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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot
@r2junot.bsky.social
120 followers 67 following 130 posts
nyc wildlife
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Feb 3
Ohh thanks, just reading this!
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 29
Aw me too yay! 🙏
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 29
Human, why is the earth so dry?

Eastern Cottontail
9:24pm Tues 1/28
Bunny Hill
Central Park
#addMam
A young brown, gray & white Eastern Cottontail is shown at night on a hill covered w/mostly dry grass, partially illuminated by lamplight. Photo was taken w/low-light settings & no flash was used. This bunny sports a shaggy, winter coat of fur w/distinctive orange-brown highlights common to the continuing Maintenance Meadow family of Central Park. Bunny has taken a moment from foraging to sit up & listen w/tall, twitching ears to a passing snippet of music coming from the nearby East Drive. Like most New Yorkers, juv cottontails are curious thrill-seekers who just want to know what's going on. Bun appears against a blurred, brown background showing the gradual incline of Bunny Hill. I've been watching bunnies on this little hill since 2021 & it's never looked so dry that their agouti fur functions as camouflage.
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 29
Thanks Chris! 🙏 I've seen juv hawks survive worse. A wildlife rehabber reminded me that hawks are virtually indestructible. That advice helped me see this juv's temporary lethargy & favoring of the one foot as healing measures vs signs of decline. Saw him hunt & fly well before he left the park! ❤️
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 28
Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk seen 3:45pm 1/11 in Carl Schurz Park. This was the first of three days he spent recuperating from injuries on his feet, left leg & lower body, likely inflicted by one of the larger, territorial hawks. He slowly improved & left the park. I miss him. #raptors #birds
A young, light brown & white patterned hawk is shown perching on one foot on a narrow branch, favoring his injured left leg. His head is turned to his right to peer at something interesting in the near distance, one bright orange eye in view. Brown & white streaked head; mostly white breast; patterned brown & white fluffy belly band; barred brown & white tail feathers extending below branch; brown & white wings folded behind. He appears against a grey background accented by brick red from blurred buildings & punctuated by many bare branches. His beak shows blood from his work of tending to his wounds earlier. Signs of his discomfort are countered by his upright, confident pose signaling strength, tenacity & the will to survive.
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 28
House Finch seen at Carl Schurz Park on New Year's Eve 2024. He was part of cute little finch gang visiting the suet feeder by Gracie Mansion & raiding a nearby crabapple tree. #birds
A small, mostly red & brown bird is shown perching on a thin branch w/one foot clutching a delicate twig. He faces us in three-quarter profile meeting our gaze with a look of content, his thick silver beak showing traces of suet. Streaked red & brown head & breast; streaked light & dark brown below & behind. This finch shows against a gray winter background w/rusty highlights created by bare branches. He looks like he's posing for a class picture.
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 7
This is aMAZing!
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 7
🥔 ❤️‍🔥
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 7
Epic
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 7
Woah!
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 7
LOL free weights! I ran w/the sleek cassette Walkman in the 80s at college, jk that thing was chonkers. Little foam pads on the earphones & when the foam fell off it hurt. 🥲
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 7
Thank you! Love them all. So much to learn, one day at a time!
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 7
Carl Schurz Park's beloved leucistic House Sparrow known as Grandpa was seen enjoying the snow at 11am on Mon 1/6. He's not elderly & acts more like a friendly sparrow kingpin, roaming the park w/a posse. I've just read that his large black bib signals his status as an older, dominant male. #birds
A puffy male House Sparrow borb is shown holding onto a thin bare stalk in a snowstorm the way a ship's captain might hold onto the mast during a blizzard at sea. He faces us & gazes into the distance (but was actually begging treats which I do not carry). Grandpa is set against a grey background punctuated by another bare stalk. He is grayish underneath & on cheeks per usual but has a bright white cap instead of the standard dull gray one (due to his pigment mutation). The back of his head is rufous but his nape is white. Grandpa's large black bib signals his Daddy status.
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 5
YES
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 5
Juv Big Blue Darter seen 11:22am Mon 12/23 on my block (UES lower 80s NYC). I'd been out birding all morning & saw this kid on my way home. Temp had climbed to apprx 18° by then & the cold air clashed w/warm air trapped by my lens hood to create wild distortion in the background. #raptors #birds
A young, medium-sized, brown & white hawk is shown perching in a small, bare tree on a city block in bright sunlight. This hawk is small for the breed, so is likely a male. He faces to our left & is visible in profile, if partially obscured. Small head, small hooked beak & one visible yellow eye peering forward. His streaked & barred plumage echoes the staccato pattern of the tree branches. His head, back & long tail blend in w/the tree but his puffed up breast & belly feathers do not. All the birds saw him, basically. The sky-blue windows & red bricks of the building in the background appear wildly distorted, an effect caused by warm air trapped by my lens hood clashing w/the cold air outside. Not unrelated: the hawk's puffed up feathers trap warm air against his body to block the cold. Winter is the best season for viewing raptors who are experts at hiding behind leaves. Seeing raptors like this takes the sting out of cold weather. If I can impart anything in this alt it's the clear, crisp way hawks look on a cold, sunny winter day. Writing alt text helps me see better.
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 5
Thanks so much!!
r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 5
Thank you! 🙏
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 5
Yes, Blue Dasher! We get tons in Central Park. Actually Big Blue Darter only really works for adult Coops, as their plumage is blue-gray on the back & wings (head is darker) compared to the brown & white coloring of juvs like this. But this nickname is the most common.
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 4
Yes! Nicknames for Coops incl Big Blue Darter (or just Blue Darter), Striker & Flying Cross. I support the AOS'
(@amornith.bsky.social's) current work of renaming 70-80 birds named for ppl who all happen to be white men. This project strips away a layer of institutional fuckery & I'm here for it.
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 4
Juv Big Blue Darter seen 2:20pm Sun 12/29/24 in Carl Schurz Park. He's 1 of at least 5 Blue Darters hunting in this park: 4 juvs (2 small/likely male; 2 much larger/likely fem) & 1 adult f. This small but tough kid rarely shows re a larger juv fem chases everyone out. NYC wild life. #raptors #birds
A young, medium-sized, brown & white patterned hawk is shown stretching while perched on a thick, horizontal branch. Small head, one visible yellow eye, small hooked beak. His tail feathers fan out behind him on both sides & his left wing/flight feathers fan out below/ behind the branch. Raptor yoga. So much going on visually. His vertically streaked head & breast & his horizontally barred wing & tail feathers are set off against a hazy golden background punctuated by a few bare branches. The lump aka full crop appearing high on his breast shows that he's eaten recently. My friends & I loved the soft, otherworldly light in which he was bathed on this warm, cloudy day. He stayed till after sunset, cloaked in the shadows that had not yet crept in.
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Jan 4
Happy New Year ❤️

