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domricci.bsky.social
Dom Ricci
@domricci.bsky.social
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domricci.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving! Wild turkey, Midtown Manhattan (5/7/2024) 🪶 #birds #birdsnyc
A large heavy-set brown fowl stands upright facing right surrounded by green stems in a planter.
November 28, 2024 at 9:55 PM
domricci.bsky.social
Fascinating three-species interaction: a Cooper’s hawk harassed and chased away by purple martins and an Eastern kingbird, Shawangunk Grasslands NWR (5/25/2024) 🪶#birds
An accipiter with a dark-capped flat head, pale nape, and relatively large head soars through the air. The same hawk dodges a dive-bombing dark swallow while a black and white flycatcher with a white-tipped tail hover above awaiting its opportunity. The same hawk is pursued by a dark swallow screaming bloody murder. The flycatcher pulls up above the hawk after swooping past its head.
June 10, 2024 at 3:08 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Birds of Shawangunk Grasslands NWR: Grasshopper sparrow, Bobolinks, Eastern meadowlark, Willow flycatcher (5/25/2024) 🪶#birds
A buffy sparrow with a bold eye ring perches on a low branch. A black bird with a white rump and yellow nape perches on a vertical branch, looking down at a brown and pale yellow striped bird perched on a lower branch. A stocky white and brown bird with black stripes and bright yellow underside, throat, and lores and sharp bill takes flight from a bush. A songbird with gray-olive back, lighter front, white wing bars, and weak eye ring perches on a large stem. It was heard to call “fitz-beww” repeatedly.
June 10, 2024 at 2:52 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Late migrants at Bryant Park: mourning warbler, Lincoln’s sparrow, Swainson’s thrush. Mourning warblers are uncommon visitors to the New York Public Library, but this was one of a group of 4-5 stopping by. (6/5/2024) 🪶#birds
A songbird with a blue-gray head, black throat, olive back, and yellow body stands on the ground. The same songbird with a blue-gray head, black throat, olive back, and yellow body stands on the ground. A brown sparrow with thin black breast streaks and buffy malar lurks in the shadow of a bush. A gray-brown songbird with a buffy face, eyeing, and spotted breast stands on the ground.
June 10, 2024 at 2:27 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Spring migration warblers in Prospect Park, Brooklyn: Blackpoll, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded, and (a really special visitor for NYC) Golden-Winged (5/11/2024) #birds 🪶
A small song bird with black cap, black streak on its back, and orange legs crouches on a twig under green leaves. A olive small song bird with a yellow throat and black mask stands on a twig among green shoots. A small yellow song bird with a black hood & chin and olive back & wings stands on a branch on a forest floor. A small song bird with a black eyeline & chin and yellow forehead & wing shoulder patches perches high in a tree on a branch under green leaves.
May 15, 2024 at 10:12 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Spring migration in Prospect Park, Brooklyn (compound adjective warbler edition): Bay-breasted, Black-throated Green, Chestnut-sided, & Black-throated Blue (5/11/2024) #birds 🪶
A small song bird with rich rufous coloration on head, throat, and sides stands on a small branch under green leaves. A small song bird with a bright green-yellow head, black throat, and black-streaked back and sides peers down from a branch under green leaves. A small song bird with a highlighter-yellow cap, black eye patch, and chestnut streaking on its flanks stands on a small branch among green leaves. A small song bird with a navy blue cap, back, and wings, and black face and throat, sits on a small branch among green leaves.
May 15, 2024 at 10:05 AM
domricci.bsky.social
The wild turkey hen roosted overnight in a Park Avenue tree, then flew up to a ledge on the Saks Fifth Avenue building today. The astute observer Tim Healy matched its patterning to a turkey seen in Long Island City, Queens a few days ago. #birds 🪶
A wild turkey stands on a ledge of the Saks Fifth Avenue building. Screenshot of a post from well-respected NYC birder Tim Healy: “The Midtown East turkey appears to be the same individual that was seen at the Smiling Hogshead Ranch urban farm in Long Island City, Queens between (at least) April 27th and May 2nd. There are numerous consistent patterns on the feathers of the wings, with a few of them marked crudely in this comparison image: Manhattan 5/7 on top (credit Ryan Serio) and Queens 5/2 below (my own photo). As mentioned earlier, this is a different individual from the bird seen concurrently roving around Randall's Island and Astoria”
May 9, 2024 at 12:24 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Turkey in midtown Manhattan! Hope it gets out safely. (5/7/2024) #birds 🪶
A large dark fowl with subtle brown and orange tones across its feathers stands on a planter.
