Monday, August 24, 2015

Afternoon at Jamaica Bay

I took a trip to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this last weekend for a change of scenery from the East Village.  It's a great place to visit, and I was happy to see some different wildlife.

Swallows zipped around the mudflats...

Swallow

...scooping up insects from the shallow water.

Swallow

Flocks of plovers skittered around the sand...

Plover

Plover

...along with sandpipers.

Sandpiper

Sandpiper

I was lucky to catch this osprey as it sailed past...

Osprey

...before continuing north to join a jumbo jet convoy.


A lone cormorant guards the West Pond...

Cormorant

...while a great egret hunts in the south marsh.

 Great Egret

I'll never get over how stunningly elegant they are in flight.

Great Egret 

See more photos on my Flickr page.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Summer flutterers

On the sultriest summer days, I can always count on these happy little creatures to lift me up.

Untitled

Untitled

Spangled Fritillary

Spangled Fritillary

Untitled

Untitled

Monarch

See more photos on my Flickr page.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Molt season

East Village hawks Christo and Dora are currently molting, making them look kind of ratty.

Dora began losing her feathers in late July, same time as last year.  Christo started later, in early August.  They both look pretty rough around the edges.  Over the weekend, I counted six and a half tail feathers on Dora (she should have twelve), and tonight I counted seven on Christo.  Dora resembles a tattered Halloween decoration when she flies.

Dora:
Molting Dora

Molting Dora

Christo's head is ruffled and his face looks almost elderly.

Old man Christo:
Molty Christo

His coloring has become very light.

Molty Christo

Molty Christo

But this is normal. Soon, they will have fresh suits of beautiful feathers in time for winter.

Molty Christo

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Dora this evening

Dora the hawk enjoys the last bit of sunlight this evening from atop St Brigid's church on Avenue B & E 8th Street.

Dora


Sunday, August 9, 2015

More fun in the cemetery

Here are some more shots of one of the Avenue A hawk fledglings playing in the Marble Cemetery this last Thursday evening.  It's such a beautiful setting for a beautiful bird.

Fledgling in the Marble Cemetery

Fledgling in the Marble Cemetery

Fledgling in the Marble Cemetery

Fledgling in Marble Cemetery

Fledgling in Marble Cemetery

Fledgling in Marble Cemetery

The resident squirrels love to tease...

Fledgling playing with a squirrel in the Marble Cemetery

On this day, the squirrels outsmarted the hawk, but some day soon, they may not be so confident.

Fledgling playing with a squirrel in the Marble Cemetery

Fledgling in the Marble Cemetery

Also check out photos of this hawk in the cemetery over at Two Hawks NYC.

See more photos on my Flickr page.

Previously.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Fledgling plays in the Marble Cemetery

Several people have told me they've seen a hawk in the Marble cemetery on 2nd Street this week, so I stopped by this evening to check it out.

Sure enough, a fledgling was there frolicking in the grass.

Fledgling in the Marble Cemetery

The markings on the chest look very different than those on the hawk I saw earlier in the week in Tompkins Square, so I don't believe this is the same bird.  Since the discovery of a dead hawk at Astor Place,* I've been able to confirm two Avenue A hawks are ok.  I have yet to determine whether or not the third sibling is around.

Strutting his/her stuff...

Fledgling strutting in the Marble Cemetery

This hawk was very rambunctious, swooping back and forth across the cemetery and diving from trees, fire escapes, and the surrounding stone walls.  The cemetery is a perfect little playpen for a young hawk, full of fun toys like squirrels, pigeons and sticks.

Here, the fledgling catches a giant one...

Fledgling catches a huge stick in the Marble Cemetery

...then tap-dances on a grave.

Fledgling dancing on a grave in the Marble Cemetery

Vrrrrooooom!

Fledgling in the Marble Cemetery 

Vrrrrooooom!

Fledgling in the Marble Cemetery

Vrrrrooooom!

