For some reason I decided to read the Wikipedia article on norovirus. Apparently another term for it is “winter vomiting bug.” Which, I hate so say, sounds funny — like a ladybug wearing a hat and scarf carrying a little tiny bucket just in case. But seriously, norovirus is no fun — I have had it a couple of times. I’m glad everyone is back to being chipper again!
You’re right, I have heard and seen peregrines in Manhattan; they used to nest (maybe still do?) in the tower of Riverside Church, near where I used to live. And I see red-tailed hawks in Central Park pretty often; I’ve also seen a Black-Crowned Night Heron and a Wood Duck in Central Park. But on the streets of Manhattan there are not a lot of birds other than house sparrows, pigeons and starlings.
I don’t see too many in Manhattan :) but today I went out with my Merlin app and heard quite a few species way up in the treetops in the wooded part of Central Park: hearing them but not seeing them was like having very bad seats at a concert. In the summer in Maine though I do hear and see quite a few of the usual suspects. A Hermit Thrush in the woods in the late afternoon sounds like some kind of benevolent Spirit of the Oak and Spruce.
Good luck with the next 15 birds — and congrats on the new tablet (and on setting it up without smacking it one upside the head)!
I was a birder of sorts when I was a kid and I have a couple of friends who are birders. I do like to hear about birders’ achievements, though, and I enjoy seeing or hearing an unusual bird.
There is not a freakin’ chance in the world I would sit or stand where they are.