Red-breasted Nuthatches are Late
After you’ve been birding for a few years, you begin to notice certain patterns in when birds arrive where. For instance, the Ruddy Ducks and American Coots pretty reliably show up on Prospect Lake every fall, and leave in the Spring. Some species are irruptive: some years they show up everywhere. Some years you’re lucky to see one.
One such species is the Red-breasted Nuthatch. It’s been pretty common in New York in winter for the last few years, but almost totally absent this season. Peter Dorosh just found our first one since May in Prospect Park yesterday at one of the feeders. They’re probably staying north due to a good cone crop this year.
