Innumerable Titmousen

                                      Tufted Titmouse--Photo by ARDITH BONDI - 1/29/09 

Wednesday afternoon: It's snowing in Central Park. The park has been closed, in expectation of another nor'easter. Here's this morning's report from Ed Gaillard, an indefatigable birder:

Coming to the park on this cold grey morning was well-rewarded.  I was greeted by a Carolina Wren in the logs and branch litter stacked up across from the bathrooms at Maintenance;  then, after a detour to Evodia, where a young Red-Tailed Hawk moped in a tree while 6-8 Pine Siskins shared the feeders with about 20 goldfinches, a couple of chickadees, and innumerable Titmousen, I made my way to Belvedere at about 10:15, where I had an brief view of a male White-Winged Crossbill in the hemlocks at the northeast corner of the Shakespeare Garden area.  I went down from Belvedere, and found the Crossbill again, low in the branches of the more westerly of the two hemlocks. Other birders present said there was a female as well, which I eventually caught a glimpse of when the flew out of the hemlocks onto a bare branch of a deciduous tree briefly.

The location information is probably not that useful, since when I
left the park at 10:45 they were getting ready to close the park in
advance of the nor'easter;  but maybe they'll be back tomorrow.

Good birding,
Ed Gaillard
Manhattan