Christo and Amelia gear up for their 7th nesting season

It's January, which means nesting season for our local Red-Tailed Hawks is ramping up. Resident pair, Christo and Amelia, have been doing some light housekeeping at their old nest, and will likely spend the next few weeks collecting sticks in preparation for the next generation of offspring.

Earlier in the week, I found Amelia on the roof of the Christodora building, calmly watching over Tompkins Square Park.

She eventually moved from that perch to the cross of St Nicholas of Myra church on Avenue A.

Here she is on the cross of St Brigid's church on Avenue B:

The following day, Christo took his place on the Avenue A cross.

Yesterday, I found him soaring over the park.

He then settled on his spot atop the Christodora.  He prefers the south end of the roof while Amelia likes the north end. They almost always face west.

It wasn't long before Christo was mobbed by a local Kestrel. The hawks tolerate this annoyance better than I would, lol.

Stay tuned as we look forward to another successful year for this hawk pair.

NYC Mulchfest 2024

It's the best weekend of the year - Mulchfest!  Specifically, wood-chipping weekend.

This morning in Tompkins Square Park, a mountain of discarded Christmas trees awaited the arrival of the chipper.

As soon as the chipper arrived, workers began removing all metal, plastic, and forgotten ornaments from the trees.

They organized a pile to make things easier for tossing the trees into the machine.

As the chipper chewed up the evergreens and spat out the shreds into the back of a truck, the air filled with wonderfully aromatic fir dust.  This what we wait all year to smell.

Meanwhile, over in Maria Hernandez Park in Brooklyn, the first round of chipping had ended but I got there in time to enjoy the holiday tree and decorations.

Several people were enjoying the free fresh mulch.

As usual, the Parks Department provided some cute canvas bags people could use to collect mulch to take home.

Here are some videos of the mulching in Tompkins Square:

If you missed the wood chipper today, it is scheduled to be out and about again tomorrow, Sunday, January 7.  See the Parks Department website for chipping locations.

See my Mulchfest archive here.

I also have a dedicated Flickr photo collection here.

2023 Bird Stats

2023 turned out to be a pretty good bird year for me. I ended the year with 246 species, 24 of which were lifers (first-time observations). 

My first bird observation of 2023 was a pair of Red-Tailed hawks in Brooklyn, and the last observation of the year was a male Merlin, also in Brooklyn.

According to eBird, the species I saw the greatest number of was Common Grackle (5,015). This was due to the huge flocks they form in the fall. Coming in second was Brant (4,935) followed closely by Canada Goose (4,684). Conspicuously missing from this list is Snow Geese, which I usually see in large numbers at Jamaica Bay, so it appears I failed to visit the wildlife refuge at the end of last winter. Something to strive for this year.

Some highlights from 2023:

 

Horned Lark

These were photographed at Floyd Bennett Field and this was, surprisingly, the first time I'd seen them. Despite their bold color patterns, they could be really camouflaged while foraging on the ground.

MacGillivray's Warbler

This was an extreme rarity found in the Bronx by birders during the Christmas Bird Count. This little skulker looks similar to a Mourning Warbler, but has a broken eye ring. They're normally found on the west coast, so this individual drew a lot of attention in the birding community.

Connecticut Warbler

I've seen Connecticut Warblers several times, but they are often tough to find as they prefer to stay hidden away in dense vegetation. This one spent a lot of time in the open in Green-Wood Cemetery and provided some excellent views.

Northern Pintail

There were a couple of Pintails in the Central Park Meer this last fall, but I saw this male on Christmas Day in Brooklyn. I've never seen one as close to shore as this, so he made my day.

Purple Sandpiper

These are birds I've also seen several times before, but it seems they always appear on dark and dreary days, making photographing them difficult. This was one of a flock of five that were foraging along the rocky shoreline of Governors Island.

Gray-Headed Swamphen

This was my first time seeing this bird and I just thought it was cool looking. This photo was taken at sunrise in a Florida wetland. Check out those huge feet!

Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks

I saw this pair while on a visit to New Orleans, then saw more in Florida. I think they're really beautiful and I love their squeaky calls.

Belted Kingfisher

Kingfishers can be found everywhere, but this male was hanging out at Newtown Creek, a Superfund Site in Brooklyn/Queens. Those are Canada Geese in the background. Despite being one of the most polluted sites in the country, there is a lot of wildlife to be found there - more reason to clean up the environment.

Christo

2023 marks my 10th year documenting Christo, the resident male Red-Tailed Hawk of Tompkins Square Park. He and his mate, Dora, appeared in November 2013 and I'll never forget the day they made their move on the territory. There had been three immature hawks using the park when the new adult pair showed up and spent a whole day observing the situation from the roof of the Christodora. At some point, they made a decision and few into the park and drove off all the other hawks. The first time I saw Christo close up, he was perched on the fence at the Avenue A & St Mark's Place entrance. The following year would prove to be absolutely magical as we (several hawk-watchers) observed Christo raise a family of three chicks and show us what it means to be a hawk in this city.

