Down at Lamppost 249 , Well Drive, Kathy Toomey and Kathy O'Hearn observed a female ( as it appears to me) BALTIMORE ORIOLE, a tad late bird which sometimes overwinter on rare occasions. See the photos below Kathy O'Hearn took
I didn't stick around for the Marine One presidential entourage as the security detail greatly restricted viewing from the west side of the ballfields where the copters landed...so I took off..But I did see one helicopter fly near my home , a Sikorsky twin propeller.
Not much birding for me today as we couldn't move around, but Kier reported LINCOLN SPARROW at the dirt pile near LP 249, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW at Breeze Hill dirt mounds ( also reported by Kathy Toomey ). See the previous post.
I did see a flyover COOPERS HAWK and an "amazing" for the park lately 42 AMERICAN CROWS that harassed a RED-TAILED HAWK at the "Propsite".
Inside the rink grounds, along the shore , sparrows were highly active and this is a good omen for the future. The native grasses and aquatics means good coverage and highly attractive for rare species as long as it isn't too crowded with people. A brisk weekend that should be good birding....
look at the season's first fall FOX SPARROW today.
--KB
Photos by Kathy O'Hearn
List from Kathy Toomey:
date = 2013/10/25 site = Prospect Park observers = Kathy Toomey Pied-billed Grebe, three Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Northern Shoveler Canada Goose Ruddy Duck Mute Swan Mallard Red-tailed Hawk American Coot Herring Gull Mourning Dove Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe Blue-headed Vireo American Crow, heard Blue Jay Black-capped Chickadee White-breasted Nuthatch, heard Brown Creeper Ruby-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Kinglet American Robin Hermit Thrush Yellow-rumped Warbler Swamp Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow, dirt pile near container on Wellhouse Drive White-throated Sparrow Song Sparrow Fox Sparrow, in the grass and leaves near Bartel Pritchard Circle White-crowned Sparrow, Breeze Hill and near Lamp post 249 Dark-eyed Junco Field Sparrow, near Maryland Monument Northern Cardinal Baltimore Oriole, in a tree behind the fence near picnic tables by Lamp post 249 House Sparrow
