A roundup of other birds in Pelham Bay Park on our April 4 hike:

Great Blue Heron, in flight. We’ve seen them before in other areas, but didn’t see any last year in Pelham Bay, so this was a nice treat.

Double-Crested Cormorant - threatened in the early part of the 20th century, and after rebounding, threatened again by pesticides in the 1950s and ’60s, double-crested cormorants have come back so strongly in some areas of the United States that U.S. Fisheries & Wildlife is now exercising population control.

Turkey Vulture - I’ve written before about carrion birds and the service they do us. And no matter the revulsion we might feel when we see them eating, vultures are majestic in flight.

Field Sparrow - dainty Field Sparrows have a sweet, trilling song.

Common Grackle - “Common Grackles are abundant and widespread. They have grown in numbers and extended their range westward, following the spread of agriculture. Their tendency to form large flocks has them suspected of causing immense damage to crops, and this has made them the target of eradication campaigns, though their numbers remain strong.”

Northern Flicker - these pretty brown woodpeckers mostly forage on the ground, rather than against a tree trunk.

American Robin - ubiquitous, but sometimes one just begs to have his portrait taken.

Aside from gulls, blackbirds, starlings, etc. — also seen but not caught on camera were:

• Red-Bellied Woodpecker
• American Crow
• Numerous Swallows too quick to ID

Egret photoset part 2!

After dining on the first eel, our egret was apparently still hungry, and ferociously captured a second one, before sneaking off behind a rock to finish eating.

We walked around to the northwest point of Two Trees Island and about ten minutes later were treated to the sight of our egret flying from the bay side to the marsh side of the Twin Islands.

(see part 1)

Because it just isn’t a shore hike without some quality egret time …

(part one of a nice fat egret photoset - you can also see part two!)

This Northern Mockingbird gave us a prolonged concert today in Pelham Bay Park.

These birds are something of a success story; according to the Cornell Ornithology Lab they’ve rebounded from lows in the nineteenth century, when many were trapped or taken from nests and sold as cage birds.

A Glossy Ibis stretches its wings. This is yet another photo from Jamaica Bay - the wildlife preserve there is both accessible and rich with birds.

Glossy Ibis, like many shorebirds, often has mutually beneficial relationships with egrets and other waders. Egrets and herons may have an easier time finding prey that ibis have disturbed.

Ibis are not strictly native to North America, but they voluntarily established their populations in the 20th century.

Trumpet Vines bloom along the trails at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. These sturdy native plants are resilient and aggressive, but they provide a food source for hummingbirds and bumblebees, as well as shelter for finches and flycatchers.

Trumpet Creeper is also frequently used in gardens, being easy to grow and ornamental. Some people are allergic to the leaves, however, and the plant can be difficult to uproot completely since it grows like ivy with rootlets to help it climb.

Great Mullein looms just inland of the shore at Jamaica Bay. This prehistoric-looking plant has been used for centuries in herbal remedies. The ancient Greeks and Romans even used the flower stalks as torches and candle wicks.

It is not native to the Americas and was introduced by settlers from Europe, possibly (according to the National Park Service) as a bug repellent. Mullein can be invasive in open, sunny areas - those long flower stalks will shed hundreds of seeds.

American Oystercatchers in flight over the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. These birds, once threatened, have made a comeback in the mid-Atlantic states. They are rather shy of humans and vulnerable to gull predation; like Piping Plovers, they are shoreline nesters, and so are also vulnerable to changes in the shore from storms, erosion or development.

This Black Vulture visited us briefly on a trip to Warwick, NY. In addition to the usual vulture diet of carrion, these birds eat fish and young animals. They are ground nesters, unusual among raptors in North America.

Whimbrel fly over the salt marsh in Cape May. These birds are related to both sandpipers and curlews. They use their curved beaks to hunt insects and small crabs in marshes.

Although their population has recovered since they were over-hunted in the 19th century, Whimbrel, like all shore birds, are constantly at risk as shoreline and salt marsh habitat is endangered by over-development.