And this just in: Happy New Year from the first raptor of 2023, a Coopers high atop the Peregrine perch! (Above and below 7:26 a.m.)

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Three different times over the last month and half, the same tree. This was one of two male American Kestrels seen at the same time. Yup, it’s that Falco linden again! The birds LOVE this perch. And now for some Peregrine… There are some remains of prey on that butcher’s block top.

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On a dark and gloomy day, this distant hawk looked different from the usual. Red-tailed Hawks are the usual Buteos. The adults are of course distinctive with their brick red tails, but ones under a year don’t have this tell-tale tail. While the first two images aren’t particularly good photos, they do tell us a…

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The first rule of Raptor Club is to look at every raptor. Blob in a tree is probably a Red-tailed Hawk. Unless it isn’t, as in this case. Look at those tail stripes! A red vest to go with the pinstripes on the tail. Very debonair is an adult Red-shouldered Hawk. Some polka dots on…

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There’s no mistaking an adult Bald Eagle, even at a distance. Hell, even unfocused… This was over Green-Wood. I hear talk of an adult passing over Prospect Park Lake with some regularity. That was the direction this bird was headed. I was in Prospect Park December 10th, and lookee here: a passing juvenile Bald Eagle.…

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There are some trees that I always look at if I’m near them. I have my patch, the raptors have theirs. Standard small falcon silhouette above. I’ve never seen a Merlin on this tree, so I had to get closer to double-check. American Kestrel male, a regular up there. Here he is again. On another…

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Male American Kestrel. My files are bursting with recent winter raptor sightings, all from a few blocks of home here in Brooklyn, New York. The four birds here were all seen within a 15-minute span the other day. For several winters, one or two Peregrines perching on this smokestack were a regular occurrence, but last…

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Driftwood. Surf Clam shell colonized by Serpulid Tubeworms. The Plumed Worm (Diopatra cuprea) fastens bits of shell to its case. Here’s one I took apart. At least nine species of mollusk shell represented here. The tubes were a surprise. Casings of some kind of Parchment Tubeworm (Family Chaetopteridae). Bryozoan remains, with Polychaete worm tubes on it. Another…

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Tiny bill. “Red” breast. Webbed foot. Mostly round. Ringed bill, ringe faced, ringed neck. Racing stripes. Somewhat vulture-like. Spring is just around the corner! Palm Warbler in mid-December. Original recipe? Medium: Donne.

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Found two of these on Oakwood Beach on Staten Island recently. Unusually bulky and flat, comparatively, they turn out to be the main claw of Flat-clawed Hermit Crabs (Pagurus pollicaris), a species I wasn’t aware of. Looking at potential homes for them (different sizes/ages of Northern Moon, Shark Eye, Channeled Welks), you can see how…

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