Nostr notes by Urban Dinosaurs

The prize, though, is a great horned owl with a back story. Two ...

2026-04-06T23:39:15Z

The prize, though, is a great horned owl with a back story. Two owlets were found on the ground after a bad storm that mostly destroyed the nest. A wildlife rehabber pronounced them healthy, so someone climbed the tree and installed a basket as a replacement nest, and put the chicks in it—and at least one adult rejoined them.
3/3

#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan

A pied-billed grebe with a soon-to-be ex-frog… #birds ...

2026-03-21T23:03:43Z

A pied-billed grebe with a soon-to-be ex-frog…
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan

It's Superb Owl Sunday! A long-eared owl (Central Park, NYC), ...

2026-02-08T16:09:46Z

It's Superb Owl Sunday!

A long-eared owl (Central Park, NYC), an eastern screech owl (Inwood Hill Park, NYC), a barred owl (Central Park, NYC), and a spectacled owl (Arenal Hanging Bridges, Costa Rica).
#superbOwlSunday #birds #birdCPP #birdsforbecsnan

I went out with my camera, looking for birds. I didn't see ...

2026-01-08T23:22:25Z

I went out with my camera, looking for birds. I didn't see anything interesting, so I went home to change lenses to do some more artistic photography. Naturally, as soon as I went back outside I saw this Cooper's hawk…
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan

To cap off a great photography day, sunset with fish crows. ...

2025-12-09T22:37:06Z

To cap off a great photography day, sunset with fish crows.
#sunset #birds

Fall foliage #SilentSunday ...

2025-11-02T18:06:49Z

Fall foliage
#SilentSunday

Looking further, I'm starting to have my doubts. I rule out ...

2025-09-17T02:37:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…x86j
_________________________

Looking further, I'm starting to have my doubts. I rule out American herring based on the plumage pattern on the feathers—it doesn't look like the checkerboard at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Herring_Gull/photo-gallery. But the coloring of the base of the bill is indeed odd.

I went birding today at Cape May. I don't think I've ever ...

2025-09-16T02:13:57Z

I went birding today at Cape May. I don't think I've ever had a day with four lifers before, at least not since my early days birding when almost everything was new. I'll stretch these out over several days. For today, the lifers: a juvenile lesser black-back gull; a juvenile and second winter laughing gull (IDs on gulls a bit uncertain); a northern harrier; and some juvenile white ibises.
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan

A juvenile Mississippi kite, practicing its soaring. Not much ...

2025-09-12T23:05:28Z

A juvenile Mississippi kite, practicing its soaring. Not much longer before it's ready to migrate south…
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsforbecsnan

Nostr event nevent1qqsde48uk5224sgy35hzn4duaqrp8v49m4z0j9raqd73t8rd8xg6jugzyqzh0r76xf4ncutxfxjdde99jp0x6eyyav03pp5zrt7hqagh7pel6j6j3lh

2025-07-28T01:18:18Z

Sunset

There was a report of a giant solar prominence on ...

2025-07-14T19:44:46Z

There was a report of a giant solar prominence on https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=13&month=07&year=2025, so I decided to try to photograph it. No joy, but there was a lovely collection of sunspots. Then again, what I have is a camera with a solar filter, not a telescope with something like a H-alpha filter. The only times I've seen prominences has been during solar eclipses—the second picture is from April 2024.
#astrophotography

For many months, a wild turkey has been living in Manhattan, ...

2025-05-20T02:23:38Z

For many months, a wild turkey has been living in Manhattan, first on Roosevelt Island (plus occasional excursions to Midtown), and now Battery Park at the southern tip. I tried and failed on multiple occasions to see the bird (nicknamed "Astoria" for the neighborhood in Queens it was in before flying over the East RIver. Today, I finally spotted it in Battery Park.
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdCPP #birdsForBecsNan

The ravens' nest on the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in ...

2025-04-27T23:29:02Z

The ravens' nest on the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. There's at least one chick, visible in the first photo and highlighted in the zoomed-in version. The third photo appears to show feeding behavior, after which the parent perched briefly on a post before flying off, first to a tree and then south, I assume to find more food.
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdCPP #birdsForBecsNan

Some more Costa Rica bird pictures: A crimson-collared tanager, a ...

2025-03-01T23:17:27Z

Some more Costa Rica bird pictures: A crimson-collared tanager, a great kiskadee, a cocoa woodcreeper, and a Lesson's motmot.
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdsForBecsNan #CostaRicaBirds

A pleasant walk in Central Park, though many of the paths I ...

2025-01-26T23:49:16Z

A pleasant walk in Central Park, though many of the paths I wanted to walk on were icy. Nope—my shoulder is healing nicely, but I'm not risking another fall just now…
Anyway: a red-breasted nuthatch (not very common around here now), a Carolina wren, a bluejay, and a great blue heron on the same rock I saw it on two weeks ago.
1/2
#birds #birdCPP #wildlifePhotography #birdsForBecsNan

I took a long bird walk in Central Park, NYC, today, since the ...

2025-01-19T22:59:03Z

I took a long bird walk in Central Park, NYC, today, since the weather forecast makes it unlikely that I'm going to want to go out in the next few days. It was very productive: a female hooded merganser, a male bufflehead (surely one of the silliest bird names!), two American black ducks, and a great black-backed duck. 1/2
#birds #birdCPP #wildlifePhotography #birdsForBecsNan

Free Manhattan Bird calendar for 2025: ...

