Swamp Nightjar

In July 2025 we stayed at the Nkima Forest Lodge on a hill above the Mabamba Swamp and Lake Victoria. I went out with an excellent local birding guide, Wilson, and he guided me to a swamp jar, which I flushed, and then went to where it flew and flushed again. I was not able to get a photo, but I was very close to it. By far the closest I have gotten to a nightjar, I was within a few feet of it when it flushed. 

Illustration of a female flying from Birds of the World.

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 

Range from Birds of the World. 

Monk Parakeet

On July 23, 2021 Judy and I were visiting Andrew in New York City and we took the subway into Brooklyn and visited the Green-Wood Cemetery which houses the remains of Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Morse, Horace Greeley and many other distinguished and not so distinguished New Yorkers. I was excited to see the monk parakeet that Andrew said were all over the entrance facade to the cemetery. 

Illustration from Birds of the World.

Range from Birds of the World. Wikipedia notes that they are native to South America, but feral populations can be found all over the world. It notes populations in New York and specifically mentions Green-Wood Cemetery.