Fledgling in the Marble Cemetery

The cemetery is a popular sanctuary for hawks.  In March, I posted about a couple of Cooper's hawks who roosted here.


*Update on the necropsy:  I heard it was determined the dead hawk found at 9th Street and 4th Avenue was killed by blunt force trauma.  This is consistent with hitting a window, and I can't help but suspect 51 Astor Place, aka the Death Star, is to blame.

More to come...

See more photos on my Flickr page.

Previously.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Baby's first rat

Ok, maybe the title should be Photographer's first time witnessing baby catch rat

Baby hawk, that is.

After seeing a fledgling chase squirrels in Tompkins Square last Friday, I finally saw it catch a rat tonight.

Here is the hawk on the prowl in the SE corner of the park, just before sunset.

Fledgling on the prowl in Tompkins Square

I'm not sure if this is the same bird that was practicing catching prey on Friday, but the feather pattern on the chest does look very similar:

Fledgling in Tompkins Square

However, feathers move around and look different from different angles, so the pattern is not always a reliable way to identify an individual bird.  At first, I thought the brown spot at the top center of the chest could be an identifying mark, but as you can see in the photo below, that spot is gone (and these photos were taken just a couple of minutes apart).

Fledgling catches a rat

What a nice, big rat!

Fledgling catches a rat

The young hawk didn't seem to know what to do once it had the rat, so it waited a few minutes, never releasing its grip on the prize, until the rat passed on and was ready to eat.

But first, the kid must play with its food...

Fledgling playing with its food

While eating the rat on the ground, a spectator made a sudden movement that spooked the bird, so it took off with the rat, but the rodent seemed a bit too heavy to handle.  The hawk ended up dropping the rat on the sidewalk just outside the park on E 7th Street, and flew up to a fire escape to regroup.

Fledgling on E 7th Street

It made a few moves indicating it was trying to get back to the rat to retrieve it.

Red-tail fledgling on E 7th Street

But, after a few swoops around the area, the hawk opted to entertain itself by chasing squirrels around a tree.

Red-tail fledgling on E 7th Street

Hawk-watching has been fairly dull the last couple of weeks, so I'm really happy to finally see some up-close action in the park.

See more photos on my Flickr page.

Previously.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Encouraging hawk news

After the upsetting discovery of a dead young hawk at Astor Place last Thursday, I was really happy to find two of the Avenue A fledglings in Tompkins Square on Friday.

One stayed hidden high in the trees near the chess tables in the SW corner, but cried out periodically.  The other remained close, playing in the grass and swooping around that part of the park.

Fledgling in Tompkins Square

Fledgling in Tompkins Square

As it was a hot sticky day, the fledgling did a lot of panting and drooped its wings.

Hot hawk in Tompkins Square

This hawk really took an interest in the park squirrels, who mostly ignored the bird.  One, however, nearly ran into trouble.

Fledgling chasing a squirrel

At one point (too quick for my camera), the hawk tapped the squirrel on the back with its talon, but was unable to catch  it.

Fledgling chasing a squirrel

Fledgling chasing a squirrel

A piece of wood proved to be easier prey.

Fledgling playing with a piece of wood

Fledgling playing with a piece of wood

All that playing around worked up an appetite, so the hawk dug up an old rat that was lying in the grass and had a late afternoon snack.  I don't know where the rat came from, but it's likely dad Christo left it there earlier in the day.

Fledgling with rat in Tompkins Square

I haven't heard anything yet about the dead hawk, so we still don't know who it is.  I did see a fledgling perched on Most Holy Redeemer church on E 3rd Street, and later flying around Houston Street the same day I saw the hawks in the park, but I'm not sure if that was the third fledgling, or if it could have been one of these two.   Dora has been on the church the last two days, so that leads me to believe she's watching over her kid/s in that immediate area.  But, again, I'm not sure if all three fledglings have been accounted for yet.

Until then, it's great to see the fledglings have finally made the trip to the park where they can play and practice their hunting skills.  They are now three months old and growing up fast...

See more photos on my Flickr page.