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While at Flushing Meadows Corona Park near my house in Queens this evening putting my new lens through its paces,* I was entertained by the strafing runs that the Red-winged Blackbirds were taking at every Fish Crow that flew by. The Red-winged Blackbirds are just protecting their eggs and young from a known nest predator [...]

Queens, NY, March 2010 For some reason, maybe because of the heroic effort I have made of late to get our new apartment completely unpacked and set up, Daisy agreed to let me out of the house for a few hours Monday morning to take what is perhaps my favorite walk in Queens, which is [...]

Flushing Meadows Corona Park, March 2010 Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus is a much-maligned and persecuted creature.  Like cormorants and shags the world over they are hated by fishermen who blame them for decimating fish populations.  Their rather unkempt appearance at a distance does not make them a favorite of those who like their birds to [...]

Though they have a world-wide distribution and can be found on every continent except Antarctica, Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia is a bird that is not often spotted in Queens.  Before this past Saturday I had only ever seen one in Queens, back in 2007, and eBird only has records of nineteen different Caspian Terns ever reported in Queens, [...]

It is not every day that the beginning of a birding outing consists of calling 911, but that is how my walk around Meadow Lake started today.  Just as I was getting to Flushing Meadows Park I noticed a plume of smoke coming from scrub on the northwest side of Willow Lake, close to the [...]

As folks who read this blog already know, I am a fan of birds, Queens, and digiscoping.  Yesterday morning I combined the three on my favorite birding walk from my house through Flushing Meadows Park, Kissena Corridor Park, and Kissena Park.  A horde of birds had descended on New York City and environs overnight Thursday [...]

One of my favorite things about birding is being out and about enjoying the day while the rest of the world sleeps.  Dawn is not only great because of the chorus of birds that greets the early birder in spring, but because the dew or the rain of the night before give the whole world [...]

Summer in New York City, as I might have mentioned before is hot.  Even on the long downward slide to autumn that is August the heat and humidity can be oppressive.  Many residents of Gotham flee the city for Long Island or upstate New York but those of us who are unfortunate to be left [...]

When we left our three crazies, Heydi, Doug, and I, we had just finished our morning on the coast and were heading to Forest Park to start working on adding forest species like wood-warblers, vireos, and thrushes to the day list.  Doug had foolishly wisely turned driving duties over to me because of my familiarity [...]

My job, union job that it is, is lousy with holidays.  Our contract is solid enough that we get Good Friday off – even those of us who are atheists!  And seeing as forecasters were unanimous in calling for sunny skies and warm weather I planned, once again, to take what has become my favorite [...]

As I did about a week and a half ago (and described here) I recently took another stroll across a large chunk of Queens, during which I digiscoped the Double-crested Cormorant pictures I already shared.  Rather than bore you, dear 10,000 Birds reader, with a detailed account of the walk I figured I would just [...]

With sun all weekend in New York City and temperatures north of fifty degrees Fahrenheit we can all be forgiven for thinking that spring is here early, and here to stay.  Not only was it warm and sunny but the enormous snowbanks from the recent blizzards have dwindled to virtually nothing, saturating the ground and [...]

Dear Forest Park: You have been my favorite birding destination since I moved to Queens two years ago.  The short three blocks that I faithfully walk to arrive at your doorstep have a groove worn in them from my feet.  I have enjoyed the thrill of spring migration, the birdless doldrums of summer, the foliage [...]

This past Wednesday, 11 November, I was in my office in midtown Manhattan when I was dismayed to see an email on the state listserv from Seth Ausabel saying that he had found a Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens.  Why was I dismayed that a good birder, who 10,000 Birds readers [...]

After sleeping in for the first time in forever (Daisy even got up and fed the cats!) I realized that having birded Jamaica Bay yesterday (and getting my first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Glossy Ibis, and Wood Duck of the year) I didn’t really have a plan for the couple of hours worth of birding I could [...]

Sometimes I feel like I lived a charmed life.  On Saturday, which is not my actual birthday but is when Daisy and I both had time to celebrate my birthday, Daisy told me that we had to go to Manhattan to get my birthday present.  Not only would she not tell me what the present [...]

On the very last day of 2008 I braved the cold, wind, and icy precipitation to get one last bird for my Anti-Global Warming Big Year, and the last bird was a doozy.  The Pink-footed Goose is a vagrant in North America, and should be somewhere in Europe right now.  The one that was first [...]

On this blustery day I spent my morning walking across Queens.  Well, not all the way across Queens, but across a goodly portion of it, and it was definitely worth the slightly sore back, cold body, and soaking feet.  I was out of the house at about twenty after seven and caught the Q46 bus [...]

After walking what felt like halfway across Queens I arrived at Flushing Meadows Park and found it totally packed with people. There were soccer players, remote-control car racers, barbecuers, and a whole host of other folks enjoying the great outdoors. What there was not a lot of was birds. It was frustrating, to say the [...]