Registrar: Nick Dawson
Participants: 30
Weather: Sunny, a few clouds, 65 degrees
Bird Species: 25
A small group of birders gathered at 1:00 pm on a beautiful October afternoon at Belvedere Castle for a fall hawk watch. While the winds had not been ideal for migration, there was slow, but reasonably steady, activity from the north. The gathering was designated as “leaderless,” but Anne Ribolow and Kevin Sisco were among those who helped to spot and identify raptors and other species for the group, including a few of our very own NYC non-migratory Red-tailed Hawks.
The group stayed for about two hours, enjoying the experience and also baffling tourists, who occasionally asked why we were staring at the seemingly empty sky. Eventually, the group walked west through the Shakespeare Garden and towards the Swedish Cottage, picking up along the way a Scarlet Tanager, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (gorging on Spotted Lanternflies), and a busy Hooded Warbler (photogenically visible in the grass and undergrowth).
Species List
Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull (American)
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Blue Jay
Common Raven
Tufted Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Winter Wren
American Robin
House Sparrow
Common Grackle
Hooded Warbler
Pine Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
