Seven Sandhill Cranes, the first I’ve ever seen. In the wild, that is. The wilds, as it were, of Brooklyn! Overhead of me in Green-Wood on Tuesday. I was between two American Kestrels and a Merlin, so I rather perfunctorily took a few shots, thinking they were Great Blue Herons, and then wondered about the…

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Love in a Tuliptree: Red-tailed Hawk copulation. The male then brought a couple of fresh sticks to the nest. The thing is, though, this nest is not in a good place. Last time around, the young were killed off by very territorial Great Horned Owls. They say only the nestlings’ talons were found.

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Common Raven in the foreground with Fish Crows in the background. The “Romane nose” of the Raven’s bill is visible even from a distance. These great wedged or diamond-shaped tails also distinguish these from our two crow species. Sure, Ravens are as large as Red-tailed Hawks, but size can be hard to judge. Pair is…

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Two Merlins no more than 75 yards apart. This is the second time this winter I’ve seen two at the same time. The first time was in Green-Wood; this time was in Prospect Park. I hung around for a bit to see if they would deign to notice each other, but there were no interactions.…

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A couple of weeks ago, there was one Bufflehead on Sylvan Water. Now there are two. These Bald-faced Hornet nests usually don’t survive this far into winter. (There are no wasps in here; the community dies off in the fall, except for pregnant females, who burrow themselves elsewhere for the winter months.) Here’s what one…

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After a winter of chasing each other and everything else, are these Mockingbirds thinking of the spring?

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The characteristic silhouette of a falcon… A small falcon, but one that still riles up the feral pigeons.

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I’m always on the lookout for the characteristic black marks on the white outer tail feathers of Downy Woodpeckers. The similar but larger Hairy Woodpecker doesn’t have black marks.

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Six days apart, a male and female American Kestrel atop the same building topper in Windsor Terrace. I suspect the potential of a breeding pair somewhere nearby. Forty minutes later, I was near Green-Wood’s 25th St entrance and saw a pair atop the Gothick pile: Another potentially breeding pair. The Monk Parakeets were not pleased.…

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Common Grackle Red-bellied Woodpecker

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