Registrar: Renée Lucier
Participants: 20
Weather: At the start, clearing skies, 50 degrees, wind 9 mph; later, sun in and out, brief rain, hailstorm mid-morning, stronger wind as the day wore on.
Bird Species: 48
We convened at 7:30 am on the steps of the Brooklyn Public Library, where our generous and patient leader, Tom Stephenson, went over some camera basics and photography essentials. We then moved into the Rose Garden in Prospect Park, where we practiced with various settings and people got specific help with their cameras. Within the group there was a wide range of experience and skill levels, but everyone came away with invaluable tips.
After about an hour in the Rose Garden we moved on to the Vale and then further around the Park. We were lucky to see 48 species of birds, including several harbingers of spring and a merlin that was pointed out to us by a young couple with a baby, our group of 20 having walked right by it a minute earlier! Happily, a bathroom break then coincided with a freak hailstorm, so we—and all of our non-waterproof gear—were able to shelter inside until it passed.
After that short delay, we headed back into the Park, where keen-eyed lepidopterists in the group alerted the rest of us to a beautiful Morning Cloak butterfly. A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was an unexpected find, and a stalwart few stuck around to spot the Least Bittern that was in the area. (I didn’t include this in the species list as most people, including myself, left before seeing it.)
Thanks to all the eager and affable participants and a special hearty thank you to Tom for sharing his time and expertise with us!
Species Lists
Birds
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Mallard
American Black Duck
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Merlin
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Louisiana Waterthrush
Palm Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Butterflies
Morning Cloak
