On Monday, the big gassy planet was as close to us as it has been since 1963. It will not be this close again for more than a century. You can still check it out: a good pair of binoculars or spotting scope may allow you to see the moons, at the least, and perhaps some striping details of the clouds, maybe even the long storm we call the Eye. I couldn’t see that, but the moons were there and the planet’s light was so bright it pierced the thin clouds over Brooklyn.
Buteo playpterus is our smallest Buteo. In fact, they’re slightly smaller than American Crows. (I saw another being harried by crows and was confused because Common Ravens are roughly the size of Red-tailed Hawks.) The species is found throughout the forested eastern U.S. and Canada, although they are secretive and little seen. It’s not an urban raptor, so migration is the only likely time we see them in NYC.
In one of the great spectacles of planet earth, virtual the entire North American population, something like two million of them, pass over Vera Cruz, Mexico, in a short span of time as they rush south to wintering grounds. The birds kettling over NYC last weekend should be passing Vera Cruz late next week, unless a hurricane gets in their way…
Backyard and Beyond 