Northern Cardinal
Sunday 12/29/24
Carl Schurz Park
NYC
#birds
A small, bright red (male) cardinal is shown perched on a green metal fence post waiting for my friend to grace him w/a blueberry. His mate was nearby. He faces us, cap up, wings folded behind, long tail partially visible below. His one black eye is fixed on me as if to ask: why are you not feeding me too? They say birds can't smile but I could swear I see a smile emerging from his orange-red beak set off against the black square feathers marking his beautiful face. He is set off against the blurred gray wall of the Gracie Mansion grounds & a few blurred green leaves & brown branches of a small tree just behind him. When cardis appear, angels are near.
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Dec 31
🙏 Thanks!!
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r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Dec 29
❤️‍🔥
r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Dec 29
❤️‍🔥
r2junot.bsky.social
r2junot @r2junot.bsky.social · Dec 29
Did you see the light this morning?
Sometimes there's this extra air
Sometimes I can keep my mouth open
I will stay if I dare.
-Fever Ray "What They Call Us"

[Cont juv Red-tailed Hawk, 12/21, Carl Schurz Park]
#raptors #birds @feverray.music-social.com.ap.brid.gy
A large brown & white hawk is shown through a tangle of bare branches perched in the sunlight against the pale blue sky. The patterned, vertical streaking of her belly band & the horizontal barring of her tail further activate this composition. She faces us w/wings folded behind & gives a curious look without staring directly which is a cool thing hawks do sometimes. She's puffed up her feathers to trap warm air against her body on this cold day. Her full crop (protruding bump on chest) shows that she's resting to digest a recent meal. She's also puffing up her chest to appear formidable to a nearby juv Big Blue Darter (not shown), whose territory begins only a few yards to her right. Later we hung out on the empty b-ball courts & she swooped me low to say hi. [TL;DR: In the days to come, the juv Darter became more aggressive & began to chase this juv RTH all over the park. The next day this juv RTH's head was bleeding but she's been flying well & holding her ground. Keeping watch. Grateful for the quiet time I spent w/her on that snowy day.]
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