My first day "birding"

Those are some neat photos from our neighborhood:


In Prospect Park – it was great! I lost a little patience near the end, but overall it was great "first."

Birds we saw (that I can remember):

-Northern Cardinal
-American Coot
-Common Grackle (I didn't see this, but my guide did)
-Black-billed Gull
-Herring Gull (not sure, actually)
-Mute Swan
-Mallard
-Canada Goose
-Great Blue Heron (the only one in the park; I'd seen him before)
-Red-tailed Hawk (I saw this after I left my guide; apparently there are young ones here too)
-Pine Warbler
-Black-capped Chickadee
-Downy Woodpecker
-Shoveler (not the full name; kind of a duck)
-some other kind of waterfowl that starts with "r"
-Dark-eyed Junco
-White-throated Sparrow
-Rock Pigeon
-Tufted Titmouse
-some kind of nuthatch, I think
-Fox Sparrow
-Red-winged Blackbird
-American Goldfinch
-Belted Kingfisher
-Red-bellied Woodpecker

that may have been all, though there may have been more

Mute button

Today on the subway a large group of teenage schoolchildren boarded and stayed on for about five stops. They were very loud, screaming and giggling when the train lurched forward, complaining flirtatiously to each other that someone was squishing against them, and stepping on each other's toes. The entire car was nearly bursting at the seams with noise, which you don't often hear in silent commuter trains. Then they got off in a chattering herd, the car doors closed, and silence once again enveloped the car's interior. People continued to bury their noses in books and newspapers, as if nothing had ever happened, as if no tempest of bouncing decibels had invaded the car and then vanished into thin air.