Originally published February 2013
I am so happy to share some of the photos I've been able to take in Central Park and along the Hudson on this Web site. See below for shots taken right after the blizzard, and for other favorite shots, mainly of wildlife in Central Park. This top section is from walks on Feb. 13 and Feb. 16.
These two are of the blue heron, the first taken on Feb. 13 on the west side of the Lake in the West 70s, and the second was taken on Feb. 16 on the east side of the Lake, also in the West 70s. I got to see him fly. He is a truly magnificent bird.
I was able to get closer to the heron on Feb. 16.
I love cardinals, the bright red so easy to catch sight of if you're looking and patient. These shots were also taken on Feb. 13 and Feb. 16. The park has beautiful cardinals, and although it is common to spot them, it is always exciting. My Mom used to say that spotting one was lucky, so I'm always happy to have a bit more luck.
I love the ducks in the park and along the Hudson. I've fallen in love with a lone wood duck at the Pond in the southeast part of Central Park. He swims with the mallards, and I've come to the conclusion that he thinks he is a mallard. The mallards tolerate him, and he follows them around, but sometimes I see him lead them as well. As you can see in my last post, I've taken lots of pictures of him.
There are lots and lots of mallards, at the Lake, the Pond and the Pool. But there are also other ducks, including, I think, gadwalls. [Editor's note: These are actually mallard hybrids, as your Chronicler was told later.] I had the pleasure of watching the gadwalls on both Feb. 13 and 16, including what looked like a mating session on the 16th. At least the head bobbing before and the wing waves after from both seemed to indicate a happy time. I guess I'll know more if I see lots of little gadwalls come spring.
There are many, many bird species in the park (today I heard someone say 350, but who knows whether he was right or not). I've seen hawks, wrens, sparrows, robins, blue jays, blackbirds and so many others. The titmice are particularly fun to watch, but they are so fast they are hard to photograph. So many of the birds seem so common that you often overlook them. So I include a photo here of pretty familiar birds that are nonetheless quite beautiful.