Christo has gone on to raise 22 chicks to fledge, as well as one foster chick from Brooklyn. You can read up on his stats on my Tompkins Square Park Hawk Archive Page. 

Christo and his mate of six years, Amelia, are currently gearing up for the next breeding season. You are likely to see them around the park any day of the week.

2023 Favorite Bird Sightings - Part 2

Continuing with some of my favorite bird observations from 2023, I have to mention what is probably the most unusual sighting I had this year, a Black-Chinned Hummingbird:

This amazing find was thanks to a staff member on Randall's Island who posted a video to social media several weeks ago, setting off huge excitement in the local birding community. This little guy belongs in the southwest, but inexplicably made its way here and, to date, is still in the same area on Randall's Island. As it's now winter and all the flowers have gone, people have put a feeder out for it and it continues to survive.

Earlier in the fall, I saw this Ruby-Throated Hummingbird in Central Park. At the time, I thought this was pretty special, but then the Black-Chinned came along and stole the show, LOL. Both are amazing little creatures.

On a trip to New Orleans last spring, I saw my first Mississippi Kite. In fact, I saw a lot of them, and even caught some mating on video, which I have yet to process and post.

Ruby-Crowned Kinglets are one of my favorite migratory birds, and I usually see more of them in the fall.

Governors Island serves as a nesting ground for Herring Gulls and this is one of the chicks from last spring. I love their little fuzzy spotted heads.

It's always exciting to see Northern Harriers. They are not as common in NYC as other raptors, but they can reliably be found around Jamaica Bay.

As usual, Ospreys know how to make my day.

This last summer saw a nesting pair of Ospreys along the East River. I've never seen them nest so close to Manhattan, so I hope this is a trend. This particular nest (below) was pretty difficult to observe and I'm not sure if they were successful or not.

The Ash-Throated Flycatcher has been one of my "nemesis birds" for a while, and this was the year I was finally able to photograph one. This individual was very cooperative in Owls Head Park in Brooklyn.

Not a rarity, but this Downy Woodpecker was perched very low to the ground, where I don't often see them.

Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers are challenging (for me) to photograph as they move quickly and are often high up in trees. I usually hear them more often than I see them, but this one paused briefly in a short bush as it hunted for insects.

This Great Blue Heron seemed to really be enjoying itself out at Jamaica Bay on a sunny day. It kept dancing around, putting on a show.

I made a special trip to Staten Island just to see the local Wild Turkey flock. I first encountered them in 2021, and immediately fell in love.

Look how beautiful!

I used to visit Zelda, the wild turkey who lived in Battery Park for many years. When she passed away in 2014 (and got a write-up in the New York Times), I was heartbroken. Seeing this flock living their best lives makes me really happy.

2023 Favorite Bird Sightings - Part 1

I've had a great birding year, logging 243 species observed, with a couple of weeks left in the year to raise that total. My tally for last year was 198 species, so visiting a couple of different regions this last year helped add several more species to my life list.

Below are a few favorites seen in 2023. I have so many favorites, so this post will be Part 1.

Red-Shouldered Hawk in a strange pose squished under a branch:

Another Red-Shouldered Hawk soaring:

Ospreys always make my top favorite lists as they can be so engaging, making eye contact as they pass overhead.

Snowy Egret hot-stepping in shallow water:

This Anhinga caught a fish and gulped it down in three swift moves:

In the photo above, you can see the tip of the Anhinga's lower bill poking through the fish. The bird then adroitly moves the fish into position so it can be swallowed.

Down the hatch!

I can't resist taking photos of Brown Pelicans - they make it so easy by flying low and slow.

I think I've seen more Little Blue Herons this last year than ever before. This is a good thing.

Conversely, I didn't see as many Green Herons this year, so each observation is special.

I sought out and found Pileated Woodpeckers, but they weren't that easy to photograph. The ones I encountered stayed hidden in the trees, or out of the sun. This one cooperated for a split second to show its face as it bored into the trunk of a tree.

I had many encounters with Tricolored Herons, mostly in Florida.

I saw my first Magnificent Frigatebird in Florida in 2019, and managed to get a single photo. A few weeks ago, I returned and saw many, many more, which was very exciting. A few even came close enough to get better photos. My next goal is to see them engaging in their notorious bullying behavior. The ones shown here were all calm and peaceful at the time.

Male:

Immature male:

Juvenile:

Besides watching the Tompkins Square hawks, I saw many other Red-Tailed Hawks, but never got around to posting any photos. This one is one of a resident pair I observed in Connecticut and it's being mobbed by a pesky Blue Jay.

Cooper's Hawk perched along Jamaica Avenue in Brooklyn:

This one might be the same hawk, seen in the same area but on a different day:

More faves to come...