Great Turkey Chase

Turkey

Honestly…..a wild Turkey

This shows how close the bird was to the main path

I've seen prettier birds

Jacqeline Onassis Reservoir (can you spot the Red-necked Grebe)

Female Ruddy Duck

Male Ruddy Duck

Bufflehead

Red-necked Grebe

Our final day in New York started early with a trip up to the top of the Rockafeller building giving us amazing views of the city and also Central Park. After breakfast we opted to return to park but start further north so we could take in the Jacqeline Onassis Reservoir & also Strawberry Fields.

It was a beautiful morning & the park was busy with the active New Yorkers going about their weekend run or cycle. There was also outdoor fitness classes taking place, in fact we hadn't expected to see so many in shape people in New York. The reservoir was a favourite jogging spot of Jackie Onassis and Bill Clinton, with it holding a billion gallons of water & covering an 1/8th of the park in size. 

First birds to catch my eye were a pair of stunning Buffleheads that thankfully swam towards us enabling me to get a few nice shots. In the same part of the reservoir there were a pair of Ruddy Ducks, the males beak was striking in colour.

A wintering Red-necked Grebe was a good bird to catch up with but it was a few weeks behind the one I found at Salford Priors. Mrs D then picked up a Northern Rough-winged Swallow flying around the east side. 

After taking in the historic Strawberry Fields we headed to the south west corner where after a decent walk we found the reported wild Turkey. To be honest I didn't even know Turkey's were wild. Apparently this was just the 9th record for the park with the species and it was thought the birds had dispersed from its breeding grounds. The Turkey was foraging for food at very close quarters allowing many local people to get great views. 

By the end of the trip I'd manage to record 63 species with 47 being lifers. 

Trip List

1) Common Grackle

2) Red-winged Blackbird

3) House Sparrow

4) American Herring Gull

5) Laughing Gull

6) Great Cormorant

7) Brent Geese

8) Lesser Black-backed Gull

9) American Robin

10) Chipping Sparrow

11) White-throated Sparrow

12) Peregrine

13) Red-bellied Woodpecker

14) Blue Jay

15) Blue-grey Gnatcatcher

16) Ruby-crowned Kinglet

17) Belted Kingfisher

18) Mallard

19) American Coot

20) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

21) Northern Waterthrush

22) American Goldfinch

23) Northern Cardinal

24) Green Heron

25) Red-breasted Nuthatch

26) White-breasted Nuthatch

27) Orange-crowned Warber

28) Northern Parula

29) Palm Warbler

30) Pine Warbler

31) Yellow-rumped Warber

32) Red-tailed Hawk

33) Brown Thrasher

34) Mourning Dove

35) Song Sparrow

36) Downy Woodpecker

37) Chimmey Swift

38) Double-crested Cormorant

39) Great Cormorant

40) Black-crowned Night Heron

41) Red-headed Woodpecker

42) American Kestrel

43) American Crow

44) Blue-headed Vireo

45) Black-capped Chickadee

46) House Wren

47) Hermit Thrush

48) Wood Thrush

49) House Finch

50) Louisana Waterthrush

51) Eastern Towhee

52) Brown-crowned Cowbird

53) Bufflehead

54) Ruddy Duck

55) Shoveler

56) Rough-winged Swallow

57) Great White Egret

58) Starling

59) Tufted Titmouse

60) Canada Goose

61) Red-necked Grebe

62) Great Black-backed Gull

63) Turkey