Hawks preparing for spring

This week I received the following email from Leslie Day:

From: Leslie Day
Sent: Tue, 19 Feb 2008
Subject: Riverside red tail nest

A pair of red-tails are building a nest on a large honey locust tree that hangs over the W.79th Street on ramp to the West Side Highway. Lots of people are gathering each morning to watch them carry twigs to the nest. We're a bit worried that it is being built over a busy street leading to the northbound West Side highway. Amazing and wonderful to see this process.

It reminded me of the hazardous choice that Big Mama and Split-tail made for their first nest near the 3rd Street playground in Prospect Park. Located directly above a crosswalk and busy road, they somehow managed to avert tragedy and raised two healthy offspring. In the years that followed her first family, I guess Big Mama has figured out that life is much less stressful when her nursery is located farther from the flow of traffic. She never reused the 3rd Street nest.

Leslie's email motivated me to check in on Alice and Ralph's nest in Prospect Park. I am still not certain if they've decided to stick with the Ravine location. I walked up to the park at around 4:45PM. From the 5th Street parking lot entrance, I had a clear view of the 17 story apartment building across from the park near Grand Army Plaza. It's the building that the pair "Slingshot" and "Walnut" have been frequenting for the last year. Anyway, I spotted a pair of red-tails circling the roof and quickly took out my binoculars to watch. One of them disappeared from view over the park and into the trees that border Prospect Park West. Moments later, I followed the second one in my bins as it abruptly dropped to treetop level and headed towards the Litchfield Mansion on my right. The first hawk had apparently flown to the building's roof while I was looking the other way. The second hawk joined his mate and they circled the building a couple of times. The one that I presume is the male because of his small size flew over my head, then out of the park and down 5th Street. His mate followed.

They traveled in a direction that didn't make much sense, at least if I were a Red-tailed Hawk looking for a nesting location. I live on 5th Street, so when I returned home, I went up to the roof to scan for the two hawks. Apart from the low brownstones that dominate the area, there are only 4 large buildings in the direction that they flew. Also note that there aren't any parks in that direction. If they are building a nest within that several block area it could only be on Methodist Hospital, its housing across from the hospital, St. Savior's Church & High School or John Jay High School. It may still be winter, but I should start spending more time on my roof scanning for them. I'm not a Red-tailed Hawk, so it's impossible for me to know why they left the park. There is a fairly large flock of pigeons that roosts on top of Methodist Hospital, so maybe they just had a dinner date at the hospital.

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

South Brooklyn & Gravesend Bay

Last Sunday I took the "R" train to 95th Street and 4th Avenue in Bayridge. It's the last stop in the borough of Brooklyn. From there it's a short walk to the coastline beneath the Verrazano Bridge. From there I would walk south along the promenade to the highway overpass at Bay 8th Street, walk north to the 18th Avenue "D" train station, then go to Coney Island to walk along the boardwalk and check out the coastline.

Two block from the the "R" train station I noticed a bird perched on an apartment building's television antenna. I hadn't taken my bins out yet, but guessed that it was a kestrel. He stayed long enough for me to unpack my binoculars and, in fact, it was a kestrel. I'm pretty sure that most people (at least around NYC) have discovered satellite or cable television and disconnected their vintage TV antennas. Thankfully, they've left them mounted on their roofs and the local falcons have put them to good use.

It was low tide when I arrived along the water's edge under the bridge. There were several dozen gulls feeding on the rocky shoreline. Most were Ring-billed Gulls, but one small, dark gull stood out from the flocks. It turned out to be a Lesser Black-backed Gull. They are a regular, but rare winter sighting, usually along the ocean. There were Purple Sandpipers also feeding along the edge of the water. Along the 1-mile route, I counted 23. A flock of between 18,000 - 20,000 scaup was still present near the cove close to Bay 8th Street. The wind had shifted to the south since my last visit, so they had moved farther from the shore and closer to the "Toys 'R' Us" parking lot.

While I was on the "D" train heading into the Stillwell Avenue station at Coney Island, the train stopped on a trestle that spans Coney Island Creek. It is in an area a short distance from where a Western Reef Heron made a short appearance last year. I was looking out the window and noticed 2 Great Blue Herons on the shoreline beneath the Stillwell Avenue bridge.

After eating some pizza at Totonno's on Neptune Avenue, I headed over to the boardwalk. The temperature had dropped about 10 degrees and the wind had picked up, so I didn't spend much time on the beach. At the old parachute ride next to the Brooklyn Cyclone's stadium, I spotted a pair of birds perched within two of the octagonal, steel trusses. I made an educated guess at their identity. A quick look through my bins and I was 2 for 2. It was a pair of Peregrine Falcons.

