Coney Island Creek Park - 13th Feb

A mid-day twitch to to look for a Thick-billed Murre. The last two days have seen reports from New Jersey, Staten Island, Long Island and Connecticut. The closest to me was in Brooklyn at Coney Island Creek Park. Whatever weather event has caused this highly unusual event also brought arctic conditions with it, and I have never felt so cold. The air temperature was about -10 Centigrade, with the wind-chill factor taking that down quite a way. I now understand how a cold wind can 'cut like a knife'. Brutal. What made it worse of course was missing out on the bird. There were a few compensations, the most interesting being an aberrant Canada Goose with large white wing bars visible in flight.

Horned Grebe

 Female Red-breasted Merganser

This oddly plumaged Canada Goose looked at first like it might be a hybrid, however when seen on the water it was indistinguishable from any of the rest of the flock. It seems it is just an aberrant individual, apparently not that unusual an occurrence.

American Tree Sparrow, blending in very well with the environment...