May 7, 2024 at 10:52 PM
domricci.bsky.social
Perhaps inspired by the Village Voice spoof interviews with the 1986 New York Mets
April 21, 2024 at 12:31 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Arrangement in yellow and blue. Spring migration in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery featuring prairie warblers and blue grosbeaks (4/14/2024) 🪶 #birds
A small yellow songbird with a dark semicircle under its eye perches on a small branch. A cinnamon songbird with a large head and chunky bill has patches of blue coming into its plumage around its face, wings, and tail. A small yellow songbird with a dark semicircle under its eye perches on an inclined branch. Its bill is open wide in song, which sounds like an ascending UFO in a 1980s video game. A richly blue songbird with a large head, chunky bill, and cinnamon wing bars stands in the grass.
April 15, 2024 at 1:19 AM
domricci.bsky.social
One of the northern rough-winged swallows took umbrage at the attention 🪶 #birds
A drab brown swallow with a white breast and belly sits on a branch. It looks directly at the observer with a stern expression.
April 14, 2024 at 1:47 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Scenes from Central Park: an overwintering green-winged teal joined by a palm warbler and northern rough-winged swallows arriving on their migration north (4/13/2024) 🪶 #birds
A small duck with a reddish head and broad green eye streak, gray body with white breast bar. A little yellow song bird with a rufous cap and breast streaks stands on a branch. A brown swallow with its wings and tail outstretched soars over water. A similar brown swallow flies over water with its reflection under it. Its white under tail coverts are visible around its closed tail feathers.
April 14, 2024 at 1:44 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Skulky birds of Bryant Park: Virginia rail & American woodcock. The former is an uncommon visitor while the latter is a regular migrant at the park (4/5/2024) 🪶#birds
A stocky orangish-brown bird with a gray face, red eye, and medium-length orange bill sits on the ground in a flower bed. The same bird standing in a flowerbed amidst sprouting green stems. A rounded orange-black bird with a big dark eye set back on its head and a long bill sits in the middle of an ivy patch. Same bird with just its head poking above the ivy.
April 6, 2024 at 1:05 AM
domricci.bsky.social
The early signs of spring migration are upon us: swamp sparrow, pine warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet, and Eastern phoebe. Central Park (3/22/2024) #birds 🪶
A dark brown sparrow with rusty overtones, gray mantle, sides, and bill, and reddish cap sits on a large stone. It looks like the sparrow equivalent of a Terra-firmian. A drab yellowish-gray songbird with two white wing bars perches in a pine tree near a pine cone. Unlike some of its relatives, no complaints about truth in advertising have been filed about it with the Better Business Bureau. A small yellow-olive songbird with white eye crescents, thin little bill, and a trace of a red crest paused briefly from flitting about and perches on a tree branch. Warbler parents point this guy out to their kids when they warn that too much coffee will give you the jitters and stunt your growth. A dark gray flycatcher pumps its tail and perches on a sweetgum branch, scanning the surface of the nearby Pool, ready to sally out and snatch its next victim.
March 26, 2024 at 3:12 AM
domricci.bsky.social
A rufous hummingbird visits a feeder in Prospect Park on Presidents’ Day. A vagrant from the West Coast, this is the first one recorded in Brooklyn. The incoming orange gorgets suggest it’s an immature male (2/19/2024) #birdsnyc #birds 🪶
A small hummingbird with a green back & cap, white front, black bill, and orange wash along its face, sides, wings, and tail perches on a twig. The same hummingbird in flight with its wings outstretched back faces left. The orange wash which gives it its rufous name can be seen along its body. The same hummingbird in flight with its wings outstretched forward. Brilliant green reflects from its head, back, and wing lining. The same hummingbird facing the viewer from behind a red plastic feeder shaped like a flower. Several orange gorgets are visible on its throat.
February 22, 2024 at 2:03 AM
domricci.bsky.social
More raptors from Croton Point Park: a pair of bald eagles duetting in front of a storm cloud; a red-tailed hawk making haste; and a turkey vulture patrolling its realm (1/13/2024) #birds 🪶
Two large eagles with white heads and tails and brown bodies circle around each other with wings outstretched with a menacing gray storm cloud as a backdrop. A brown hawk with a streaky belly band and a red tail flaps strongly to propel itself in front of a wooded edge. A raptor with long wings with splayed tips and silver edging and a featherless pink head soars against a cloudy sky.
January 16, 2024 at 4:42 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Saturday was an amazing day for raptors around Croton Point Park while on a walk with the Linnaean Society of New York. Bald eagle & peregrine falcon near the MetroNorth station; northern harrier & American kestrel hunting in the grasslands which cap the park’s reclaimed landfill #birds 🪶
An eagle with a white head and tail, yellow beak, and a brown body sits above a very large nest of branches in a tree. A bird with long, pointed wings, short tail, and uniformly barred under wing and body flies to the right against a hazy, blue sky. A long winged, long tailed hawk with a brown streaked body and facial disc flies low through the sky. A small falcon with a blue-gray cap and wings, and rufous back and chest boldly patterned with black dots and streaks perches on a short pole.