The unused steel tower is a favorite perch for the local peregrines. The Brooklyn Cyclone's are a minor league team in the New York Mets organization. I usually go to about 8 games a year. The team has only been in existence for several years and it was during my first or second game that I discovered the raptor's choice perch. Our seats were along the first base line, in line with the tower. I noticed one, then two, then several feathers fluttering passed. The source was from the top of the tower. A Peregrine Falcon had just caught a pigeon and was plucking it from its perch on the parachute ride. It was a nice diversion during a slow inning.

Gravesend Bay; Coney Island Creek; Coney Island, 2/17/2008
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Great Blue Heron (2, Coney Island Creek.)
Brant
American Black Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
American Kestrel (Intersection of Marine Avenue and 4th Avenue.)
Peregrine Falcon (2, Parachute Ride.)
Purple Sandpiper (23.)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Beneath Verrazano Bridge.)
Rock Pigeon
European Starling
House Sparrow

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

Gravesend Bay

Shane and I went over to Gravesend Bay yesterday to look for a huge flock of scaup that he had seen on Wednesday. Gravesend Bay is the section of water on the south side of the Verrazano Bridge, between Brooklyn and Staten Island. The flock was primarily composed of Greater Scaup, but there were some Lesser Scaup scattered throughout the birds.

It's not unusual for scaup to be seen overwintering in that area. What was unusual was the quantity of birds. When Shane called me the night before he described a group of nearly 20,000 birds! I was looking forward to seeing such a spectacle.

When he picked me up at 8:30AM, it was sunny and clear, but blustery. Strong winds were whipping in from the northwest and we were concerned that the birds would have moved or just been difficult to see between the whitecaps on the water. When we arrived we found that most of the ducks had moved closer to shore and into the lee of a small protected curve in the shoreline. There were also two smaller flocks of about 2,000 birds each, farther from the shore. There were lesser numbers of Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser in the area.

Click to Enlarge

You'll probably think that we are a little obsessive, but we attempted to count (or at least estimate) the number of scaup present. After counting groupings of birds and extrapolating, we felt reasonably certain that there were between 18,000 to 20,000 individuals present. While that may sound like a lot of waterfowl (and it was easily the most scaup I've ever seen in one place), 250,000 were recorded on the Great South Bay on Long Island on December 3, 1929. According to "Bull's Birds of New York State", recent surveys have shown that the species is in decline.

Also of note in that area were 4 Purple Sandpipers along the rocky shoreline. They are another bird species that overwinters along the rocky coasts of New York City and Long Island. I tried to take some photos but the strong wind and low temperature was making my camera a little cranky. Now that I know how easy it is to find them in that area, I may go back this weekend.

Gravesend Bay, Spring Creek, Fresh Creek Park, Floyd Bennett Field, 2/14/2008
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Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Great Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Brant
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Purple Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Horned Lark
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Other common species seen (or heard)
Canada Goose, American Black Duck, Mallard, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, American Crow, European Starling, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

Ridgewood Reservoir, Green-Wood Cemetery & Prospect Park

I've been neglecting my blog for the last two weeks. It hasn't been so much that I haven't been getting out or even taking pictures. Between work, my Ridgewood Reservoir project and spending time with my wife, things have just been getting pushed to the bottom of the pile. I had even created a new post, uploaded several photos and my day lists, but just never managed to finish writing the words.

At the Ridgewood Reservoir I noticed that the Department of Parks had cleaned up the edge of Basin #1 (the bog) where people from the neighborhood had created an illegal paintball course. They had dragged all sorts of garbage into the basin to use as barricades and forts. I was surprised to see that park workers had taken the clean-up job to an unnatural level of tidiness. They had gone so far as to collect branches, logs and other elements of a normal forest understory and neatly stacked everything in little piles. I found it not so much weird, but from a habitat standpoint, completely unnecessary.

The cold snap had rapidly frozen the saturated soil within the bog and created tiny crystallized columns that lifted up sections of moss, grass and earth.

While I was walking the path around the south end of the basins I spotted a Woolly Bear caterpillar crossing the path. Their fuzzy covering is usually an arrangement of orange and black bands. The one I spotted appeared to be completely black. When I moved it off of the path so that it would get squashed, it curled up revealing extremely fine orange bands. Folk legend says that the amount of orange banding is an indication of the coming winter's severity. They say it is only a myth, so I think I'll just continue to rely on the television meteorologists.

My wife and I took a walk through the Green-Wood Cemetery recently. I had found a document on the Internet that described a history walk through the cemetery so we decided to check it out. We spent about an hour walking the areas near Battle Pass before heading back to the main entrance.

