page_title: The Ramble and Lake
section_title: Birdwatching
hierarchical_section_title: The Ramble and Lake / Birdwatching
caption_attribution_description: English: Birdwatching in The Ramble
context_page_description: The Ramble and Lake are two geographic features of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. Part of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux's 1857 Greensward Plan for Central Park, the features are located on the west side of the park between the 66th and 79th Street transverses.
  The 38-acre Ramble, located on the north shore of the Lake, is a forested area with highly varied topography and numerous winding walks, designated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as a protected nature preserve. It was designed as a "wild garden" away from carriage drives and bridle paths, in which to be wandered, or to be viewed as a "natural" landscape. The Ramble includes several rustic bridges, and formerly contained a small cave. Historically, it has been frequented for both birdwatching and cruising.
  The serpentine 20-acre Lake offers dense naturalistic planting, rocky outcrops of glacially scarred Manhattan bedrock, small open glades, and an artificial stream that empties through the Azalea Pond, then down a cascade into the Lake. At the northwestern corner of the Lake, the ground rises toward Vista Rock, crowned by a lookout and folly named Belvedere Castle.
context_section_description: The Ramble is one of the major centers of birdwatching in Central Park. At least 250 species of birds have been spotted over the years, including more than 20 species of warblers that pass through during spring and fall migration in April and October. One of the most popular birding spots is Azalea Pond, along the waterfront.
  Dogs are required to be on leash at all times in the Ramble. A viral video in May 2020 depicted a racially-charged confrontation involving a white woman walking her dog who threatened to call police on black birdwatcher Christian Cooper, who had asked her to put her dog on a leash.
caption: Birdwatching in the Ramble
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