Monday 18 May 2009 - Birding in New York City - High Rise Birding - 18/05/2009

Monday 18th May 2009

High Rise Birding in Manhattan!

There wasn't much time for birding today as we planned on visiting the New York Public Library (a must see for an avid Ghostbusters fan like me), Grand Central Station (places of numerous classic movie scenes) and the Empire State Building (one of the tallest man-made structures, scene of King Kong etc).

'The Awakening' - just one of the many plaques laid into the sidewalks which lead the way to the New York Public Library

Despite a good old scan from the top of the Empire State Building the only species I could pick out were the usual 'Rock Doves' and the odd American Herring Gull in the distance.  I'm sure if I'd have taken my scope up with me I could have picked out much more though.  Being 86 floors up is a struggle with just a pair of bins, even famous landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and Yankee Stadium were just specks in the distance with my trusty Bausch & Lombs.  Disappointingly there was no sign of a giant Gorilla hanging from the very top of the building with a fit blonde in its grip.

'Rock Dove' at the top of the Empire State Building - Even the Pigeons in New York give you that 'Don't f*ck wid me!' look!

The Empire State Building from 6th Avenue

Even in the midst of the chaos that is New York City you can still pull out a few good bird sightings.  In Union Square another pair of Gray Catbirds were spotted feeding amongst the common House Sparrows and European Starlings and near the George Washington Memorial a Baltimore Oriole was heard calling.