The Monk Parakeets that nest on the stone spires above the entrance are always noisy, but when we approached they seemed louder than normal. About two dozen of the bright green birds had flown from the red, stone towers and perched out in the open. I scanned the adjacent trees briefly and spotted Big Mama. She had a freshly killed pigeon clutched in her talons. I thought it was odd that, rather than fleeing, the loud birds chose to perch out in the open. Maybe they understood that the relatively slow Red-tailed Hawk relies on the element of surprise to catch prey. Watching her from a safe distance probably increased their chance of survival. Had there been a Peregrine Falcon perched nearby, they might have chosen to hide inside of their huge nests.

I spent a few hours over a couple of different days searching for the Red-tailed Hawks in Prospect Park. By March they should be working on the old nest or preparing a new one for the spring.

As I was walking through the Ravine, a hawk flew over my head and perched in a tree near the Nethermead Arches. I walked up the stairway to Center Drive to get a better view of the bird. It was a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk that seemed smallish. Perhaps it was a male bird. I looked for a band on its leg to see if it was one of the rehabilitated hawks that was released. It didn't have one, so it could have been one of Alice and Ralph's offspring. It had a very noticeable white patch on its forehead.

I watched him for about 15 minutes then he took off into the Ravine. He was heading towards the ground, so I hurried back down the stairs hoping to find him with a fresh kill. Instead, when I got to the path adjacent to the stream, an adult Red-tailed Hawk flew out of the woods and perched above me. I immediately thought, "Ralph!" It has been a while since the last time I saw the small, pale-headed hawk. He was quickly followed by his darker mate, Alice. She was chasing the young red-tail out of their section of woods. The juvenile hawk flew under the bridge, while his pursuer flew above. A jogger on the roadway stopped in his tracks on the bridge, startled by the huge bird. A moment later, Ralph flew across the road and perched near the top of a large sweetgum tree. They clearly did not want the young Red-tailed Hawk in their territory, but they stopped chasing him as he flew off towards the boathouse. The two adult Red-tailed Hawks then took off flying towards the woods of Quaker Ridge.

I caught up with them near the bridle path a short distance from the Quaker Cemetery. I had never seen them perched side by side for any length of time and the comparison of their features was dramatic. Alice's head is very dark and, in the late day sun, looked bronze. The feathers around her eyes are nearly black. Her thick belly band has a lot of dark contrasting streaks and, in profile, seems to extend the entire length of her body. Her flight feathers are a rich, chocolate brown and she has very few pale splotches on her back. Ralph was preening his feathers for most of the 20 minutes that I was observing the pair. Unlike his larger mate, his pale, finely streaked head plumes have a silvery quality. His belly band is so faint that, from the side, it is nearly non-existent. He has extensive white splotches on his back and hazel-colored flight feathers. Most Red-tailed Hawks in flight have a hooded appearance from a distance. Ralph's overall paleness, on the other hand, makes him look almost as if his head is white. In Green-Wood Cemetery, Big Mama and her mate, Junior are much more similar and I'm still looking for unique characteristics in each bird so that I can easily tell them apart. I've been told that hawk's patterns change slightly when they molt each year, so it may not be possible.

A couple of days after I saw Alice and Ralph chase the young hawk, I located him perched in a tree next to the Tennis House. At first, I wasn't certain who I was looking at, but then I noticed the large white patch on his forehead. He appeared to be stalking pigeons that were roosting on the Spanish-style terracotta roof of the Tennis House. Several times he landed on the curved, ceramic tiles, but seemed ungainly and confused when standing on the hard surface. He eventually gave up and flew off towards the maintenance garage near Prospect Park West.

Later in the morning I came across another juvenile Red-tailed Hawk next to the boathouse. He was perched in a Pagoda Tree next to the Camperdown Elm. Rangers Tom and Tony were standing below the hawk, waiting to lead a birding trip in the park. Tom told me that the young hawk had attempted to grab a duck from the water near the Boathouse Bridge. Apparently, she only succeeded in getting soaked and spent the next 45 minutes drying off in the tree. As I was watching, a careless squirrel was climbing up and down the branches dangerously close to the wet raptor. The rodent was missing most of his bushy tail. From the looks of it he probably has had one close brush with death and, if he continued his foolish ways, it wouldn't be his last. Fortunately for him, the Red-tailed Hawk showed only a brief interest in the squirrel and made no attempt to catch it.
____________________

Ridgewood Reservoir, 2/2/2008
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Ruddy Duck
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Black-capped Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
*American Tree Sparrow (new for species list)
Fox Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco

Other common species seen (or heard):
American Black Duck, Mallard, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, American Robin, Northern Cardinal, European Starling, Song Sparrow
____________________

Prospect Park, 2/7/2008
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Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk (3.)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
____________________

