Week of 11/11
We had a lovely week outdoors visiting our beloved Prospect Park. As many of you know, over the past weekend a brushfire burned a two-acre area of the park’s woods. Luckily firefighters responded quickly and extinguished the blaze before any more damage could be done. We’re grateful the park continues to be a sanctuary for us urban dwellers and encourage those who can donate to the Prospect Park Alliance so they can continue their care of the park. We love you, Prospect Park!
For this week’s Field Notes newsletter, we wanted to focus on a special late-Autumn topic - birds! While spring is a well-known time for birdwatching, late Autumn and winter can be a fruitful time to take up the hobby and learn about the many resident birds that spend the winter in our area. Spotting birds can become easier during this time when the sparse leaves allow for a clearer view of life up in the canopy. As one Marigold friend pointed out, “That tree has no leaves. Look a bird’s nest!” while gazing up into the crown of a tree.
Colorful birds like cardinals stand out against the brown landscape of the chillier months and draw our attention. One Ladybug shared, “cardinals are red!” after seeing one of these brightly colored birds. Blue Jays have been another one of our winter residents who capture our attention each day. We have begun to recognize their loud “Jay! Jay!" call as we walk to the park. Observing these colorful and spunky creatures inspired our dramatic play, with the Ladybugs turning The House Tree into a big bird's nest. The Ladybugs practiced flapping their wings when they entered and exited their cozy nests, working through what it might be like to be a bird.
Blue Jays are part of the Corvid family, a group of birds that include crows and ravens. The Squeaky Mice observed a large flock of crows flying in the park on Wednesday, inspiring conversations about how to ID the bird. One child suggested that it was a hawk "because its wings are not flapping.” Another noticed the bird’s all-black coloring and wanted to call it a crow. As the birds flew over we heard their "caw caw” voice, locking in the ID as crows. Crows and Ravens can be tricky to distinguish, but their calls, size, and flocking habits can help with ID. For those with budding birders at home, the book “Crow, not Crow" by Jane Yolen is a fun picture book about differentiating between crow-like birds.
Although Ravens are the rarer bird to spot, the Flying Squirrels were lucky enough to spot one during their park trip. We noticed the large black bird flying over us and heard its loud, frog-like croak. One squirrel shared excitedly, “Wow, I've never seen a Raven before!" The thrill of seeing a new bird and passing by a bird feeder got the crew asking “How can I make a bird feeder?" We thought it would be fun to share the instructions for a simple orange bird feeder with families who are looking for a crafting idea over the next few weekends. All you need is an orange, bird seed (like sunflower seeds!), two small sticks, and some twine.
We have been feeling the north winds blowing this week, and these gusts not only bring cooler temperatures, but they aid migrating birds who are moving south for the winter. While many songbirds migrate at night, birds of prey (like hawks, vultures, and falcons) can be seen migrating during the daytime. One keen-eyed hawk watcher from the Jumping Spiders spotted two Black Vultures kettling over the Long Meadow during their Tuesday park trip. The large black birds have diagnostic white wing “fingers” that can be seen in flight. If that wasn’t exciting enough, a red-tailed hawk was also seen flying with the two vultures. Red-tails are one of the most prevalent hawks in our area and we are lucky enough to see one on almost every park trip. The Marigolds are excited every time they see these big birds and the crew has been lucky enough to see them swoop down low or perch in a nearby tree on a few recent park trips.
Other birds that you may notice with your kiddos during the winter months are ducks! Birders like to call the winter ducks, “weird ducks” because of the variety of interesting waterfowl that grace our waterways. A trip to Dog Beach or the Lake at Prospect Park could yield sightings of northern shovelers, hooded mergansers, common loons, ruddy ducks, and of course our year-round friends, the mallards. After hiking out to Endale Bridge two times this week, the Marigolds shared their duck report of several mallards enjoying the running waters of Ambergill Creek and falls. We hope for more “weird duck” sightings as the season goes on.
Have a wonderful weekend and hope you have some good birding!
With Gratitude,
Sara & Jules