ML615442604

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Truly remarkable, apparently returning vagrant. I last saw this individual along the Front Street waterfront in Staten Island back in January 2023, whereafter it relocated across the harbor to Brooklyn and spent several months hunting around the recycling center and putting in occasional appearances at Green-Wood Cemetery. A sighting this Monday at the latter location was more than a bit of a shock, and sure enough the bird was found to be revisiting its old favored haunts down along the shore. Not visible when I initially arrived, but shortly after Angela showed up I caught sight of the hawk approaching from the far side of the property. It briefly lit on a light post before circling out and making a cooperatively close pass. At this point, one of the local Red-tails took issue with its showboating, and the two birds spent the remainder of the observation period lazily chasing each other back and forth from pier to post. Light morph subadult with a nice, blobby bib, sporting more prominent dark borders on its flight feathers than last year. Flew with a pronounced dihedral, wings pointed and superficially falcon-like in active flapping flight. A genuine treat to reunite with a familiar feathered face. One wonders where it might have spent the warmer months in between its winter visits to NYC

Technical information

Model

NIKON D7500

ISO

7200

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

2706 pixels x 1804 pixels

Original file size

238.53 KB