Prospect Park, 2/9/2008
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Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk (2.)
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Hairy Woodpecker
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Fox Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
American Goldfinch

Other common species seen (or heard):
Canada Goose, Mute Swan, American Black Duck, Mallard, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Robin, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow
____________________

Prospect Park, 2/10/2008
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Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Cooper's Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Fox Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
American Goldfinch

Other common species seen (or heard):
Canada Goose, American Black Duck, Mallard, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Robin, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

Another Unusual Visitor to NYC

Back in early December, a friend of mine spotted, what was thought to be a young Orchard Oriole in Union Square Park in Manhattan. Baltimore Orioles around NYC during the winter are unusual, but not unprecedented. Regarding late Orchard Orioles, however, "Bull's Birds of New York State" states, "Unlike its cogener, the Baltimore Oriole, this species has never been recorded in NY between Oct and mid-April." Had the person been aware of that fact, and taken into consideration 2007's extraordinary list of extralimital species of birds that showed up around New York State, it might have warranted a closer look at the bird.

For over a month, Union Square's brightly colored visitor went largely unnoticed by New York City birders. On January 24th, someone went looking for the bird and correctly identified it as a Scott's Oriole. It is the first time that this southwestern bird has been recorded in New York State. As soon as the information hit the Internet, droves of people began heading to Broadway and 14th Street. Union Square Park is not so much a park as it is a plaza with statues, some patches of grass and trees. The hungry oriole, for whatever reason, passed up Central Park's 843 acres (or any of the other large expanses of nature in NYC) and came to rest in a park that is not known for its natural surrounding, but rather political rallies, demonstrations, greenmarkets and an equestrian statue of George Washington.

This past Sunday I rode the "R" train from Brooklyn to Union Square hoping to get a look at the oriole. The directions that were posted on the Internet to the Scott's Oriole's preferred habitat were pretty simple. It's about 20 yards from the subway entrance, in the small garden behind the Mahatma Gandhi statue. It was one of the most unusual directions to a rare bird that I've ever read.

There is a holly tree in that area that a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has been using as a food source. The Scott's Oriole discovered the dripping sap and has been seen regularly feeding at the holes. He also feeds on scrapes of bread, fruit and other "city bird" junk food.

There were about a dozen people present when I arrived, so it wasn't hard to figure out where the bird was frequenting. The first person I approached said that it hadn't been seen in the expected location for about 30 minutes, so I strolled around the 3 acre park looking in other spots. Like most open spaces around Manhattan, the wildlife in the park is a very short list; Rock Pigeon, European Starling, House Sparrow and Eastern Gray Squirrel. There is also a small dog run, if you want to add domestic dog to the mix.

I looped around the park's interior foot path and the north end's greenmarket then headed back to the Gandhi statue. While I was waiting for the oriole with a group of other birders, Ed Coyle yelled to us, "It's over here". He was standing about 50 yards east of us and was pointing up at a bare cherry tree next to the statue of George Washington on his steed. In retrospect, it seems kind of silly, but I actually ran to where Ed was aiming his camera. The oriole stood out like a lighthouse on a stormy night. You couldn't miss it as it perched only about 10 feet up and right next to the sidewalk.

I watched it for about 1 hour during which time it moved back and forth between a dirt strip at the south end of the dog run and, what I now know, is officially named the "Gandhi Gardens". At one point, the aggressive little bird attacked a starling that came too close to his piece of bread. Shane told me that while he was watching the oriole, it was drinking from the sapsucker's tap holes when the sapsucker returned to feed. The Scott's Oriole proceeded to chase the small woodpecker to the ground where it gave it a sound thrashing. Now there's gratitude for you, beating up the provider of his sweet drinks.

I've been wondering why he chose that particular patch of plants in Union Square Park. It might be because it is the only spot in the park with any diversity of fruiting plants. There are some low wildflowers and grasses bordering the garden, but much of the ground has been worn down to the soil by the local wildlife. Dominating the larger plants is a young pine, a single American Holly tree and a grouping of berry-less winterberry shrubs. Either the winterberries are all male plants, or the birds have already eaten all the bright red fruits.

Yesterday I was at a meeting on lower Broadway. When I left the meeting at a little past 2:00PM, the rain had stopped and there was a blinding, winter sun in the sky. I decided to stop by Union Square for another look at the Scott's Oriole. The wind had really picked up since I left my home in the morning and it felt a lot colder than I anticipated. It made me think about the weather conditions this oriole should be experiencing 1500+ miles west, where he hatched last year. Hopefully, he'll realize that he's on the wrong side of the continent and eventually fly back.

