Prospect Birding

An unpromising morning, overcast and damply chill, but the sun broke through around 10 as about 25 (including the Bluebird) of us set off from the Boat House in Prospect Park for the Audubon’s first Sunday birdwalk. We saw pied-billed grebe, American coot, mute swan, great blue heron, mallard duck, northern shoveler, ruddy duck, herring gull, black-backed gull, ring-billed gull, red-tailed hawk, belted kingfisher, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, rock dove, mourning dove, northern cardinal, blue jay, red-breasted nuthatch, white-breasted nuthatch, black-capped chickadee, northern mockingbird, tufted titmouse, American goldfinch, American robin, hermit thrush, fox sparrow, dark-eyed junco, song sparrow, fox sparrow, white-throated sparrow, house sparrow. (Think I got them all.) A merlin was spotted earlier by our intrepid leader Steve. On the way out of the park, I saw a red-winged blackbird, and something else I think was a female brewer's blackbird. The kingfisher, hanging out in the Lullwater, was a highlight. There were two great blue herons, one immature and one adult, both providing very good looks. Red-tail hawks were seen several times, but they might have all been the same immature bird. Another highlight was the hairy woodpecker, going to town on a hole in an old pine. I rarely see hairy w.p.s. A good birding day.