January 17 - Inwood Hill Park - cowbirds

I went for a walk in Inwood Hill Park around midday for a couple of hours. The sky was overcast and gray. The woods were very quiet. The waterfowl were represented only by the usual Mallards and Canada Geese, with one American Black Duck to add to the variety. The only thing out of the ordinary was a large feeding flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds on the grass in from West 218th Street. There were over a hundred birds present. There were also a couple of young Red-winged Blackbirds and sometimes the flock was joined by numbers of European Starlings.

cowirds on the grass 01/17/2016 Inwood Hill Park

close-up of part of cowbird flock 01/17/2016 Inwood Hill Park 

Coming down the Clove I ran into a cooperative Mourning Dove that posed for its picture.

Mourning Dove 01/17/2016 Inwood Hill Park