When I arrived the oriole was perched out of the wind in one of the winterberry shrubs near the sidewalk on the west side of the garden. I didn't have my binoculars, but he was so close that it didn't matter. I had my little point-and-shoot Canon camera with me and decided to use it to shoot some video. At around 3PM he flew to a shrub that was only 8 feet away from me. He hopped down to a low branch, then on to the ground where he began picking at the remains of a discarded banana. The floor of the garden is about 3 feet higher than the sidewalk. A stone retaining wall is topped with a low, wrought iron fence. The Scott's Oriole was about 6 feet away from the fence. There were several birders standing behind me and, since I'm tall and didn't want to block their view, I knelt down on the sidewalk where I had an eye level view of the bird.

His feathers and the silver base of his bill gleamed in the intense, winter sunshine. As I watched the bird from the southwest feeding on pieces of a tropical fruit it felt like the wind subsided and the blustery afternoon momentarily warmed up. I walked the short distance to the subway entrance and went back to Brooklyn.

A big "Thank You" to Steve Garza and Ed Coyle for the use of their photos

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

New Sidebar Element

I just added a new element to the sidebar that I hope you'll find useful. It's a list of links to recent rare bird sightings around NYC. Occasionally, it will include reports from Long Island and Upstate New York

A Look Back

After watching the two Red-tailed Hawks courting in the woods behind the zoo, I began to think about the first hawk nest that I closely observed. The year was 2002 and it was a pair that became known as Big Mama and Split-tail. For various reasons, many people more experienced with urban Red-tailed Hawks believed that it was their first nesting attempt, but they sucessfully raised 2 young. In the following years Big Mama and Split-tail reared 5 more offspring of which 2 died of the disease frounce. Big Mama went on to pair with a younger male named "Junior". They subsequently moved to a nest in Green-Wood Cemetery where they've raised three offspring in 2 years.

When I went home from Prospect Park on the 13th I looked at some old photos and read through my journal from 2002. Below is the entry from the most memorable event of that spring:

June 11, 2002

It has been 108 days since I started watching the Red-tailed Hawks building their nest and 7 weeks since the two chicks hatched. My vigilance at the nest finally paid off on a morning that was both exhilarating and, at times, harrowing.

When I arrived at 8am the younger chick was in the oak tree adjacent to the nest tree. The older chick was nowhere to be found and I assumed it had fledged. Thirty minutes later I located it in an oak tree not far from where I was standing, a considerable distance from where it was when I left the park last night. By around 8:30am the adult male arrived with a White-footed Mouse and was joined by his mate at the nest. The female took the mouse in her bill and flew out to her usual perch where she could be seen by both chicks. The older, more advanced chick began squealing and she flew to a branch above her hungry offspring. As the drama unfolded a group of us were riveted by the two birds as the chick tried to maneuver itself into a position where it could safely take the rodent from its parent. At one point I stepped back from the group for a different perspective and, from the corner of my eye, spotted the younger bird soaring from its high perch in the oak tree down into the grass directly beside me. The chick made a soft landing and just stood there looking a bit confused.

Stephen Rudley and I immediately placed ourselves between the roadway and the young chick. Despite the fact that it was this bird’s first experience with terra firma it could run surprisingly fast. I was amazed at how long its legs were and how it looked more like an ostrich running than a hawk. As luck would have it Ann Wong, the head biologist from the Prospect Park Alliance, was present. Moments later, Tupper Thomas, the park administrator, arrived. Within 30 minutes a work crew arrived, put up cones to block one lane of the road and began quickly erecting a snow fence along the edge of the curb. As this was happening Stephen and I continued to follow the hawk herding it away from both the roadway and the open, and very busy, Long Meadow. At one point our little friend began bolting down the dirt path while flapping its wings. When it couldn't gain altitude it just hopped up on a low boulder and looked around. The rock was in a very open spot next to the road and Stephen thought that he could gently coax the bird to perch on a large branch that he would then carry back up the hill. No dice. The hawk just sat down on its haunches as if in complete resignation. After a short rest it began running back up the hill towards its starting point. I followed it as it foraged like a chicken in the underbrush and was surprised when I saw it eating an earthworm (mmm, tastes like rat).

At the top of the rise is a small tree that leans over at a slight angle. The young raptor had checked it out a couple of times earlier but had trouble climbing up it, as the angle was perhaps a little steep. I had an idea that I thought might help. I located a very long log, dragged it out of the woods and leaned it against the tree at a lower angle. I hoped that our wayward friend would use it to climb tohigher ground. It didn't take long but sure enough it climbed up on it and began making its way up the tree (that log has now become known as "Rob's Hawk Ladder"). As we were playing raptor herder momma Red-tailed Hawk remained perched above us most of the time. By about 12:30pm the little one had made a lot of progress and was about 12-15 feet back up in a tree. Meanwhile, the older chick (who we had completely forgotten about) had flown into a Sycamore Maple about 30 yards south of where we had been watching it earlier. It has completed the flying exam and passed with, well, flying colors.

