Late-March Blooms

While the climax of the Spring songbird migration is still several weeks away, I recently observed two omens of things to come - Eastern Phoebe and Pine Warbler. In addition, flocks of foraging robins have become abundant in our city parks virtually overnight. Last Saturday I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens to look for other early migrants and to see what plants were blooming. Birds were few and far between, but I did see my first Osprey of the season. This huge, fish eating raptor was (not surprisingly) circling over the koi pond at the Japanese Garden. Some of the magnolia trees are beginning to flower, but full blooms are a week or two away. Here is a slideshow of some of the flower highlights:



Location name: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Observation date: 3/26/11

Mallard
Osprey
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
American Robin
European Starling
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Sparrow