at the park. It certainly isn't because of a lack of food. That's quite a spread put out by whoever maintains the feeders.

In an hour and 10 minutes and about a 1 mile walk I managed 28 species. That's a great concentration of birds; it would take me all day, in the winter, and a much wider circle to come up with comparable numbers around here.

I wish I could have stayed a while longer but I had places to go and people to meet. I don't know how much more I would have turned up--all the other water in the park seemed to be frozen. Still, I suppose a few raptors wouldn't have been out of the question. And thinking about it now, one bird I managed to miss was European Starling--how did that happen?
Canada Goose  100
Wood Duck  6    SW Reservoir.
American Black Duck  1
Mallard  150
Ring-necked Duck  1   SE Reservoir
Bufflehead  1    South end of  Reservoir
Hooded Merganser  2    South end of Reservoir

Ruddy Duck  7
Double-crested Cormorant  1
American Coot  4

   







Ring-billed Gull  X
Herring Gull  X
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Rock Pigeon  2
Mourning Dove  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  3
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Brown Creeper  2
Carolina Wren  1
American Robin  1
White-throated Sparrow  10
Dark-eyed Junco  5
Baltimore Oriole  2    
House Finch  10
American Goldfinch  5
House Sparrow  40