Urban birding in USA

Just ending a two week visit to the USA. Here's some photos of some urban birds I managed to click while here :

First set is from New York City -

Mostly clicked at the Central Park in Manhattan.

Here's a beautiful Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)

Here's another Common Grackle

An European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

A view of the famous Guggenheim museum from the park with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis reservoir in front of it. Here's a few photos from the reservoir -

This one was a lifer - Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

A diving Bufflehead

Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)

Another diving Bufflehead

Some more Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola)

A female Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) about to land

Some more Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola)

Another lifer - the cute Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)

A bathing Common Grackle

Some more Grackle snaps:

And another lifer - White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) - you can clearly see the yellow between the eye and the bill!!!

And the most numerous resident of Central Park - Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)

The next few snaps are from Boston

Some Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) at MIT

And some Brant Goose (Branta bernicla) near the Bay area

And a fleeting glimpse of a pair of Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser)

And the rest of the photos are from Washington DC

Here's a Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

An American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Another Lifer - Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)

Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)

Another lifer - Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

another Dark-eyed Junco

And the last lifer for this trip - Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

It was also the beginning of the Cherry Blossom season, sadly I leave a few days before the Cherry blossom festival!

And to end a few snaps from the Tidal Basin in front of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

And the last snap from this trip is of a Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)