As nervous as we all were when the younger hawk was running around on the ground we were relieved once it made it back up into the tree. The chick is probably only a day behind its sibling with regard to development and I feel confident that by tomorrow it should be fine.

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

Prospect Park, late Sunday

I went for a bike ride in Prospect Park late Sunday afternoon.

After one lap around the park, I rode into the open area above the Vale of Cashmere. The area's official name is "The Rose Garden", but I've been told that there haven't been roses there since the 1940's. It should be renamed "The American Yew" garden, for all the yew shrubs that border the grass field with non-working decorative fountains. I took that route because it allows me to ride down the paths into the Vale of Cashmere, then continue cycling passed Nelly's Lawn, through Battle Pass and into the Midwood. I get bored if I just stay on the road that loops around the park.

Someone had put out mixed bird seed next to the ponds in the Vale. A squirrel was chowing down, while the birds waited their turn. There was a flock of about 30 Mourning Doves perched in a tree above the ponds. As I passed beneath them another 20 or so flushed from the brick sidewalk and muddy hillside. I stopped briefly to speak with a woman who appeared to be clipping branches from a thorny shrub. People sometimes take a lot of liberties in Prospect Park, so I stopped to say hello and see what she was doing. It turned out that she was a botanist and was just clipping a couple of tiny, dead branches for samples. Neither one of us were certain of the plant species. I've looked at that plant hundreds of times as I'm fascinated its beauty and intimidating nature.

As I was pedaling towards Battle Pass I heard the chirping call of a Red-tailed Hawk. It wasn't the typical, wheezy "keeeerr", but the short, high-pitched notes that I usually associate with fledglings begging for food. My bins always come with me when I go into the park, even if I'm just going for a bike ride. I'm glad I had them with me yesterday. After a brief search I located a large, adult red-tail perched in the North Zoo Woods (I recently found an old Prospect Park map and discovered that the area in question was originally named the "East Woods"). I leaned my bike up against a tree and watched her calling. Within a few minutes, her mate flew in from the woods west of me. He had a fresh kill in his talons and placed it on the branch next to the calling female. She accepted the gift and he flew to a perch just above her. He sat and watched for several minutes as she tore into, what looked like, a baby squirrel. It may only be January, but Red-tailed Hawks are already preparing for the breeding season. Marge called on Saturday to tell me that she spotted one of the released juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in Green-Wood Cemetery. She also said she witnessed Big Mama and Junior talon-grappling in the sky above the cemetery. Ah, love is in the air.

About 30 minutes later I was riding along Center Drive when I spotted four people staring up into the woods of Quaker Ridge. I figured that they were looking at a red-tail. Valerie was one of the people. I rode over in time to see two or three Red-tailed Hawks fly off towards Lookout Hill. She told me that three juvenile red-tails were playing together in the woods. I asked if any were banded, but she didn't have her bins and couldn't tell. The hawks were soaring over Lookout, so I pedaled up the road and turned onto the path to the top. I found one hawk perched in a tree near the Butterfly Meadow, and another was flying just above. I didn't see a third, but ran into another birder, named Rob, who also said that three juveniles had been playing around in the woods of Lookout Hill. They were last seen flying out of the park towards the Green-Wood Cemetery.

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

Breakfast Visitor

Our neighborhood hawks sure like to perch on the building opposite our kitchen. During breakfast this morning my wife said nonchalantly, "Looks like the Cooper's Hawk is back". I leaned over to the window and looked across the courtyard to the roof of an adjacent building. The hawk wasn't perched on the antenna, as I expected, but on the corner of the roof. It also wasn't a Cooper's Hawk, but a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk*. That's a first for our "backyard". There's a flock of pigeons that roosts on the next building over, unfortunately, he'd have little chance of catching one. He was scanning the ground for something a bit smaller, maybe a junco, White-throated Sparrow or House Sparrow. After we cleaned up our breakfast dishes, I took another look and he was still on the roof.

That brings our roof raptor list to 4 species; Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk and American Kestrel. There is a very narrow stretch of backyards between the buildings on our block, but I guess it attracts a lot of prey.

*Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks are notoriously difficult to tell apart in the field. My assumption that it was a sharpie is based entirely on its very small size relative to the ledge and bricks. I measured a brick outside my window and it is only 2" thick. Also, he looked tiny compared to the pigeons that were flying past.

