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The Prospect Park new year starts out with a bang,likely the best quality walk for the date done by the Brooklyn Bird Club. Though only 37 species tallied,4 were considered rare by Cornell Ebird. A club walk done for celebratory reasons turns out to be above expectations for the New Years Day tradition.
Getting to the rarities, as the walk started off slowly, here is the roll call: RUSTY BLACKBIRD,RED SHOULDERED HAWK,PURPLE FINCH,COMMON MERGANSER,PINE SISKIN and remnants of the group after the walk ended saw adult BALD EAGLE.A very good walk indeed.
Details on the sightings are as follows:RUSTY BLACKBIRD was spotted at Lily Pool before it flew into the pond from the woods pathway; soaring over the Willink Ridge by Lincoln road park entrance,the RED SHOULDERED HAWK appeared;PURPLE FINCH is a CBC stay over at the feeders; COMMON MERGANSER,a drake swam around the Prospect Lake center before we headed around the southwest corner near West Island; last at the West Island rustic shelter,three sweetgum trees are perfect for attracting finches, and here is where we found 4 PINE SISKINS some holdovers of a larger flock visiting this area the past week.
As the Brooklyn Bird Club ended here at West Island,remnants of the group left going up Lake West drive and spotted the eagle. An adult BALD EAGLE ,making today's walk for a usually quiet Prospect winter day more exciting and delightful.Particularly different members spotted the different rarities made the walk a fun relaxing one.
Happy New Years to all you birders! Let's get some more good ones in 2015.
Peter
Leading BBC walk
--The KingsBoider.
Eastern phoebe,photo by Rob Bate
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Prospect Park, Kings, US-NY Jan 1, 2015 9:00 AM - 12:20 PM Protocol: Traveling 3.25 mile(s) Comments: Group walk,sunny day 37 species
Canada Goose 210 Upper pool Mute Swan X Mallard X Northern Shoveler 300
Lake
Common Merganser 1
Ruddy Duck 65 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Cooper's Hawk 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Flyover Willink Ridge Red-tailed Hawk 2 American Coot 2 Ring-billed Gull X Herring Gull X Great Black-backed Gull 3 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) X Mourning Dove X Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Downy Woodpecker 1 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Eastern Phoebe 1 South Lookout Hill slope Blue Jay 5 Black-capped Chickadee 4 Tufted Titmouse 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 American Robin 12 Northern Mockingbird 1 European Starling X Song Sparrow 2 White-throated Sparrow X Northern Cardinal 4 Red-winged Blackbird X Rusty Blackbird 1 Lily Pool Common Grackle 1 Feeders Purple Finch 1 Feeders Pine Siskin 4 West island sweetgums American Goldfinch X House Sparrow X
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21115608
