Inwood Hill Park - Mar 23 - Common Raven

A cold, gray day, despite it being the second full day of spring - and there is more cold and gray on the way according to the weather forecast. Nevertheless, I got out for some birding for a couple of hours in the morning and then again for a brief time in the later afternoon. I picked up several species that were new for me for the year here in Inwood. The first was a fly over Great Blue Heron in the morning. A little later I could hear a Killdeer calling from somewhere on the shoreline under the Henry Hudson Bridge, but I could not find it. In the afternoon, in addition to the almost ubiquitous White-breasted Nuthatches, a lone Red-breasted Nuthatch was near the spot where people put out bird seed in The Clove. However, easily the best species seen were the two Common Ravens that flew north over the north end of the ridge around 5:00 pm. A short time later, while in The Clove, I spotted what I assume was one of the same individuals now flying south over the ridge and much higher up in the air. My list for the day was 31 species:

Canada Goose                                                       Black-capped Chickadee
Mallard                                                                  Tufted Titmouse
Great Blue Heron                                                    Red-breasted Nuthatch 
Red-tailed Hawk                                                     White-breasted Nuthatch
Killdeer                                                                  Carolina Wren
Ring-billed Gull                                                       American Robin
Herring Gull                                                            Northern Mockingbird
Great Black-backed Gull                                         European Starling
Rock Pigeon                                                           Song Sparrow
Mourning Dove                                                        White-throated Sparrow
Red-bellied Woodpecker                                         Dark-eyed Junco
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker                                         Northern Cardinal
Downy Woodpecker                                               Common Grackle 
Northern Flicker                                                      American Goldfinch 
Blue Jay                                                                 House Sparrow
Common Raven                                                       

My total for the year to date in Inwood is 52 species.

White-breasted Nuthatch (male)                                                                                                            © Joseph DiCostanzo

White-breasted Nuthatch (female)                                                                                                           © Joseph DiCostanzo