NYC Birds visits Bora Bora

Hello birders (or followers through pity),

Massive apologies for the lack of updates over the past few weeks, however hopefully this weeks installment will make up for the void.

So we (Wifey and I) spent the last 9 days in French Polynesia to be exact Bora Bora, not specifically a birding holiday obviously or the wife would kill me. However, I did manage to get some good pics and get a number of new ticks, particularly driven by the fact it was my first time birding in this region of the World.

French Polynesia has a limited number of species I think 122 residents of which 27 are endemic. If you then break that down to a single Atoll (island) in the many archipelagos that make up French Polynesia it gives a feel for what could be expected - a relatively small cross section of species.

At the outset what an amazing place, it literally takes a day or two to get used to the fact that the scenery is real, to be very cliche it looks like a 'screensaver'. I was quick to work out the environment and on my first morning I set out to the edge of the Atoll to see the Pacific Ocean break on the old Volcano barrier reef and watch the sunrise.

I can honestly say (as a relatively well traveled individual) that watching the sight of the sun rise whilst standing at edge of the Atoll was one of the most humbling things I have ever seen, the emotion it evoked was immense. I went to see this every morning possible whilst I was there. The photo does it no justice at all, but does offer the view from the Atoll where the Pacific hits the edge of the dormant Volcano and creates the lagoon.

Enough of the scenery let's get onto the birds.

I did a daily stint around the resort and probably only picked up 20 odd species in total most of which were new to me. One of my favourites was the Zebra Dove, an ever present bird and certainly on heat at this time of year with the males displaying for the females regularly across the resort, an excellent courting ritual just which I had filmed it.

Zebra Dove

Another common bird around the resort was the Chestnut-breasted Munia. These were numerous and would roost in a great numbers in a particular tree near the beach at the resort. Pre-sunrise (5.30am) I would see up to 75 of these birds roosting. I managed to get some good shots of this bird during the week.

Chestnut-breasted Munia

On Day 2 of the vacation we went to swim with the sharks and the Rays, this gave rise to the opportunity of some sea birds as we would leave the lagoon and head outside the reef into the Pacific. It was a great day and managed to pick up some good birds, although taking photos of sea birds in flight (as always) proved challenging, I managed to get one or two that would hold up for the Blog.

Brown Booby

The list included Red-footed and Brown Booby (for UK birders these are relatives of the Gannet), Great Frigatebird, Great Crested Tern and Spectacled Tern all of which were new for me with the exception of the Great Crested Tern which I have seen on numerous occasions in the Middle East. This was a good day all round in particular swimming with the Stingrays, lovely, placid and inquisitive creatures.

Great Crested Tern

Over the coming week my numerous trips around the resort, boat trips across to the central island and visits to the edge of the Atoll brought some great views of Wandering Tattler, Pacific Reef Heron and Silvereye, all of which I managed to photo to some degree.

Wandering Tattler

The Tattler is part of the Sandpiper family and behaves very much like one although is a large bird for this family. There was a pair that resided at the edge of the Atoll, during one of the rainstorms we actually had one land on the deck of our villa. I really enjoyed watching this bird as it was lively, I think by the end of the week this particular bird had got used to seeing me so was comfortable with me getting closer.

Wandering Tattler

Pacific Reef Heron

In stark contrast I spent nearly all week trying to get a good shot of the Pacific Reef Heron and as you can see below my best attempt is barely Blogworthy. This bird is similar to its Western counterpart, and as the photo shows it is in the black morph.

The highlight for me of the holiday was the Silvereye. A lovely looking little bird with plenty of colours ranging from green through rustic red. The photo really doesn't do the bird justice. There was a flock that would circle the trees around the resort lagoon on a daily basis and I managed to catch up with the flock on a couple of occasions. You can obviously see where the name of the bird comes from with a striking prominent white eye ring.

Silvereye

All in all a good week for birding. Some other sightings included Swamp Harrier which was a tick for me but was unable to get a decent  photo and Common Mynah on the runway at Papeete airport.

Next blog we will be back in NYC for the migration season.

