Registrar: Dom Ricci
Participants: 13
Weather: Around 47–51 F, overcast, moderate breeze, infrequent light rain
Bird Species: 40
You might think that overcast conditions are are incompatible with good nature photography, but you would be mistaken. Gathered together on a cloudy Saturday morning near the Vale of Cashmere in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, a dozen Linnaean birders learned from noted birding writer, lecturer, and technology expert Tom Stephenson how to optimize their camera techniques and post-processing skills to capture avian subjects for both identification and aesthetics.
After the workshop we put those lessons to use in Prospect Park’s mix of lingering winter residents and early spring migration arrivals. In addition to Pine and Black-and-White Warblers in the Vale, sharp-eyed spotting treated us to two Louisiana Waterthrushes in the Ravine, near the site of last fall’s brush fire. We beheld an assortment of Wood Ducks, a Ring-necked Duck, a Rusty Blackbird, Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Green Heron, and a Cooper’s Hawk in close succession around the Pools.
The walk was concluded by an extended photographing session with an Orange-crowned Warbler, whose pool-side performance gave everyone a great opportunity to apply Tom’s photography lesson.
Species List
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Ring-necked Duck
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
American Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Green Heron
Osprey
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
European Starling
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
House Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Rusty Blackbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Pine Warbler
Northern Cardinal
