On Prospect Lake on my quick scan after todays' "Mulchfest" , COMMON MERGANSER seen diving in the West Island sector with RED-BREASTED MERGANSER drake nearby. Interestingly , no visible signs of Hooded, the most common species for the Lake. A lone BRANT was very oddly standing on the west shore.See my bad cellphone photo at the end of the post.
Good reports also noted of LESSER SCAUP, COMMON REDPOLL, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, PINE SISKIN
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From Keir :
Prospect Park, Kings, US-NY Jan 12, 2013 9:12 AM - 2:21 PM Protocol: Traveling 3.0 mile(s) Comments: Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.5.1 48 species (+1 other taxa) Canada Goose 238 Mute Swan 7 American Black Duck 3 Mallard 122 American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1 Northern Shoveler 5 Bufflehead 2 Hooded Merganser 5 Red-breasted Merganser 1 Ruddy Duck 57 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Double-crested Cormorant 1 Great Blue Heron 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Vale Red-tailed Hawk 1 American Coot 15 Ring-billed Gull 133 Herring Gull 11 Great Black-backed Gull 5 Mourning Dove 9 Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 4 Downy Woodpecker 5 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Merlin 1 Long Meadow, favorite snag near Tennis House Blue Jay 9 American Crow 1 Black-capped Chickadee 12 Tufted Titmouse 13 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Brown Creeper 2 Lookout & south of Rose Garden, path to compost heap by zoo Winter Wren 1 Singing, Maryland Monument steps Carolina Wren 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 South of Rose Garden, path to compost heap by zoo American Robin 23 Northern Mockingbird 1 European Starling 1 Cedar Waxwing 13 American Tree Sparrow 5 Maryland Monument steps, probably more. Fox Sparrow (Red) 2 Song Sparrow 3 Swamp Sparrow 2 Maryland Monument steps. White-throated Sparrow 45 Northern Cardinal 24 Red-winged Blackbird 7 House Finch 12 Pine Siskin 4 American Goldfinch 22 House Sparrow 25
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From Ryan Bass:
Hi Peter,Coming in from South Slope, steps away from the Bartel-Prichard entrance, I had (30) DARK EYED JUNCO feeding beneath a Sweetgum tree. Some were actually feeding in the tree itself, which I found a little odd for this ground dweller, but perhaps not with all the pedestrian traffic. Upon further inspection, I realized there were (2) AMERICAN GOLDFINCH and (2) COMMON REDPOLL mixed in. This is an infrequently birded area in the Park... but it confirms that the CORE (and the XBills for that matter) can show up anywhere - they are truly a hit-or-miss species.The lake turned up the hen COMMON MERGANSER. It was hanging around the drake RBMERGANSER - so the size comparison was notable.By the shipping containers on Wellhouse Drive, I met up with another birder and we found the YBCHAT around 3:00 pm.The area of the lake near Wollman Rink (between Peninsula and Breeze Hill) was very productive, there were (18) HOODED MERGANSERS there, all huddled up. eBird indicates that this is a high count for this date/location. A drake LESSER SCAUP was present as well.Full list:Cheers,Ryan***********************************Brant on shoreProspect Park--Prospect Lake, Kings, US-NY Jan 12, 2013 3:15 PM - 3:35 PM Protocol: Stationary 14 species (+1 other taxa) Canada Goose X Mute Swan X Mallard X American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) X Northern Shoveler X Bufflehead 1 Common Merganser 1 Red-breasted Merganser 1 Ruddy Duck X Pied-billed Grebe 1 Great Blue Heron 1 American Coot X Ring-billed Gull X Herring Gull X Great Black-backed Gull X View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12582361