January 16, 2024 at 4:35 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Encountered a mixed flock of purple sandpipers & dunlin feeding on the wave-washed rocks of Governors Island. Fascinating how deftly they maneuvered around the crashing wakes of passing ships. #birds #birdsnyc 🪶
A dark, stocky shorebird with orange bill & legs stands on a harbor rock. A medium-sized dull brown shorebird with dark bill & legs stands on a seaweed-covered rock. Three sandpipers feeding at the watery edge of a rocky ledge. The brownish one on the left is a dunlin. The two dark ones on the right are purple sandpipers. A flock of eleven sandpipers in flight over water.
December 27, 2023 at 1:26 PM
domricci.bsky.social
A MacGillivray’s warbler unexpectedly hopping around in the Bronx. A vagrant species usually found west of the Rockies, it was found by a 13 year old on their local Christmas bird count! #birds #birdsnyc 🪶
A small songbird with a gray head, yellow body, and bold white eye crescents bops along on the ground.
December 24, 2023 at 8:16 PM
domricci.bsky.social
Fortunate to have a fascinating behind-the-scenes view into the AMNH butterfly collection from curator David Grimaldi & Invertebrate Zoology chair @jessicalwarelab.bsky.social, including a selection of exotic & local butterflies from its 3.5 million Lepidoptera specimens and the new vivarium 🦋
Dr. Ware stands in the center of a small group of enthralled onlookers wearing a red jacket with a dragonfly brooch, her hands outstretched toward a specimen display case off screen. Top view of a specimen display case with nine birding butterflies arranged in three rows of three. These large butterflies range in color from metallic greens and rich blues to oranges and bold browns. Top view of a specimen display case with thirty small to medium sized butterflies. Most are brown, orange, and/or black in coloration. Two live butterflies perch on the same plant leaf. The larger one is white with bold black patterning. The smaller one is orange and black.
December 5, 2023 at 4:27 AM
domricci.bsky.social
Cooper’s hawk caught in the act in a John Alton film noir. Central Park Ramble, 2020. #birds #birdsnyc 🪶
December 3, 2023 at 8:12 PM
domricci.bsky.social
Happened upon a plethora of purple sandpipers hopping on the shoreline rocks along the Belt Parkway Promenade in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Lifer! (11/25/2023) 🪶#birds #birdsnyc
A dark, round shorebird with a bright orange bill and legs stands on seaweed-covered rock. Three dark, round shorebirds stand together on a rock. They look like pigeons with orange bills & legs. A dark, round shorebird with an orange bill swims toward a rock. A dark, round shorebird with an orange bill & legs pokes around the side of a seaweed-covered rock. Its flank and breast are streaked.
November 28, 2023 at 12:07 PM
domricci.bsky.social
A juvenile peregrine falcon patrols its domain as it considers its dining options among the waterfowl gathered at the Jamaica Bay WR West Pond (11/18/2023) #birds #birdsnyc 🪶
A sleek falcon soars with its long pointed wings outstretched, showing off its heavily barred underwings and streaked front. The same bird zips through the area across a set of posts toward its preferred perch.
November 22, 2023 at 2:25 AM
domricci.bsky.social
This fall’s most frequent greater NYC-area vagrant seems to be the Ash-throated flycatcher. At least half a dozen, including this one we found on a Linnaean Society walk in Shirley Chisholm State Park (11/18/2023) #birds #birdsnyc 🪶
A bird with a gray back, light throat & breast, light yellow belly, wing bars, and orange tinges on its wings and tail perches on a branch. The same bird flies through branches, giving a clear view of its extended primary wing feathers and tail feathers. The latter are orange except where it is dark gray at the edges and across the bottom tip, which helps differentiate it from other Myiarchus flycatchers.
November 22, 2023 at 2:16 AM
domricci.bsky.social
American wigeons at the West Pond in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens. Unfortunately, their name is not short for “water pigeon”. (11/18/2023) #birds #birdsnyc 🪶
Two medium-sized pinkish-brown ducks swim to the right. Both have round heads and small gray bills with black edging at the tip and gape. The male on the right has a white hip spot, and a white forehead and backward sloping green eyespot which make it look like a bald guy. The female on the left has a simpler gray-brown head. There’s also a small ruddy duck off to the far left. Similar duck in flight to the left with wings outstretched upward. Gray head with backward swooping green eyepatch, white belly and hip spot.
November 21, 2023 at 2:27 PM