Now that I have a car I can get to places that were either too far to be really worth walking to or too difficult to access via 
mass transit. Yes, such places exist in New York City, even within my beloved borough of Queens. One such place is the World’s Fair Marina, located at the far end of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, separated from my normal walk through that park by Citi Field, the Long Island Railroad tracks, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the 7-train tracks, Northern Boulevard, Roosevelt Avenue, a train yard, and a variety of service roads and parking lots. None of that is promising habitat so I never made the long walk north to scan the waters of Flushing Bay while airplanes buzzed overhead as they took off and landed at LaGuardia Airport. Sure, the bay itself might hold good birds but traversing a land of starlings and pigeons on foot in order to stare at a polluted bay while airplanes fly so low it seems they can be touched does not sound fun.
On the other hand, now that I own a car it takes me only a couple of minutes to buzz over there and scan the water for cool ducks. Which is what I found myself doing when I had some time to kill on Thursday afternoon. I had already found a flock of seven drake Canvasbacks and seen more mixed in with some Greater Scaup further east and I wanted an accurate count so I made my way as far east as I could and came to a little pier used for launching kayaks and canoes into the bay. Near the end of the pier sat a young Red-tailed Hawk. Of course, the pier is where I wanted to be. This means we had a bit of a stand-off. Sure, I could just walk out on the pier but that would flush the bird, which, as a juvenile, has had a hard enough time surviving this winter and I certainly didn’t want to make its life more difficult by forcing it to relocate. That, and I try to follow the American Birding Association Code of Ethics which says birders should “avoid stressing birds or exposing them to danger” and “exercise restraint and caution during observation.”
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis taken from the end of the pier
Then I noticed a group of teenagers making their way towards the pier, horsing around as teenagers do. The bird was not going to stay put for long. If I acted quickly I could get some photographs of the bird which was going to flush shortly anyway. Next to the pier was a boat ramp which allowed me to be screened a little bit from the bird while giving me an opportunity to observe and photograph the bird. The young hawk definitely noticed me but did not seem terribly concerned. I got some shots, the teenagers got on the pier, the bird flushed, and I had good pictures and a clean conscience. It was only once I got home that I realized I could have tried to intercept the teens and show them the hawk though I am not sure if that would have worked out or not.*
Whatever I could have done what I did do was get some images. I hope you enjoy them.
By the way, I found ten more Canvasbacks, bringing the total to seventeen. Now I need to find my Redhead for the year.
You can see another set of images of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk here or you can go to 10,000 Clicks, the photo galleries page here on 10,000 Birds and check out lots of great bird images!
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*What was I going to do? I could have said: “Look at this cool hawk. Now don’t go on the pier or you will be violating the ABA Code of Ethics by disturbing it.” Somehow I don’t think that would have worked. Eh, it’s a Red-tailed Hawk in New York City and I am overthinking the whole interaction a bit much. The kerfluffle on the state and city listservs about a recent photographer / Golden Eagle interaction has me thinking about this stuff again though.
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This post has been submitted to Bird Photography Weekly #131. Go check it out!
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Fantastic photos! Welcome to the fossil fuel burning carbon-contributing world of automobile drivers.
Great pictures Corey
You did what you could do, for all you know if you would have mentioned the hawk the teenagers might have tried to hurt it.
@Robert (Birding is Fun!): Yeah, it is an odd feeling to be driving again. I did get an efficient Ford Focus though.
@Vinny O’Hare: Thanks! And I don’t think they would have tried to hurt it, but they might not have been interested either.
Awesome Red-tailed Hawk photos Corey! I understand your predicament, trying not to disturb the youngster, but I feel that we can really only control our own actions and those who are with us, most of the time. Occasionally, we are able to educate others that are receptive to the proper ethics of birding, and certainly we need to educate birders that bird with us and members of birding organizations that we associate with. I am amazed at how many long active “birders” and bird photographers don’t know about proper birding ethics.
I’m really glad you brought this up because I am in the process of writing a post and I have downloaded the ABA’s code of ethics and will place a permanent link to it on my blog.
Great photos!
I had some teenagers throwing rocks at a nesting Pied Oystercatcher last breeding season. She had left the nest and I made sure they could see me and they then stopped and left. Thankfully she did not return to the nest until she was also sure it was safe, or they may have smashed the eggs as well.
As a lifelong resident of Queens, I think if you had shown the teenagers the RTH they would have been fascinated and left it alone…I’ve had encounters like this over the years and I’ve found most city kids are intrigued by raptors and don’t expect to see them in Queens or NYC…Who knows, you might’ve spurred one of them on to learn more about the bird and a new birder could’ve been created…This is particularly true with raptors, I don’t think showing them some other bird, let’s say a winter sparrow would pique their interest as much…Good luck with the new wheels, Corey…
Welcome to my CBC territory! I sometimes find good birds in the reeds next to LGA, but you can’t scope it well from the parking lot area, you need secret alternate routes.
Okay, as you keep seeing such cool birds while I don’t, I should really start to lecture you now about how you should have stopped the kids and that you set a bad example etc. etc. to make you feel real bad.
But really…
I think there are two ways of disturbing a bird/animal relating to ethical behaviour.
First way: you flush it but do not act as a danger, just a passer-by like the kids. I would not call this unethical, and therefore think that yes, it would have been okay to walk onto the pier and flush it in the process. Note that exceptions apply e.g. in sensitive habitats.
Second way: you flush it acting like a danger, e.g. creeping closer and closer, looking at it in an obvious way, or worst of all, flushing it repeatedly by following it around. This will cause severe stress and is definitely very unethical (and I guess this is what happened in the case of the Golden Eagle).
If flushing a hawk that simply happens to sit next to the path you have to walk on would qualify as unethical, we wouln’t be “allowed” to go outside or even near our windows at all. If you walk the trails at Jamaica Bay, you can be absolutely certain of flushing a few birds (songbirds for example). Is birding the area therefore unethical?
Heck, no! BUT if you flush a bird by accident as it just so happens to sit next to the path and you then follow it around, “targeting” it to get better looks etc., that’s very likely unethical.
And those hawk photos aren’t entirely bad, if only you started to call you Buteos BUZZARDS! 😉
please post the google earth link to the exact locations, thx
there are buses to Jamacia Bay,
anyone who can get to A train can get to far rockaway, there are turtles there at the reserve
people can also take the Q to kings h’way then transfer for bus to Marine Park to the salt marsh, where there are flacons, egrets and herons
Beautiful photos!! I am looking for an avatar and your first picture really grabbed me. Would you mind if I just use the head shot of the photo for my avatar?
@CandyH: No problem.
May I have permission to use one of your hawks photos as my email id?