Little Gray Birdies!

The tufted timouse (Baeolophus bicolor) was the first bird to come to my hand for seeds, so it has a special place in my heart. These are talkative, very active birds who flutter about on the ground and in the trees. They are delicate little birds, but stand up for themselves!

Tufted titmouse, Central Park, April 2016

The Filming the Feathers video is set to music by Beethoven (Symphonies 6, 1 and 8), condensed and arranged for recorder, performed by Papilan and obtained from MusOpen.org, a royalty-free music source. There is a lot of bathing, primarily because when they are enjoying a bath, they are relatively stationary and I can film them!

The photos cover four years, from 2013 through 2016, and a lot of sunflower seeds!

Little Yellow Birdies!

The yellow-breasted chat, the largest warbler to come our way, is a frequent visitor to Central Park, but one that has eluded me for some time — until this year. We had a chat hanging out at Sparrow Rock in Central Park for several days, and more recently a chat has spent 16-plus days at the cemetery at Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. 

Yellow-breasted chat at Trinity Church, Lower Manhattan, Nov. 18, 2016

I am not a great warbler photographer. These birds flit and fly so fast that I and my camera cannot keep up. But occasionally I get lucky and the little yellow birdies reward my video and photographic efforts. Such was the case on Nov. 1, when I saw the yellow birdie at Sparrow Rock, and then on Nov. 18, when I was so fortunate to have the chat pose for me at Trinity Church. So, as is my wont, I made a video! The music is by Henry Purcell, arranged for recorders, and performed by Papalin.

These little birdies are fattening up on berries and insects before they head south to Central America for the winter. What a delight to see them, and to add them to my Filming the Feather series.

All the photos below are of the Trinity Church chat.

Oh, Rapture! Seven Raptors!

Between Nov. 10 and Nov. 14, I was able to photograph seven different raptors in Central Park. I was able to see at least three more, flying above, that I wasn't able to photograph. On Nov. 10, I saw two Cooper's hawks, two first-year red-tailed hawks, and one adult red-tailed hawk flying (probably one of the Sheep Meadow hawks). Nov. 11, I filmed a first-year red-tailed hawk perched over Literary Walk, and Nov. 12 and 13 I filmed a young adult red-tailed hawk near Bethesda Fountain and the Bandshell (on Nov. 13, I also saw Octavia, Pale Male's mate, on a building on Fifth Avenue, but wasn't able to get a good photo or video; I also saw two adult hawks flying over the Mall, probably the Sheep Meadow couple). Nov. 14, I was fortunate enough to watch Pale Male eat a rat behind the Met Museum. 

First-year red-tailed hawk over the Mall, Nov. 10, 2016

Cooper's hawk over Strawberry Fields, Nov. 10, 2016

Cooper's hawk near the Boathouse, Nov. 10, 2016

First-year red-tailed hawk near the Boathouse, Nov. 10, 2016

Artful Dining

I have posted several photos of Pale Male having dinner. On Nov. 14, I filmed him once again, dining on a rat behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Pale Male, over East Drive across from the obelisk, Nov. 14, 2016

Hawk! Hawk! Hawk! Hawk! Hawk! Hawk!

Nov. 10 was a great day for hawks, with five sightings. Nov. 11, 12 and 13 gave me more sightings, of one of the first-year red-tailed hawks and a young adult red-tailed hawk. Also seen were Octavia on a building across from the Met Museum, and adult hawks flying over the Mall.

On Nov. 13, the young adult red-tailed hawk was eating a pigeon across from the Bandshell. Feathers were flying and the dining was pretty graphic. At one point, two older adult red-tailed hawks were seen flying over the Mall, and the young adult grabbed the pigeon dinner, flew with it near the flagpole, stashed the meal in a tree and flew off, kiering, after the flying adults.