This morning, the *Progne *was perched in a tree at the NW corner of Prospect Park Lake with a dozen Tree Swallows and a single Northern Rough-winged Swallow. It stayed perched in the tree, puffed up in the sub-freezing temps, for several hours, only occasionally sallying out over the lake before returning to its arboreal perches. It finally went out to forage for the day around 11 AM.
>From what I gather, it was putting on an excellent show for much of mid day around the cove at the SW corner of the lake, best viewed from the nearby gazebo. Around 16:00, it relocated to the area between The Peninsula and Duck Island (both labeled on Google Maps), and it was there through 17:30. I am not aware of other sightings past this time, though it was getting darker, cooler, and presumably less insect-heavy around the lake by that time. If it continues to follow today’s pattern, the NW shore of the lake, where the sun first hits, closest to the park entrance at Prospect Park SW and Vanderbilt Ave., would be the place to be early in the morning. It is supposed to be not quite as cold as last night here, and we’re slated for sun in the morning, so it should warm up more quickly than this morning. The bird continued to strike me, and others, as smaller and shorter-winged than a Purple Martin, perhaps bringing Gray-breasted Martin into play as one of the more likely candidates. Good Birding! -Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