Birding Bobs Guided Tour - Central Park - Sunday March 18th 2012 & Afternoon trip to Riverside Park & Hudson River

So the morning after St Paddy's day I am up with gusto at 9am and heading to the Boathouse for Birding Bob's guided tour. Following a relatively eventful birding session the previous weekend I had high hopes. These hopes were soon shattered when I arrived at Central Park and the half marathon had been underway for the last one and a half hours, however although the general bird activity was greatly diminished we did manage to get some good birds over the proceeding three hours. The light was quite poor as the Sun had not as yet had a chance to burn through the clouds.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Arriving at the Boathouse there was a similar sized crowd to last week 20-ish. We made our way into the Ramble  and before heading to the bird feeders took a left to some habitat that attracts Snipe, however we had no luck with the Snipe. Arriving at the feeders there were the usual array of House, White-throated and Song Sparrow, with Dark-eyed Junco mixed in the flock feeding on the floor. There were many more Common Grackle than last week and the park was teaming with Blue Jay. We got some great views of Red-bellied and Downy Woodpecker.

We moved on the route up toward Belvedere Castle via the lake, as with last week on the hunt for Pine Warbler, a second week of no luck with this bird. The Belvedere Lake area was quiet with bird life and no sign of Bufflehead which have been regulars recently. I did get some reasonable shots of Mourning Dove in the undergrowth.

Mourning Dove

We continued on from the Castle and meandered through Shakespeare's garden, picked up a new tick for the US a Brown Creeper, the 'americana' version of the 'Certhia' family very similar to the 'familiaris' cousin found in the UK. Unfortunately I was unable to get a shot of this little tree climbing bird. Just along the way from the Brown Creeper another new tick for me in the US quickly appeared with 6 Golden-crowned Kinglets in the Pine Trees. Got some good views in the bins but no chance of a photo with these 'flitty' little birds - same family members as the Crests found in Europe.

American Coot

Arriving at the reservoir we found 100+ Northern Shoveler, 50 + Ruddy Duck and a male and female Bufflehead. Another tick for me in the US with a pair of Pied-billed Grebe associated with some good views close to the waterside. Managed to get some good snaps of American Coot, easily distinguished from their UK counterparts with the small red knob. The Gull presence was much lower this week in the centre of the water, Great Black-backed, Ring Billed and Herring Gull present.

Blue Jay

At this point I left the group choosing to attempt to get a good snap of Blue Jay. Although very common as yet have not managed to get a great one. Looking at the attached I still have someway to go although it does capture the essence of the awesome plumage of the wing feathers.

On the walk back through the park I was very lucky to pick up a Great Egret flying into the lake at Belvedere and got some good views, too far for the camera lens though. I also picked up a female Northern Mockingbird on the outskirts of the Ramble.

I headed home for a well earned lunch and to pick up some new bins as the prisms had finally gone in the pair I have had for the last 8 years, my birding companions have been all around the world with me in that time (RIP).

Obviously excited having picked up the new bins I went out on a short excursion to Riverside Park on the Hudson River (the second patch near me in Manhattan). The sun was now beaming in the sky and Manhattan felt like summer - bad news for me as the Hudson Waterfront was extremely busy with walkers, runners, sunbathers and readers. However not to be deterred I stuck to the plan and I am glad I did.

Within my hour excursion I saw 2 x American Black Duck, a first for me in the state of NY having seen them in on a trip to Cape Cod last year. I also saw 6 x Gadwall (3 of each sex) another tick for the US, I haven't seen a Gadwall for a long time and had completely forgotten what a good looking bird the male duck is. Given the amount of human activity there was little else around with the exception of lazy Ring-billed Gulls relaxing on the wooden posts in the river getting sun drenched so I retreated onto 10th Avenue for the return walk home.

Another good little days birding - see you again in my next post.

Birding Bobs Guided Tour - Central Park - Sunday March 11th 2012

The Gang

My first excursion with the local celebrity birder 'Birding Bob'. Bob runs guided tours in the park 2 or 3 times a week for the Manhattan birding community (of all standards). Arriving at the Boathouse at 9.30am I was surprised to find around 25 local birders with a range of ages but not surprisingly more heavily weighted to the older demographic. It was a beautiful crisp Spring morning, a slight chill in the air but great light.

After meeting Bob and giving him the 10 bucks for the tour (a steal) we all headed off into 'The Ramble' with the first port of call being the bird feeders. As usual a great deal of bird life in this area some great views of Red-winged Blackbird, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, American Goldfinch and Common Grackle on the feeders, whilst the floor was covered with House & White-throated Sparrow.

