BirdBlog -- Urban Dinosaurs Blog

Sunspots!

8 May 2024

Per https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=07&month=05&year=2024, there is now a giant sunspot, visible to the naked eye if you have left-over eclipse glasses handy. Well, I don't, but I do have the solar filter for my camera.

May 07, 2024

1/400, f/14.0, ISO 250, 400.0 mm

Central Park

11 May 2024

Today was a lovely day for birding. The prize shots, of course, are the male and female scarlet tanagers.

Scarlet tanager (female)

May 11, 2024

1/320, f/6.3, ISO 900, 400.0 mm

scarlet tanager (male)

May 11, 2024

1/320, f/7.1, ISO 8000, 400.0 mm

Northern parula

May 11, 2024

1/320, f/7.1, ISO 800, 400.0 mm

Rose-breasted grosbeak (female)

May 11, 2024

1/400, f/5.6, ISO 4500, 400.0 mm

Grey catbird

May 11, 2024

1/320, f/5.6, ISO 2000, 400.0 mm

Double-crested cormorant

May 11, 2024

1/320, f/8.0, ISO 560, 400.0 mm

Red-winged blackbird (male)

May 11, 2024

1/320, f/6.3, ISO 8000, 400.0 mm

Downy woodpecker

May 11, 2024

1/400, f/7.1, ISO 3600, 400.0 mm

Corvid, Not Covid!

17 May 2024

I spent a while this afternoon with my camera on a tripod, pointed at the common raven's nest on the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I had thought there were two chicks but I only saw one today. Perhaps the other has fledged or perhaps it has met with some mishap. (Pictures taken the same day as mine show two chicks even more clearly than my pictures do.)

Of particular interest is this video, showing the chick engaging in what looked like eating motions. Food dropped by a parent in the third picture? Leftovers? I can't tell.

Common raven

May 17, 2024

1/125, f/11.0, ISO 1400, 800.0 mm

May 17, 2024

1/200, f/11.0, ISO 1600, 800.0 mm

May 17, 2024

1/200, f/11.0, ISO 1600, 800.0 mm

May 17, 2024

1/200, f/11.0, ISO 1600, 800.0 mm

Central Park

19 May 2024

Grey catbird

May 19, 2024

1/400, f/11.0, ISO 8000, 800.0 mm

Northern cardinal (female)

May 19, 2024

1/320, f/11.0, ISO 7200, 450.0 mm

Scarlet tanager (male)

May 19, 2024

1/400, f/11.0, ISO 8000, 800.0 mm

Red-bellied woodpecker

This bird was so close I had to zoom way out to get it all in the frame.

May 19, 2024

1/320, f/11.0, ISO 8000, 310.0 mm

May 19, 2024

1/320, f/11.0, ISO 8000, 300.0 mm

May 19, 2024

1/320, f/11.0, ISO 8000, 800.0 mm

Red-winged blackbird (male)

May 19, 2024

1/320, f/11.0, ISO 8000, 800.0 mm

Great egret

May 19, 2024

1/320, f/11.0, ISO 1000, 440.0 mm

Double-crested cormorant

May 19, 2024

1/320, f/11.0, ISO 1600, 800.0 mm

Reflecting on things I cannot see…

May 19, 2024

1/3700, f/1.8, ISO 32, 4.2 mm

Raven and Raptors

20 May 2024

I didn't see any activity in the raven nest today, though there was one raven vocalizing loudly very close to it. (I thought I heard two but only briefly, and I only saw one.)

The more interesting sighting was of a peregrine falcon on one of the usual perches on Riverside Church. That's been a traditional nesting area for falcons for a very long time. Last year, though, it was covered by scaffolding, blocking access to the nest. Last December, I saw two falcons around the area, so I was optimistic, but I never saw any signs of nesting after that. In fact, the last time I saw any peregrines there was in mid-February. Thus, when I saw one adult today, I figured it was just perching there while hunting. But now I wonder.

