Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from a couple of lovebirds, Amelia and Christo. 🩷

Welsome to Hawk Season 2025

Welcome to Hawk Season 2025! Our local red-tailed hawks, Christo and Amelia, have been busy working on nestorations in Tompkins Square Park. Something new this year is they are working on two locations within the park, so it will be interesting to see which one they finally choose. Over the last several years, they have built nests in two of the park trees, so perhaps they are looking to change things up a bit this year. We will know in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, here is a photo of Christo on a recent sunny afternoon in Tompkins.

After resting in the tree, Christo relocated to the roof of the Christodora building, where he was dive-bombed by a kestrel. Even when they're not nesting, the kestrels can be very territorial.

Christo wasn't having any of it, so he took off and that was the last I saw of him that day.

As for other winter raptors around the city, here is a Northern Harrier patrolling a snowy field in Brooklyn.

This is a young red-tailed hawk in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

The hawk was chilling on a branch right above a pathway. I had no choice but to pass underneath it, but the hawk didn't seem to mind. Even so, I didn't want to bother it, so I quickly moved on.

Here is another young red-tail soaring on a bright wintry day.

This curious young Cooper's hawk perched quietly in a tree over an East Village sidewalk.

A young Cooper's hawk shooting through the air:

In winter, Cooper's hawks often roost behind my building and call to each other in the early morning. I love being awakened by their vocals. Back in 2018, I managed to capture a conversation between two Cooper's hawks on Houston Street, which you can see/hear below.

Cooper's hawks sound much different than red-tails, so keep your ears open for what could be mistaken for a dog toy squeaking.

 

NYC People's March - 2025

Yesterday, I participated in the NYC People's March, standing up for human rights and democracy. The march began with a rally at Foley Square before making its way up to Washington Square Park. More people joined in as the march went on and I was happy to see so many people spontaneously showing support along the way. As we are about to enter a terrible time in this country, I was encouraged by the show of strength and reminder that we can never give up.

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr Day, and I will be paying my respects to the great civil rights leader. Meanwhile, here are some photos and a video from the march:

This video clip shows a short segment of the march. Note how calm and normal everyone is - no violence, no threats, no insanity.

See more People's March photos on my Flickr page.

NYC Mulchfest 2025

I love the smell of wood chippers in the morning.

It's that time of year again: Mulchfest across the city, when old Christmas trees get recycled into mulch for our parks. This year, I stayed in Tompkins Square Park, but there are numerous tree drop-off locations throughout the five boroughs.

The parks crew arrived early in the morning and wasted no time getting the chipping started.

We had a pretty good sized tree pile this year. Below is some video of workers tossing trees into the chipper.

I circled around the pile to get another view.

Video from this angle:

A small crowd began gathering to watch the spectacle and, I'm sure, to enjoy the aroma of freshly chipped evergreens.

Bonus action video:

We can look forward to the wood chippings perfuming our park for a few weeks. The fresh mulch is in a pile next to the Krishna Tree and everyone is welcome to take some home. Get it before the dogs pee on it!

See my Mulchfest archive here.

2024 - Year in Review

As 2024 winds to a close, I'm happy to say I observed a total of 264 bird species this last year (beating 2023 by 21), with 17 of those species being "lifers" or the first time I'd recorded them.

One of those was this Crested Caracara seen along a road.

I made a special trip to see Florida Scrub-Jays, which I wrote about here.

The "rarest" bird sighting was probably this Piratic Flycatcher, which I also wrote about here.

This is a Chuck-Will's-Widow perfectly camouflaged against the ground.

I have missed several opportunities to see Cerulean Warblers, but lucked out this year when one showed up in Brooklyn.

2024 was the year to finally record my first Whimbrel.

This is a Common Myna who took up residence in the parking lot of a Chipotle in Florida a few years ago. He is likely an escaped pet, but he now owns the parking lot and people go pay homage to him regularly. I was one of his admirers this year.

Sometimes, the photos don't really work out, but the experience is still worthwhile. Such was the case with these American Flamingos who dropped in at Merritt Island in Florida. They were among many Flamingos who went exploring North America this last year after being displaced by storms. 

These Flamingos were hanging out with Cormorants and White Pelicans on a distant island. Despite being far away, they were instantly recognizable. This was my first time seeing them in the wild.

If you get out your magnifying glass, you will see a Cormorant and Brown Booby perched together on this sign in Tampa Bay. The Booby (on the right) has a distinctive white belly and a dark head.

This photo (squint hard) shows three Brown Boobies together on a sign in the same area of the bay. One of my goals this next year is to get better views and photos of these birds. These pics were taken from a gazillion miles away and heavily cropped. Scope views were not much better than this.

Other birds first recorded in 2024:

• Long-Eared Owl
• Glaucous Gull
• Swallow-Tailed Kite
• Brown-Headed Nuthatch
• Kentucky Warbler (a nemesis bird, only confirmed for me this year)
• Bicknell's Thrush
• American Golden Plover
• Greater White-Fronted Goose

Observing birds for the first time is always exciting, but there are also experiences that just stand out. This year, seeing a White Pelican in New York Harbor was really special. The odds were slim and the weather was bad, but my friend and I had a memorable time riding the Staten Island ferry back and forth in an attempt to see the bird and our efforts were rewarded.

Of course, no year would be complete without documenting the Tompkins Square Red-Tailed Hawk family. I put in a lot of work this year, not missing a day for weeks, and it never gets old. Christo and Amelia are due to start their new nesting season in a few weeks, and I am ever grateful to be able to continue observing their activities.

May 2025 bring good birding experiences to everyone.