We managed to pick out a lone Song Sparrow mingled with the Dark-eyed Junco, one particular Junco had abnormal white ring markings around its neck like a collar, I couldn't get a good pic though.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

As we moved through the bird feeder area we got some excellent views of 
Red-bellied Woodpecker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Bob pulled out his bird recordings and played the Sapsucker call, and the bird soon responded it was fascinating. This would set a precedent for the rest of the tour with Bob either making bird calls himself, or with his device, we certainly got some strange looks walking through the park.


Next stop 'Belvedere Castle', en route we picked up the resident Fox Sparrow and our first of many sightings of Red-tailed Hawk. We also saw our third woodpecker of the day the Downy Woodpecker but infuriatingly none of my pics were up to scratch.

Red-tailed Hawk

Arriving at the castle we were looking for Pine Warbler in the 'Pine Trees' of all places as there had been sightings earlier in the week, unfortunately the birds proved to be elusive for the entire tour. We did see an Eastern Phoebe in the trees lining 'Belvedere Lake' which was a tick for me, but the views were brief and facing into the sunlight.

We progressed on from the lake heading up toward 'The Reservoir'. It was around 10.30am now and there was still plenty of birds around (and increasingly more people).

Carolina Wren

Another three ticks for me came in a relatively short period of time, a new favourite bird of mine the Carolina Wren (pictured left although the picture does not do the bird justice), it had a very distinctive call, you could certainly tell it was from the Wren family. Next up in the same patch was an Eastern Towhee which was elusive in the undergrowth and would not sit up for a photo and thirdly whilst watching the Towhee a Coopers Hawk the first of the day circled above.

We continued on toward the reservoir through some more Pine Tree vegetation, again looking for Pine Warblers with Bob continuously playing the Pine Warbler calls from his recordings but no luck again.

Bufflehead

The reservoir offered an abundance of waterfowl, large numbers of Ruddy Duck in relatively close proximity, Shoveler, American Coot and Mallard. There was a lone female Red Breasted Merganser which remained asleep for the entire time, must have been camera shy, and some great views of Bufflehead in the sunlight. As we moved around the bottom of the reservoir we found an immature Hooded Merganser, also fast asleep but another tick for me. Scanning the large Gull flock in the centre of the resevoir we found Herring, Great Black Backed and Ring Billed Gulls.

American Robin

By now it was approaching mid day so we made our way back through the Park via 'The Ramble' to end the tour. I managed to get some good shots of American Robin and Common Grackle on the return journey, both of which being camera friendly in the by now warm Spring afternoon.

Common Grackle

All in all a great tour, although more strenuous then I had accounted for as whilst I sit writing this my legs are already starting to ache, I must be showing my age.

Central Park - Sunday March 4th 2012

This is the first Blog for me, and the first for NYC birds, so here goes.

Having had a lazy Sunday morning at home I was itching to get out of the apartment and to see some birds, particularly given a little too much vino was had over dinner with the 'Mrs' the previous evening. The afternoon was pleasant but grey so photography was going to be tricky.

As always with an afternoon trip to Central Park the place is teaming with people, with this in mind I headed directly to 'The Ramble'. En route 'The Lake' had a spattering of water birds Mallard, American Coot, Canada Geese and around 50 Shoveler, a number of Ring-billed Gulls were also present.

Upon arriving in 'The Ramble' I meandered my way through to the bird-feeders. Upon arrival the usual suspects at this time of year were present Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, White-throated Sparrow, House Sparrow and Tufted Titmouse. 2 x Common Grackle were also present.

House Finch

Having spent some time around the feeders I took the small circuitous route around the feeder area where I stumbled upon a lone Fox Sparrow, I managed to get one partially clear shot having attempted many due to the amount of movement of the bird and the positioning between the low branches.

Fox Sparrow

Next stop 'Belvedere Castle' to have a look at the lake. My luck was in 4 male Bufflehead and 2 female, heading down to the lakeside managed to get some great close up pics (one below). En route 2 x Red-bellied Woodpecker but was unable to get a good pic, more small flocks of White-throated and House Sparrow with some great views of Northern Cardinal 3 x male and 2 x female, and another lone Fox Sparrow.

Northern Cardinal

Bufflehead

Having had an enjoyable couple of hours birding and with the light starting to fade I headed back to the apartment for a well deserved Sunday dinner.