Today we went birding again with Birding Bob. It was 28ᴼF and cloudy, but Charlie and I were dressed in warm clothes and were comfortable. We saw eight species of birds, five for the first time this year. Charlie figured out a clever way to get closer to the birds so he could see them better with his binoculars (see picture below). Charlie’s favorite bird-of-the-day was a Red-tailed Hawk. Jason’s favorite bird-of-the-day was a European Starling, which we saw on our walk home. We were not with Bob when we saw the European Starling, but were able to identify the bird by taking a photograph and uploading it to an app called Merlin that can identify birds by their picture. We also saw a beautiful female Cardinal with an orange beak, a Rock Pigeon (which is a typical NYC Pigeon) and a House Sparrow. Jason caught a picture of a House Sparrow flying under a branch, but Charlie's favorite sighting of the day was a squirrel ice skating. We also once again saw the Belvedere Castle, but this time we went inside and took a tour. At the end of the tour Charlie was somehow able to get a Red Northern Cardinal to sit on his finger. Today was another great day of birding in Central Park! See below for pictures of Charlie and the birds we saw today, a video of the ice skating squirrel, and a list of all the birds we’ve seen so far in our 2022 Big Central Park Year.





 Red-tailed Hawk

 European Starling

Female Cardinal

Rock Pigeon

Charlie Taking a Break

House Sparrow

A House Sparrow Flying Under a Branch

Charlie on Top of the Belvedere Castle

A Red Northern Cardinal Sitting on Charlie's Finger

A video of an Ice Skating Squirrel 

2022 Central Park Big Year: Complete Bird List

(bold = saw today; * = saw for first time)

  1. Mallard
  2. Hooded Merganser
  3. Great Blue Heron
  4. Cooper's Hawk
  5. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  6. Blue Jay
  7. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  8. Golden-crowned Kinglet
  9. Brown Creeper
  10. American Robin
  11. House Sparrow
  12. Northern Cardinal
  13. Rock Pigeon*
  14. White-throated Sparrow*
  15. European Starling*
  16. Red-bellied Woodpecker*
  17. Red-tailed Hawk*

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