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

Hawk Release

Friday I had the honor of participating in the release of three rehabilitated Red-tailed Hawks. They were first year birds that were injured in Brooklyn and brought to "Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation" on Long Island. Bobby Horvath operates the small facility and I've mentioned some of his rescues in past postings.

Bobby and I have corresponded for over a year, but we had never met. When he was planning to release some hawks in Brooklyn he asked if I'd like to be present. I was thrilled with the idea of being up close with the hawks and watching them fly off into the wilds of Brooklyn. Imagine how I felt when he asked me if I'd like to hold, then release one of the hawks. I tried to act all cool, like it was an everyday event, but I was jumping out of my skin with excitement.

It was a crisp 30 degrees and there was a steady wind blowing in from the west. Bobby and another rehabber (I was so focused on the hawks that I can't remember her name) took the first hawk out of its carrier. It seemed surprisingly calm and composed. When he was faced into the wind, he instinctively opened his wings to catch the uplift. The first bird was released and headed towards a huge linden tree to the north. It perched near the top of the tree.

As they extracted the second bird from the carrier they asked if I'd like to release it. Well, yeah!

Bobby showed me how to hold the hawk. He also explained that I shouldn't be worried about the bill, as they won't bite me. Their talons were another story. Given half a chance, they'd put a few good sized holes in me. I held the young Red-tailed Hawk firmly around his legs. He was a relatively small, male bird. The hawk seemed relaxed and imposing as he scanned his new surroundings. When it was time to let him go, I faced into the wind and opened my grip on his legs. I didn't have to toss him in the air or give him any kind of help. He just opened his wings, caught the wind and effortlessly ascended into the air. The raptor made a wide, arcing turn and found the tallest tree to land in and survey the new setting.

The third hawk flew off in the same easterly direction. Later, as Bobby and his assistant were closing up the empty carriers, Bobby spotted one of the Red-tailed Hawks taking off from his initial perch and heading over the trees. When the bird flew out of sight, Bobby had a smile and look of satisfaction on his face.

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

Last Weekend of 2007

What a difference a year makes. In 2006, Sean, Shane and I rushed around New York State collecting bird sightings. For 2007, our priorities were such that we spent very little time birding together. My involvement with the Ridgewood Reservoir project kept me more focused on that conservation issue and less so on personal bird listing. I went from seeing 315 species in the state in 2006 to 249 in 2007, but I have no complaints.

Birding has made me more aware of our seasonal cycles in the Northeast. It has also made me wonder about the logic of our calendar. We begin the year in the middle of winter and end the year in the middle of winter. I suppose it makes sense somewhere in the world.

In January of 2007, I spent some of my time watching a female Merlin that overwintered in Prospect Park. As winter rolled around again, I ended the year crossing paths with a Northern Goshawk who had moved into Prospect Park in November.

On Saturday, December 29th, I rode the "J" train over to Ridgewood to meet someone. The sky was dark and threatening, so I didn't stay for very long. Leaves have fallen from all the trees in the basins, giving a very different perspective when looking across the tops of the forests. I put my camera on the tripod, pulled the legs all the way out and extended the center post to its limit. With the self-timer set to 10 seconds, I hoisted the tripod as high as I could and faced it into basin 3. The resulting images are nearly unrecognizable from the lush, green habitats of spring and summer. Rows of bare, slender Gray Birch trees stood up like quills on a porcupine.

While waiting on the platform of the elevated train station, I noticed a large flock of pigeons swirling around above an apartment building west of the reservoirs. The swirling, undulating mass of birds was hypnotic. Suddenly, the organized movement of the flock was interrupted and they split off into chaotic groups. A Peregrine Falcon was plunging headlong through the center. She missed her target and circled back up above the pigeons as they regrouped. On a second pass she hit one bird and it started tumbling, but righted itself after a few seconds. I expected to see the falcon swoop in for the kill, but instead, a second, larger Peregrine Falcon appeared and the two began fighting. The chase ended up over the Ridgewood Reservoir where they twice locked talons. There was a big difference in the size of the two birds, so I assume they were male and female. The pigeons had resumed their synchronized maneuvers, but the falcons were so engrossed in their aggression towards each other, they forgot about the hunt. As a train approached the station, I watched the two peregrines disappear behind the trees at the reservoir heading north. The reservoir is nearly equidistant from 7 bridges. I wonder if the two falcons were from nests on any of those bridges.

In the afternoon, and the following day, I walked around Prospect Park for several hours. It probably sounds silly, but I was looking around for any last minute additions to the park's 2007 bird list. I guess the urge to build a long list has carried over from my 2006 experiences.

