After being briefly closed with minimal tree damage after Hurricane Sandy, the ice skating rink and concession booths of Bryant Park are in full swing . Despite the large crowd of shoppers, the birds are sticking around for the plentiful supply of food scraps and their own "private" dining area where the benches are cordoned off on one side by the rink and the high railing on the other. Besides the large numbers of House and White-throated Sparrows, two Swampies were hiding near the bird bath in the northeast corner. Hermit Thrushes and Catbirds were on every side last week but appear to be declining in number now. Two Sapsuckers were on the Lindens in front of the library. I didn't have my binoculars at the time, but over the past two days I've seen two raptors circling and landing on top of the Bank of America. No big surprises like last winter yet, but I did get one minor surprise today - a female Brown-headed Cowbird at the northwest corner of the rink - a first for me in Bryant Park.
Happy Birding, Alan Drogin -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