Looking back at my pictures from today, there's a curious thing. The first picture shows the falcon looking down, as if it's trying to spot some prey. Fair enough—that's consistent with it using a nice, convenient high perch. The last two show that the bird has moved to a ledge of the church where it can see both north and west. But look at the second falcon picture: it's on top of the gargoyle, looking into the recess. In fact, it kept more or less that pose for more than five minutes. What was it looking at? Chicks? Maybe! Three years ago, I got some nice shots of nestlings who were almost but not quite ready to fledge, and that was in mid-June. Maybe there is a nest this year, and I was just unlucky all of the times I checked it between mid-February and today. I'll certainly be checking back!

Common raven

May 20, 2024

1/320, f/11.0, ISO 5600, 800.0 mm

Peregrine falcon

May 20, 2024

1/320, f/11.0, ISO 1000, 800.0 mm

May 20, 2024

1/320, f/16.0, ISO 1400, 800.0 mm

May 20, 2024

1/320, f/16.0, ISO 220, 800.0 mm

May 20, 2024

1/320, f/16.0, ISO 560, 800.0 mm

Peregrine Falcon Chicks!

7 June 2024

I've been wondering since December if there was a peregrine falcon nest in Riverside Church, in the traditional location. Today, I got my confirmation: I saw three juveniles who have not yet fledged. Other reports say that one nestling has already fledged. Possibly, it's two—there were apparently five chicks, and I only saw three today.

Peregrine falcon (adult; chick)

The adult is bringing food home to the chick, which is vocalizing.

June 07, 2024

1/250, f/29.0, ISO 1100, 800.0 mm

Peregrine falcon (chick)

June 07, 2024

1/250, f/20.0, ISO 250, 800.0 mm

Flapping wings and getting ready for first flight!

June 07, 2024

1/200, f/20.0, ISO 1100, 800.0 mm

June 07, 2024

1/200, f/20.0, ISO 280, 800.0 mm

Aurora Borealis!

11 October 2024

I don't know how many years I've been wanting to see an aurora, but it's many—I I have distinct memories of a school project that discussed the 11 year solar cycle when I was about 10 or 11. Last night, at well oer 70 years old, I finally saw one, in western Massachusetts.

What I saw wasn't great—the first two pictures here, taken just after full dark, were what I could see with my naked eye. After that, it clouded over. I stayed up far too late, though, and around 1am, though I couldn't see very much, just a few hints here and there, a camera can see a lot more, especially with long exposures.

Advice I saw online beforehand suggested f/2.8, 3 second exposures, ISO 1600. That works well for visible auroras. Later, I had to resort to longer exposures and much higher ISOs (and I had to use a camera with a small sensor), which cause grainy images. Fortunately, the "Denoise" function in Adobe Lightroom works very well.

I did lighten a few of these pictures in post-processing, especially some of the later ones with 3.2 second exposures. I did not enhance or tune the color.

I got much too little sleep last night, but oh was it worth it!

October 10, 2024

3.2 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 1600, 8.8 mm

October 10, 2024

5 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 1600, 8.8 mm

October 11, 2024

5 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 8.8 mm

October 11, 2024

5 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 8.8 mm

October 11, 2024

5 seconds, f/2.5, ISO 4000, 8.8 mm

October 11, 2024

3.2 seconds, f/2.5, ISO 4000, 8.8 mm

October 11, 2024

3.2 seconds, f/2.5, ISO 4000, 8.8 mm

October 11, 2024

3.2 seconds, f/2.5, ISO 4000, 8.8 mm

Alice's Restaurant---A Photo Tour

7 December 2024

The story of Alice's Restaurant is well known. ( If you don't know what I'm talking about, listen to the song.) Even the Library of Congress has a page about it.

Much of the story takes place in the towns of Great Barrington, Stockbridge, and Lee, in Berkshire County in western Massachusetts. I visited many of the locations mentioned and photographed them. Enjoy! (All of the photographs on this page or linked to, except for ones embedded in other pages, are mine, and all with the obvious exception of the Whitehall Street pictures were taken in those towns in the Berkshires.)