Nearly all the expected winter species were around the park's various habitats, although the woodlands seemed unusually quiet. On Sunday, my wife and I were at the Vale of Cashmere looking around for birds. It's a natural wind break and there's almost always a lot of activity in that area. An unleashed dog ran up the hillside and through the woods. Dozens of birds that I hadn't seen on the ground flushed. Perhaps the Northern Goshawk was still around and the birds were being extra cautious.

Robin and I were walking back home from the Peninsula when I noticed a large lump in the trees near the Maryland Monument. A young Red-tailed Hawk. My wife noticed a second one farther up the hill. We decided to walk up to the path that parallels Wellhouse Drive, to get a closer look. It took a few moments to located the perched red-tail. The second juvenile hawk was circling Lookout Hill a short distance away from the perched bird. Then, as if it materialized out of thin air, the goshawk flashed in front of us. She effortlessly weaved around the trees as the second red-tail attempted to harass it. The goshawk looped around the base of the tree where the first red-tailed hawk was still perched. She was less than six feet off the ground as she continued up the ridge and out of sight near the Butterfly Meadow.

I've seen Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks zipping though the woods plenty of times. They are relatively small birds and they appear, physically, made for the job. The Northern Goshawk is a very large, bulky raptor that I wouldn't expect to be very agile. However, after witnessing the ease with which she navigated a path through the tangles of the forest ... my wife and I were blown away by the experience.

Prospect Park, 12/29-12/30/2007
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Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Northern Shoveler
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Cooper's Hawk
Northern Goshawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Crow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
Fox Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch

Other common species seen (or heard):
Canada Goose, Mute Swan, American Black Duck, Mallard, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, American Robin, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"

Jones Beach & Long Beach

Shane and I drove out to the Jones Beach Coast Guard Station this morning hoping to locate a pair of Little Gulls that has been seen in the company of some Bonaparte’s Gulls. There was also a King Eider reported in the area. During our “Big Year” last year, the King Eider became Shane’s nemesis bird as he made 5 unsuccessful trips to Montauk, where one had been hanging around. We assumed that, since neither one of us were particularly pressed to locate one, it would probably be very easy.

The tide was high in the cove next to the Coast Guard Station and there was very little bird activity other than a huge flock of Brant and a few dozen American Oystercatchers. We decided to drive to Long Beach, on the west side of the Jones Inlet to check for gulls and Harlequin Ducks. For many years a flock of harlequins were regular winter visitors to the rock jetties at Long Beach, but have been MIA for a couple of years. I haven’t seen any in 2 years and I was really happy to learn that a flock of 4 have finally returned.

Instead of going straight to the inlet, we drove into the Hempstead Town beach parking lot at the end of Loop Drive to check the beaches west of Jones Inlet. As we were pulling into a parking space close to the beach, I spotted a Northern Harrier soaring low over the dunes. Once we were on the beach, we noticed that there was a very large flock of gulls about a mile west of us. It was a little far to walk, so we drove to the parking lot of the "Malibu" cabana club. About 250 yards west of the club's western-most beach access was a very large mixed flock of gulls. They were feeding either at the edge of the water or floating up and down behind the breakers a few yards off shore. The majority were Bonaparte's Gulls, of which there were approximately 800. I’m still a novice when it comes to gull identification, but Shane has the skills and patience to scan the mass of white, black and gray birds. After about 2 hours of searching through the flocks, we were pretty certain that the Little Gulls weren’t around and so we drove the short distance back to the inlet.

I quickly spotted 4 Harlequin Ducks in their favorite location near the northern end of the jetty at Mineola Avenue. Shane spotted the King Eider swimming in the northwest side of the channel. We tracked it for about 30 minutes as it moved across both sides of Jones Bay.

As we were leaving, we ran into Peter Sculley and told him about the large flock of gulls that we had scoured earlier in the day. After a few minutes we decided to go with him back to the beach and search through the gulls one more time. The large flock was still present, but we still couldn’t find any Little Gulls, but, as a consolation, we did find a Lesser Black-backed Gull feeding along the shore. Towards the end of the day another flock of Bonaparte's Gulls came in to roost a short distance offshore at the Hempstead Town beach.

Other highlights from the day was a White-crowned Sparrow along the median near the Coast Guard Station; a Lapland Longspur within a flock of Snow Buntings at the Malibu beach and a Red-necked Grebe in Jones Inlet.

Jones Beach & Long Beach, 12/26/2007
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Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Horned Grebe (107 on ocean in front of "Malibu" cabana club.)
Red-necked Grebe
Great Cormorant
Brant
King Eider
Harlequin Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Merlin
Black-bellied Plover
American Oystercatcher
Sanderling
Dunlin
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Northern Flicker
Fish Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
American Tree Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
American Goldfinch

Other common species seen (or heard):
Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Blue Jay, American Crow, American Robin, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow

by Rob Jett for "The City Birder"