Recent Birding Highlights

My favorite thing to do is be in the field photographing wildlife, but between that, and work, and life, I don't get enough time to process photos. The result is a huge backlog that grows by the day.

Below are some highlights from a number of bird outings over the last several months. These were all photographed up and down the East Coast.

Crested Caracara:

Western Cattle Egret:

Female Hooded Merganser:

Northern Shovelers:

Ruddy Duck:

Male Northern Pintail:

Immature White Ibis:

Osprey:

Northern Harrier:

Male American Kestrel:

Purple Gallinule:

Red-Throated Loon:

Male Yellow-Rumped Warbler:

Male Eastern Towhee:

Male Canada Warbler:

American Woodcock:

Male Great-Tailed Grackle:

Glossy Ibis:

Forster's Tern:

I have a gazillion more photos I haven't yet shared, so I hope to be able to post more soon.

Florida Scrub-Jay

I recently made a special trip to see some Florida Scrub-Jays (lifer birds for me), which turned out to be one of the most fun birding experiences I've had. These birds are so charismatic and captivating!

The jays are a vulnerable species due to habitat loss caused by human development and fire suppression. They are extremely particular about their environment, which consists of scrubby oak and vegetation no taller than six or seven feet. When the trees grow too tall and dense, the birds can no longer live there. Biologists have learned to manage the jays' habitat with periodic controlled fires to keep the brush down.

These birds are very social and live in family groups. I visited a couple of reserves where the families were closely monitored and every individual was known.

As I knew the jays are a sensitive species, I took care to be very quiet and tried not to cause any disturbance when I entered their territory. I was worried I might not see any as the weather wasn't that great, but little did I know that they would find me.

As it started to rain, I got out a plastic bag to cover my camera. The sound of a crinkling plastic bag is the universal alert for humans with food.  I did not have any food, and I was definitely not going to offer up any snacks (never feed wildlife!), but the birds obviously recognized that sound and sought me out immediately.

This is the look of How dare you not bring me peanuts?!?

The adult birds were all banded and were anything but shy.

This one talked—or scolded—me for several minutes. Their calls are similar to our local Blue Jays, but not as harsh and have a more melodic question-like inflection. You can listen to one here.

And, these birds are beautiful - they are blue on their heads, back, wings, and tail, with a little blue "necklace" on a soft white throat and chest. The blue feathers have a subtle shimmer.

The bird pictured above is presumably a youngster who has not been banded yet. It hung out on a trail with a companion, who was also unbanded, and followed this armadillo around as it dug up tasty treasures in the sand.

If you ever have the opportunity to meet these birds, definitely do it. They are like no other.

Dinner with Christo

Christo, the resident male red-tailed hawk of Tompkins Square Park, keeps a schedule. He has always been an orderly individual, keeping a routine and being organized. I most enjoy watching him hunt for the evening meal because he's like clockwork, and he's extremely good at what he does.

Last night, pigeon was on the menu. Christo was perched atop the cross of St Nicholas of Myra church on Avenue A & East 10th Street when he spotted his target well inside the park. In a flash, he was off like a rocket and came zooming in from over a block away to grab the pigeon. It never saw him coming.

Once the meal was secured, Christo took it to a high tree branch to prepare.

Pigeons require plucking, an added step of work that is not required for rats, so I've always been curious why the hawks make the choice to go for pigeons over rats (they seem to eat both in equal amounts). I've never eaten either myself, so I don't know if there's a difference in taste. It seems the amount of meat on each creature is about the same.

As Christo plucked the pigeon, he called to his mate, Amelia, to announce dinner was imminent. When he was ready, he flew the pigeon to another tree, where he ate part of it before delivering the rest to Amelia.

A few days earlier, I found Christo in a tree with a very large rat. You can see its tail hanging down in this photo.

Another smaller rat:

Below are just a few random shots of Christo doing his thing.

I'm not forgetting Amelia, but she's been less visible than Christo recently. A good place to see her is when she perches on the roof of the Christodora building (always the north end). I think she must enjoy the sun and view from up there.

Brooding time for our local hawks

Hawk nesting season has officially begun as Tompkins Square red-tailed hawks, Amelia and Christo, are brooding eggs. We do not now how many there are, but hawks usually lay 1-3 eggs per season. If all goes well, it will be a few weeks before hatch time.

Below are some photos from the last few days.

Christo and Amelia perching together:

They both spotted something...maybe a squirrel messing with their nest. What ever it was, Christo went off to deal with it.

Later, Christo returned to Amelia as she perched in another tree.

The obligatory mating photos!

The hawks will continue to mate until the full clutch of eggs is laid.

One way to tell Amelia is in brooding condition is she is less likely to engage in any physical conflict with the resident squirrels. She would normally move right in on this one that crept right up to her.

On this day, though, Amelia was definitely conserving energy and mostly ignored the pesky squirrel.

I mean, look at this! Not only did the squirrel get very close to Amelia, but it turned its back on her and started grooming itself like there was no danger at all. Tompkins squirrels are tough, but this is still a risky move.

This is Amelia and Christo perched together again - you can really see the size difference between them. Amelia (left) is noticeably larger and has a broader chest.

The pair doing some nestorations:

Amelia taking off:

Back in the nest again, but this time Christo prepares to take off with a chunk of rat.

He was nice enough to give me a better look at the half-rat before he took it to a tree where he could eat it.

This is Amelia soaring. She'll spend the next several weeks hunkered down in her nest, so it's always nice to observe her enjoying herself catching some air.