Our story starts in Stockbridge, where the restaurant was located. Of course, that wasn't the name of the restaurant, only the name of the song… (Sadly, Alice died shortly before Thanksgiving 2024.) But there really was a restaurant there, though it's now gone. It really was around the back, and, per the map, about half a mile from the railroad track.

There was even a train station then in Stockbridge.

The plot, though, begins at the former church that Alice and her husband lived in. It's now the Guthrie Center, complete with red VW Microbus.

Note the railroad crossing sign at the left of the last photo—that's the same train line that ran near the restaurant. In fact, the Van Deusenville station was once right across the road; you can still see the remains of the foundation of the station. (Could Alice have commuted by train to her restaurant? It seems unlikely. In 1964, passenger service on that line was cut back to two trains per week. Also, while I haven't been able to learn when the Van Deusenville station was abandoned, the last timetable for passenger service, in 1971, does not show that stop.)

After the Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, Arlo and a friend cleared a lot of garbage out of the church and tried to take it to the Stockbridge town dump—but it was closed for Thanksgiving. The dump is now

permanently shut: it's been converted to a solar farm. From a current topographic map, the area is marshy; by the standards of the time, that would have made it a perfect spot for a dump. (The church was in Great Barrington; why try the Stockbridge dump? In 1965, Great Barrington's dump was apparently south of downtown and the church was well north. There is a slight mystery, though: the linked-to document lists the dump as being on South Main Street, but as best I can tell there is no such street and never has been. Sheffield, the town to the immediate south of Great Barrington, has a South Main Street, but that isn't where its dump was.)

I haven't been able to get to the place where the garbage was dumped, and I don't even know the exact location; the best clue I have is here. An examination of the contour lines on a 1959 topographic map of the area suggests that most likely location for a cliff would have been the south side of Old Meeting House Road. Apparently, there's now a house on that spot. A current topographic map does show houses south of that road. Maybe the Garbage Trail Walk goes there.

Well, Office Obie took them to the police officers' station in Stockbridge:

(The current police officers' station started housing the town's offices in 2004. Amusingly enough, I was tipped off to the change by seeing an oil painting, "Home for Christmas" (1967), at the Norman Rockwell Museum when I was there to see an exhibit on Mad Magazine.)

The trial, the case of American blind justice, was in a courtroom in Lee.

Our story, of course, ends at 39 Whitehall Street, New York.

Alas, the facade of the building has changed.

Pursuant to the license below, you're welcome to make 8×10 color glossy photos of any of these pictures. Adding circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one is strictly up to you.

Central Park

30 December 2024

For the first time since my fall in late October, I managed a full-fledged bird walk without incident or undue strain or pain. It was a hawk-y day: three juvenile red-tails (two shown) in the Loch.

And yes, the northern cardinal flew very close to me…

Red-tailed hawk (juvenile)

December 30, 2024

1/320, f/8.0, ISO 250, 400.0 mm

December 30, 2024

1/320, f/8.0, ISO 1400, 400.0 mm

December 30, 2024

1/320, f/14.0, ISO 450, 400.0 mm

Northern cardinal (female)

December 30, 2024

1/400, f/14.0, ISO 8000, 400.0 mm

Green-winged teal (male)

December 30, 2024

1/320, f/8.0, ISO 1800, 400.0 mm

Free Manhattan Bird Calendar for 2025

1 January 2025

See https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/doc/manhattan_bird_calendar_2025.pdf.

All pictures were taken by me in Manhattan during 2024. It's Creative Commons-licensed as attribution, no commercial use, share-alike. But good printing and binding may not be cheap—printing a copy two-sided, in color, with decent paper and spiral binding, at Staples, cost me about US$30. (I'm going to update my software to permit cheaper, including at-home, printing options, and I'll eventually open-source the code.)

Enjoy!

December 31, 2024

1/60, f/1.8, ISO 250, 4.2 mm