Bronx Birding Bonanza — Birds Bugs Buds

All work and no play makes me a very, VERY dull girl. And so it has been while I work on the revamp of my other website, NYC Nature News (check it out and check back often as I'll be updating regularly!). Just took longer than expected...

To remedy this situation, I enjoyed a rejuvenating nature excursion but took a whopping 3 weeks to write about it!

So let's pretend that it's 3 Saturdays ago...

On a reconnaissance mission with Mitch, divine spouse, and Hannah, delightful pal from work. She wants to look at retail offerings, I want to check out the avian line-up. Mitch, the best shopper around and a keen birder, is along for both opportunities.

Our recon mission takes us to the mother ship of NYC public gardens: New York Botanical Garden.

Dear readers, you know how I adore my lovely 39 acres in Queens, but I must admit that Queens Botanical Garden's northern cousin is pretty nifty. With 250 acres that include a terrific forest, it makes for a nice bird outing.

We hoped to see Great-horned Owls that have nested in the past, but no luck. Yet we could hardly complain with the array of tame birds and a fantastic Red-tailed Hawk fly over as we watched Hooded Mergansers in a Bronx River inlet.

And, yes, the gift store was rather nice too.

Bronx River Bridge at New York Botanical Garden