April 2024
Total Eclipse of the Sun: April 8, 2024, Berlin, Vermont (8 April 2024
The Ravens of St. John the Divine (13 April 2024
Central Park (20 April 2024
Morningside Heights and Central Park (21 April 2024
Central Park (22 April 2024

Total Eclipse of the Sun: April 8, 2024, Berlin, Vermont

8 April 2024

I've neglected this blog shamefully, but what better way to restart it than with pictures of a total eclipse.

It begins… Note two sunspots, one just above the center and one in the upper left.

April 08, 2024
1/160, f/11.0, ISO 125, 200.0 mm

More is gone.

April 08, 2024
1/160, f/11.0, ISO 64, 800.0 mm

The moon is about to swallow one of the sunspots.

April 08, 2024
1/160, f/11.0, ISO 90, 800.0 mm

A crescent sun, with the second sunspot about to go.

April 08, 2024
1/200, f/11.0, ISO 64, 800.0 mm

A thin crescent sun.

April 08, 2024
1/125, f/11.0, ISO 180, 800.0 mm

Totality! Note the solar prominences around the sun, especially on the left side.

April 08, 2024
1/100, f/11.0, ISO 450, 800.0 mm

A diamond ring, with small stones… (Update: I've since learned that these are called Baily's Beads.)

April 08, 2024
1/100, f/11.0, ISO 450, 800.0 mm

A post-totality picture, with the sun smiling for the great show it gave us.

April 08, 2024
1/200, f/11.0, ISO 1800, 800.0 mm

The Ravens of St. John the Divine

13 April 2024

I'm continuing to watch the ravens nesting at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Normally, there's not much to see; available sight lines generally hide a brooding bird. This afternoon, though, I got lucky: both ravens flew onto a lower roof and preened each other. Eventually, one flew back to the nest (last photo) and entered it.

Common raven

April 13, 2024
1/200, f/13.0, ISO 5600, 400.0 mm
April 13, 2024
1/200, f/13.0, ISO 4500, 400.0 mm
April 13, 2024
1/200, f/13.0, ISO 5000, 400.0 mm
April 13, 2024
1/200, f/13.0, ISO 8000, 400.0 mm

Central Park

20 April 2024

Today was a lovely spring day for a walk in Central Park.

The rusty blackbird was definitely the best sighting of the day—it's my first-ever.

Rusty blackbird

April 20, 2024
1/320, f/5.6, ISO 360, 400.0 mm

The picture isn't upside down, nor was the camera.

Black-and-white warbler

April 20, 2024
1/320, f/5.6, ISO 220, 400.0 mm

No, it's a raccoon, not a bird, but…

Raccoon

April 20, 2024
1/320, f/7.1, ISO 1100, 260.0 mm

White-throated sparrow

April 20, 2024
1/200, f/9.0, ISO 1100, 400.0 mm

Eastern towhee

April 20, 2024
1/320, f/6.3, ISO 450, 400.0 mm

Red-winged blackbird

April 20, 2024
1/320, f/6.3, ISO 1000, 400.0 mm

Hermit thrush

April 20, 2024
1/320, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 400.0 mm

Palm warbler

April 20, 2024
1/320, f/7.1, ISO 220, 400.0 mm

Golden-crowned kinglet

April 20, 2024
1/320, f/9.0, ISO 400, 400.0 mm

Morningside Heights and Central Park

21 April 2024

This is one of the pair of ravens with a nest on St. John the Divine. It's perched on top of a stone cross.

Common raven

April 21, 2024
1/200, f/11.0, ISO 400, 800.0 mm

Yellow-rumped warbler

April 21, 2024
1/320, f/11.0, ISO 2500, 800.0 mm

Great egret

April 21, 2024
1/320, f/11.0, ISO 640, 800.0 mm

Tree swallow

April 21, 2024
1/320, f/16.0, ISO 560, 800.0 mm

Double-crested cormorant

April 21, 2024
1/200, f/18.0, ISO 2200, 800.0 mm

I was bemused by the accidental composition of this photo.

Great egret

Fisher bird, fisherman…
April 21, 2024
1/200, f/18.0, ISO 1800, 800.0 mm
April 21, 2024
1/200, f/18.0, ISO 1600, 800.0 mm

Someone told me that the osprey has been showing up at 5:00 promptly at the Harlem Meer. That could very well be—I saw it at 5:08, but I wasn't in a position to see it earlier.

Osprey

April 21, 2024
1/320, f/16.0, ISO 560, 800.0 mm

Central Park

22 April 2024

Red-winged blackbird

April 22, 2024
1/320, f/11.0, ISO 1000, 800.0 mm

Yellow-rumped warbler

April 22, 2024
1/320, f/11.0, ISO 2000, 800.0 mm

Double-crested cormorant

April 22, 2024
1/320, f/11.0, ISO 2000, 800.0 mm

Two of three raccoons that were by the stream in the Loch.

Raccoon

April 22, 2024
1/320, f/13.0, ISO 2200, 250.0 mm

Hermit thrush

April 22, 2024
1/320, f/20.0, ISO 2500, 800.0 mm

Ruby-crowned kinglet

April 22, 2024
1/320, f/18.0, ISO 4000, 800.0 mm

Osprey

April 22, 2024
1/320, f/25.0, ISO 5000, 800.0 mm

Northern flicker

April 22, 2024
1/320, f/13.0, ISO 1800, 800.0 mm