Great Back Yard Bird Count

This was my first year participating in the event. It was fun. I counted for about 2 and one half hours today. I was hoping that the red-bellied woodpecker would make an appearance and indeed he made a brief visit to the suet feeder. In all I had 9 different species: 43 house sparrows, 1 white-throated sparrow, 10 mourning doves, 8 rock doves, 2 starlings, 2 northern cardinals, 1 red-bellied woodpecker, 4 house finches and1 herring gull flying over. These are my regulars. Not bad for a little Brooklyn, NY backyard.
This isn't the clearest picture of the woodpecker but this is the beauty that has been visiting my suet feeder all winter. Below him are my other regulars from another day - a snowy day

Red-bellied Woodpecker

White-throated sparrow

female Northern Cardinal

That's right I'm looking at you

male Northern Cardinal

Central Park Birding

I experienced birding in Central Park for the first time. Luke Tiller from Sunrise Birding http://sunrisebirding.com/ and http://underclearskies.com/ led again with a little help from Catherine of Birdspot, http://mydogoscar.com/birdspot/. We saw lots of Warblers but they were way up in the trees and I didn't get any pictures except for the Black and White Warbler, which I really wanted to see. The rhodendrons were blooming and provided a lot of color to the park and I got a few shots of them and a few other assorted items, but I'll save those for later this week. It was great to be with so many experienced birders because honestly the warblers are hard to spot, and even when you get them in your bins it's sometimes hard to sort them out. It's a lot easier when someone says, "a Magnolia Warbler at 10:00," and then you can find it. My thanks to all those birders but especially Luke and Catherine.
Oops, these aren't birds! I just liked the color and the symmetry Two Red Umbrellas and Two Trees.
Black and White Warbler

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Robin on a nest. We saw three Robins nesting and those nests were not too far off the ground either.