The Hits Keep on Coming

On Tuesday I spent a few hours in Green-Wood Cemetery looking for seasonal changes and taking photos. I came home at around 1pm, took off my shoes, put my camera battery in the charger, then popped the memory card into my computer. I was about 10 minutes into editing my photos when I received the following from my friend Michael:

"Seven Sandhill Cranes heading north toward Park Slope from Green-Wood"

Over the past decade or so Sandhill Cranes have become a bit more common in New York State, usually only in the northern edges of the state. I've seen them twice, once near the Finger Lakes region, and once at Wallkill River NWA. The only cranes I've seen around the Big Apple have been at construction sites, so my heart jumped when I read his text.

I live directly in the path he described. I thought about running up to the roof. Not enough time. No time to put the memory card or battery back in my camera. No time for shoes. I grabbed my bins, opened the den window and climbed out onto the fire escape. I began scanning the sky, expecting the flock to be high above Park Slope. I was wrong. Within about a minute the flock glided over our intersection, about 10 stories up, traveling directly above 8th Avenue. In fact, they were flying so low that my wife (who remained indoors) watched them from the living room window.

I followed up on the local birding app which helped at least one more birder to spot the flock circling above Grand Army Plaza.

This is one of Michael's photographs taken from Green-Wood Cemetery before they moved passed my apartment. Thanks for the timely heads up!