2024-12-31T20:59:18Z

Free Manhattan Bird calendar for 2025: https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/doc/manhattan_bird_calendar_2025.pdf. All pictures were taken by me in Manhattan during 2024. It's Creative Commons-licensed as attribution, no commercial use, share-alike. But good printing and binding may not be cheap—printing a copy two-sided, in color, with decent paper and spiral binding, at Staples, cost me about US$30. (I'm going to update my software to permit cheaper, including at-home, printing options, and I'll eventually open-source the code.)

Enjoy!

I went to Riverside Park today to try to get a better picture of ...

2024-12-24T02:35:07Z

I went to Riverside Park today to try to get a better picture of the dickcissel. No joy, but I saw four different kinds of woodpeckers (of the six types I've ever seen in Manhattan): a hairy woodpecker, a downy, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, and a red-bellied woodpecker.
#birds #birdCPP #wildlifePhotography

Typical NYC winter birds in Central Park today: a dark-eyed ...

2024-12-14T02:38:51Z

Typical NYC winter birds in Central Park today: a dark-eyed junco, a tufted titmouse, a bluejay that found an acorn, and a downy woodpecker.
#birds #birdCPP #wildlifePhotography

The doctor said I could use my camera, to the extent I felt able ...

2024-12-03T22:11:04Z

The doctor said I could use my camera, to the extent I felt able to. So, after my first PT appointment, I headed to Central Park (and left when my arm was feeling too sore).
So: a fox sparrow (a lifer!), a female purple finch (also a lifer!), my best-ever Carolina wren shot, and a white-breasted nuthatch. I saw other interesting birds, too, including a great horned owl and a red tailed hawk, but the photos were bad or otherwise not worth posting.
#birds #birdCPP #wildlifePhotography

While hiking at State Line Overlook yesterday, I fell and hurt ...

2024-10-21T14:19:10Z

While hiking at State Line Overlook yesterday, I fell and hurt myself pretty badly (a fracture plus copious bleeding from my forehead). I was impressed with how many people stopped to offer help: young and old, Black and White, observant Jews and apparently secular people. One person helped me stand—I couldn't get up by myself. I thank them all, and while probably none of those folks will see this I still thank them (so perhaps reboost for reach).
Sadly, this means no new photos for a while…

I spent many pleasant hours in Central Park today, taking bird ...

2024-10-19T01:28:48Z

I spent many pleasant hours in Central Park today, taking bird and fall foliage pictures. Here are the most interesting bird shots: a non-breeding male northern shoveler (the plumage is so unusual I didn't recognize it!), a great blue heron that has scored a tiny fish, a yellow-rumped warbler, and a swamp sparrow.
#birds #birdCPP #wildlifePhotography

I love photographing raptors… This merlin has been hanging out ...

2024-09-20T15:53:54Z

I love photographing raptors… This merlin has been hanging out in the same spot for at least two weeks; a few days ago, in the evening, I think it was hunting the dragonflies that were feasting on the mosquitoes. I went back this morning for a better sun angle.

A merlin, perched.
A bluejay trying to drive it away.
The merlin going after the bluejay instead…
And a northern flicker ignoring all of the sturm und drang and going about its pecking.

#birds #wildlifePhotography

I went out for a mid-afternoon walk. I wasn't expecting much, ...

2024-09-18T22:23:33Z

I went out for a mid-afternoon walk. I wasn't expecting much, since that isn't a great hour, but it was very productive. The prize sighting: a juvenile bald eagle. Also: a red-bellied woodpecker with what appears to be an acorn in its beak, a pileated woodpecker (one of my favorite birds), and a pine warbler.
#birds #wildlifePhotography

Partial eclipse of the moon, on a partly cloudy night—note the ...

2024-09-18T02:50:57Z

Partial eclipse of the moon, on a partly cloudy night—note the missing chunk at the top. (1/60, f/11, ISO 320, 800 mm)
#astroPhotography

A green heron. A local bluejay (AKA bird police) was not happy to ...

2024-08-29T17:51:41Z

A green heron. A local bluejay (AKA bird police) was not happy to see it there, but eventually the two were able to coexist.
#birds #wildlifePhotography

I went to Central Park today. In order: a solitary sandpiper, a ...

2024-08-25T00:41:17Z

I went to Central Park today. In order: a solitary sandpiper, a Carolina wren, an olive-sided flycatcher, and a great blue heron. (Aside: I have no idea how these herons manage to find their fish through all the duckweed, but they seem to manage!)
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdCPP

Probably a willow flycatcher, possibly an alder flycatcher—but ...

2024-08-12T02:58:45Z

Probably a willow flycatcher, possibly an alder flycatcher—but Merlin says that the former is more common here (western Massachusetts) than the latter at this time of year.
#birds #wildlifePhotography

An unhappy raven chick, wanting more food. But—in this clip, it ...

2024-05-18T00:08:42Z

An unhappy raven chick, wanting more food. But—in this clip, it looks like it’s eating something left in the nest. Deposited, per the previous post? Leftovers? Random pecking? I can't tell. (Aside: I was using a back-up tripod (because reasons). It reminded me of why I spent a fair amount of money on a good one…)
#birds #wildlifePhotography #birdCPP #wildlifeVideo