While I am in this working-like-crazy-holiday-madness lull on my blog, I would love to put out an RFI to anyone familiar with butterfly species: I have been slowly getting these onto flickr, and there are some that I have not identified. I have locations and dates for each sighting, and though I have not yet gotten them written into the descriptions, that info is available. The butterfly set is viewable here.

It is awfully nasty out today, and I have just frittered away some few hours by putting together a way to show some of the photos from the last five years of travels… click here to go to my flickr page… another work in progress.

From a small, not-really-birding, walk around Prospect Park, Brooklyn:

Great Blue Heron (1, juvenile)
Mallard
American Black Duck (4)
Bufflehead (1)
Ruddy Duck (1)
Red-tailed Hawk (2)
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Fox Sparrow (2)

And yet another landscape I have been working on: 7 x 5,” pen on grey paper.

cool city bird sighting:

Frank C. was headed to the subway for his usual morning commute when he saw a flurry of activity across the street, in a patch of grass that could referred to as a yard if you happen to live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Mere feet from people walking along the sidewalk, a hawk was dramatically murdering a sparrow. It repeatedly flew up and pounced down on the tiny thing, ignoring the passers-by, until Frank edged a bit too close, whereupon it took the then-motionless sparrow up to a branch nearby. At this point, Frank reports, things got even more interesting: the hawk (which I think was a Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned Hawk, from his description) happened to pick a branch already inhabited by a squirrel. The squirrel squared off and rushed the hawk, knocking it off of the branch and into the air. The hawk then flew across the street and began ripping feathers out of its catch - this is pretty brutal to watch, if you have ever witnessed it, like a little pillow fight - a good lesson in just how much of a bird is comprised of feathers. It all went down above the heads of the other pedestrians. AND NO ONE NOTICED A THING.

On the other hand, sometimes people do notice; this video, while long, is from an older couple in Massachusetts who not only noticed some unusual animal behavior, but also thought to actually document it. Please ignore all cheesy reporting and music and hang in there, the footage is worth it. In a random coincidence, the veterinarians interviewed used to be my vets when I lived in Providence…

Here is another landscape drawing that I have started. As always, it is pen on grey paper. This one is about 7.5 x 4.”

Inside on a Saturday (would you want to walk through holiday crowds in Herald Square?), I have picked up on an unfinished drawing from my residency in October… thought I would post five stages. Somehow this is still not quite finished.

From Central Park, from the W. 96th St. entrance and around the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir:

Pied-billed Grebe **
Double-crested Cormorant
Canada Goose
Mallard
American Black Duck
Northern Shoveler
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
(1000+ gulls, on the water and the jetty)
Rock Pigeon*
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling*
Cedar Waxwing (35+)**
Chipping Sparrow (1, associating with 100+ White-throated Sparrows & Dark-eyed Juncos)**
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
House Sparrow*

* In general, I will probably not list these birds as they are so common that I see them every day.
** While not especially rare, these were interesting: the PB Grebe and the Chipping Sparrow are out of season, and the Waxwings are not always seen.