Revisiting Florida Scrub-Jays

Last year, I took a trip to Florida to meet Florida-Scrub Jays. This last February, when NYC was experiencing endless snow and cold, I took another trip to hang out with these little blue characters.

I went to a park where I had seen some before and, sure enough, they showed up to check us out.

All of the adults are banded and known to biologists. The jays live in family groups and this one appeared to be composed of five or six individuals.

Two of them came to the ground to go on a foraging expedition.

One came back up with some seed pods in its mouth.

After making sure no one was watching, this jay took the seeds to the ground and buried them for later.

Florida Scrub-Jays are endemic to Florida and are listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act, meaning they are likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future.

 

The 2025 State of the Birds report lists Florida Scrub-Jay as a Red Alert Tipping Point species, meaning that it has lost more than 50% of its population in the past 50 years, has a perilously low population, and has shown steep declining trends. This is due primarily to habitat loss (human development).

 

Learn more about these wonderful birds and how to help them at the Florida Wildlife Federation's website. 

Bald Eagles tussle over a fish

In February, I visited a spot I like for viewing Bald Eagles and, sure enough, there were a couple of immature birds battling over a fish.

The two eagles chased each other around and displayed some incredible acrobatics in the air.

I'm not sure what type of fish the eagle has, but it appears to be yellow.

The second eagle tried to grab the fish, but the first eagle hung on tight.

Things got a little heated...

The second eagle kept diving at the first eagle.

Oh noes!

The eagles continued to go at it after the fish fell.

As they were distracted, a bunch of vultures moved in on the dropped fish. I was too far away to get good photos of the vultures, but I caught the eagles flying off, perhaps to do more fishing.

Last year, I had a close encounter with some immature Bald Eagles playing around in the same area. I had set out to find different birds, but the eagles stole the show and really made my day.

 

 

Brooding Time for Tompkins Square Hawks

It's egg-brooding time for our Tompkins Square Red-Tailed Hawks, Amelia and Charlie. This means Amelia will be spending the bulk of the next several weeks hunkered down in their nest. Charlie will hunt for food an provide meals for both of them. He will take over nest duty several times a day to give Amelia a break to eat and get some exercise.

Below is Amelia on the left and Charlie on the right. Note the difference in their size - Amelia is an impressively large hawk.

The hawks have been putting on some mating displays for the last couple of weeks and will continue to do so until the last egg is laid. Below are some mating highlights from the last week or so. 

 

Atop St Nicholas of Myra church on Avenue A: 

In a honey locust tree on the east side of the park:

This is a new spot...on top of what ever that thing is way up near the roof of the Christodora building on Avenue B. Penthouse residents may have had a good view of this encounter.

I was two seconds late for this, but caught the hawks just after mating on Most Holy Redeemer on E 3rd Street. This photo was taken from within Tompkins Square, five blocks away. Amelia is on the left and Charlie is on the right.

Amelia looking out from the nest:

The best bet for seeing hawk action during brooding time is watching Charlie hunt in the park and deliver food to Amelia. They seem to like taking their meals in the tree in the middle of the central lawn, so that's a good place to look for them.