A Pintail Visitor

On Sept. 21, a female northern pintail duck visited Turtle Pond. I have rarely seen pintails. In fact, the only other times I've seen pintails in Central Park were Nov. 20 and Nov. 30, 2013, when male pintails (I think two, though both sightings may have been of the same male) visited the Pool at 103rd Street and the north end of the Reservoir.

Female northern pintail at Turtle Pond, Sept. 21, 2016

I included the male pintails I saw in 2013 in my Reservoir Ducks II video. I am now including that footage, plus video I took on Sept. 21, in a new Filming the Feathers video. The music is the third movement of a Beethoven wind octet, performed by Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet.

The Audubon Web site has a gorgeous pintail photo, and a lot of good info on these handsome birds.

The first five photos in the following gallery are of the male pintail duck taken in November 2013. The other photos are of our female visitor on Sept. 21.

Welcome, Rosy Birdies!

The autumn leaves are not yet falling, but the feathered autumn visitors are starting to arrive. Hawk-chasing season is giving way to fall migration and little-yellow-birdie chasing. So far this season I've seen hooded warblers, redstarts, common yellowthroats, black-throated blue warblers, red-breasted nuthatches, a great-crested flycatcher, black and white warblers and more. My photography success is very, very limited with the small birds, which is why I flood my site with pictures and videos of ducks, hawks and herons!

But I'm now putting together some videos of the migration newcomers (plus some additional videos of birds I see more frequently). The other day I posted the Filming the Feathers videos of a Virginia rail and a redstart bathing beauty.

An adult rose-breasted grosbeak, April 28, 2015, at the feeders in the Ramble, Central Park

Today I offer the rose-breasted grosbeak, a frequent visitor to Central Park during migration. These beautiful birds like to forage in the jewelweed or eat berries in the shrubbery. They also eat lots of insects. This short video features photos and footage from April 2015, September 2015, and two days this September, the 8th and 12. The video is short, and set to music by Franz Joseph Haydn. Read more about the grosbeaks on the Audubon Web site.

The adult grosbeak was photographed April 28, 2015, at the feeders in the Ramble in Central Park. The next grosbeak was photographed in September 2015. The last photograph, of a juvenile male grosbeak, was shot September 12, 2016, in Tupelo Meadow, but the video was taken both in the meadow and at Azalea Pond.

A New Bird, and a Joyful Bather

I'd never seen a Virginia rail, but I got the chance on Sept. 9th to see one at Swampy Pin Oak and near the Lake in Central Park. This little visitor caused quite a bit of excitement among the bird watchers. My video is very short — it was hard to see the bird as it dug in the mud for insects.

A Virginia rail at the Lake, Central Park, Sept. 9, 2016.

I have been fortunate to see a lot of redstarts over the past few years, and always delight in their yellow spots on their tails. But I must say that on Sept. 10, I was grinning my face off as I watched one young redstart take a bath at Triplets Bridge. I've taken videos of a lot of birds bathing, and there will be a Bird Bath II coming soon. But I just couldn't wait to share this bird's joy of bathing, which I set to music by Charles Gounod.

A young redstart pre-bath at Triplets Bridge, Sept. 10, 2016.

I set the Virginia rail Filming the Feathers video to Chopin.

Some more photos of the rail, and of our happy redstart.