The Prospect Park Painted Bunting

There has been a Painted Bunting seen in Prospect Park for about a week now - it's become so popular that it was reported in the New York Times, NY Post, CBS, Weather.com, etc.  I finally had a chance to go see it Sunday morning so I got on the road by 5:37am and took a drive - I got a decent parking spot next to the park and quickly began my search for it.  When I arrived I was the only one looking for it so didn't have the convenience of a big crowd to look out for.  I looked around the skating rink and decided to walk around some more since it wasn't even sunrise yet.  I went up the hill near the skating rink and as I was heading down the path towards a lawn (around sunrise/ 7am)I saw a bright flash of green - it was unmistakable - I knew I had the bird.  I got a few bad photos but moved too fast on the bird, spooking it to fly to a pine tree.  As I walked over to it I saw it fly back to it's original location.  I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice so I went into "stealth mode" and was able to get good looks at the Painted Bunting from a few feet away. Other birders came but eventually the Bunting went MIA.  Later on it reappeared higher up on the hill where it attracted a large crowd.  I got another look at it and took a few more photos. I left after that feeling content since I had some time to myself to enjoy the bird.

I also saw a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, a pair of Cardinals and lots of Song Sparrows.  There were a lot of Northern Shovelers on the lake, as well as Canada Geese and Coots. There was a large flock of gulls towards the other side - I didn't have time to look at them and assumed they were all common types, but later on someone reported a Black Headed Gull among them.  I ended the morning with a Red Tailed Hawk welcoming me back home at the Massapequa exit off the Southern State.

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting

Cardinal

some of the crowd

Northern Shoveler

Painted Bunting

Red Tailed Hawk