Days 5 & 6 - Monday 25th May & Tuesday 26th May 2015
The next day we decided to
concentrate on finding one of the missing species so far on our trip and one
that we had thought we were guaranteed to see – Veery. With a lady at Prospect
Park on Saturday mentioning she had seen them in abundance at Green-wood
Cemetery, we took the tube back down to Brooklyn again in the hope of catching
up with this tiny ginger thrush.
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| The tombstones at Green-wood Cemetery |
Starting off the morning at Prospect Park, it was now evident that migration was most definitely reaching the tail end, with just single male Chestnut-sided and Blackpoll Warbler along with a couple of Common Yellowthroats and American Redstarts flitting about the trees in a 45 minute period. This was a complete contrast to Saturday morning
when the woods were absolutely alive with activity and birds were positively
dripping off the trees in comparison! It really goes to show just how
incredible a fall of birds can be.
Walking around the lake and
keeping our eyes peeled for the pair of Belted Kingfishers that had been seen
yesterday, a Song Sparrow stood out from the numerous Red-winged Blackbirds
nesting in the reeds, their distinctive calls carrying across the water. The
large swallow flock from two days ago had also reduced in numbers, with just a
handful of Chimney Swifts chattering above the surface of the water. I managed
to pick out a Tree Swallow again fluttering over the waves, the iridescent
marine blue plumage shining out, but the increase of pedal boat numbers due to
people enjoying the gorgeous weather on what was a bank holiday meant there was
very little bird activity.
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| The birds revenge on Alex... |
A Red-spotted Purple Butterfly showed extremely well at the edge of the water, and despite having a plastic sheet detailing the common New York butterflies, this was the only species we managed to positively ID (and the only one that actually remained still enough to do so!)
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| Red-spotted Purple Butterfly |
We headed through the bustling Brooklyn Streets and on to Green-wood Cemetery, stopping to get some refreshing juice in the heat. A small falcon flew overhead above the apartment blocks, and
although probably the first American Kestrel of the trip, I didn’t get enough
on it to get a positive ID before it had sped off over the trees.
Green-wood Cemetery held a
variety of birds that we otherwise hadn’t seen in Prospect Park. A Chipping
Sparrow hopped along the road pecking at the crumbs left behind by relatives
visiting their loved ones, while a House Finch foraging by the side of the leaf
strewn path was only the second of our trip.
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| This Downy Woodpecker got our hopes up as being a Hairy before we got a closer look - another species we had yet to find in New York |
