ML610912345

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

**Exceptionally rare in NYC; only a few prior Brooklyn records, all of which (on ebird at least) were associated with the same storm. Almost certainly the same juvenile found this morning by none other than Enrico Leonardi as it headed south from Dyckman Street Pier in Manhattan, some sixteen miles upriver. Although I’ve never had any luck intercepting birds descending the Hudson, I decided to give this one a try, putting in an hour immediately after Enrico’s report and returning for another stakeout in the afternoon. Given the perceived improbability, and following a cold fruitless search in the morning, my effort was decidedly cavalier, and I found myself lost in conversation with some friendly strangers at the pier for a while. At some point I realized I was supposed to be birding, and did an obligatory scan of the gull flock (mostly laughing and ring-billed) north of the pier by the water treatment plant. After a minute or so of absent-mindedly scanning the gulls while chatting, and mid-sentence, I suddenly, unbelievably, put eyes on a juvenile kittiwake sitting on the water north of the water treatment plant jetty. It was fairly distant at this point, but after a few minutes, I watched in amazement as it lifted off and flew right towards me, putting down on the water just beyond the floating ferry dock. I enjoyed a minute or two of jaw-dropping views before it took off again and headed south past the end of the pier, feigning as though it may continue downriver towards the lower bay; however, it quickly hooked back north towards the water treatment plant, at which point I lost sight of it behind the ferry dock. I ran down the pier to re-angle but I did not see it again, nor did any of the small search party that materialized at the pier shortly after, but it was seen briefly by Gabriel Willow from Bush Terminal a bit later. Amazing bird in any context, but particularly so here, and a pretty nice patch bird. Seen from 2:46 to 2:53. Digiscope photos

Technical information

Model

iPhone 8

Lens

iPhone 8 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8

ISO

20

Focal length

4 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/1.8

Shutter speed

1/419 sec

Dimensions

1687 pixels x 1439 pixels

Original file size

435.39 KB