2018 09-06 Staten Island
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2018 09-06 AND 09-07 - Staten Island
On a whim, we drove the 4¼ -mile length of Staten Island Road to see what was going on now, during the late summer/early fall. Would there be cranes? geese? hawks? owls? We did not have very high expectations, and this is always a great mindset for being surprised. And surprised we were. We watched the following and photographed most of them: 6 red-tailed hawks (one might have been a harrier), 6 American kestrels, several hundred Canada geese, several turkey vultures, lots of swallows, dozens of ibis, and…2 great horned owls.
A few of the fields were flooded, but most were dry and supporting very tall corn plants. Trucks laden with onions and beets passed us on Staten Island Road. The farm hands kept the dirt, southern, portion of the road watered and the dust from passing tractors and trucks was negligible…a good thing.
The hawks and kestrels were mostly on telephone poles and wires, respectively. Most of the hawks were photographer-cooperative, the kestrels not.
The high point of the day was our sighting and photographing two great horned owls at the end of the road. When first sighted, one was out in the open in the shade under a collapsed, elevated water tank. We’ve watched a GHO here for a couple of years, but on our last two visits (November 2017 and February 2018) was either absent or well hidden. We watched as this owl climbed out the “back door” from under the tank and perched out in the bright sunlight, in the open. Wow. The second owl was 50 yards away on a telephone pole. Great shots of both owls were had. Soon the 2nd owl flew from the pole and joined the 1st by perching under the tank.
This is great news. The water tank is still a home to owls…two instead of one.
Addendum: we came back again on 2018 09-07 to make some photographic adjustments. Both galleries are combined. As we left our home and started out this morning, we photographed a beautiful red-shouldered hawk in a nearby neighborhood.
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Read More2018 09-06 AND 09-07 - Staten Island
On a whim, we drove the 4¼ -mile length of Staten Island Road to see what was going on now, during the late summer/early fall. Would there be cranes? geese? hawks? owls? We did not have very high expectations, and this is always a great mindset for being surprised. And surprised we were. We watched the following and photographed most of them: 6 red-tailed hawks (one might have been a harrier), 6 American kestrels, several hundred Canada geese, several turkey vultures, lots of swallows, dozens of ibis, and…2 great horned owls.
A few of the fields were flooded, but most were dry and supporting very tall corn plants. Trucks laden with onions and beets passed us on Staten Island Road. The farm hands kept the dirt, southern, portion of the road watered and the dust from passing tractors and trucks was negligible…a good thing.
The hawks and kestrels were mostly on telephone poles and wires, respectively. Most of the hawks were photographer-cooperative, the kestrels not.
The high point of the day was our sighting and photographing two great horned owls at the end of the road. When first sighted, one was out in the open in the shade under a collapsed, elevated water tank. We’ve watched a GHO here for a couple of years, but on our last two visits (November 2017 and February 2018) was either absent or well hidden. We watched as this owl climbed out the “back door” from under the tank and perched out in the bright sunlight, in the open. Wow. The second owl was 50 yards away on a telephone pole. Great shots of both owls were had. Soon the 2nd owl flew from the pole and joined the 1st by perching under the tank.
This is great news. The water tank is still a home to owls…two instead of one.
Addendum: we came back again on 2018 09-07 to make some photographic adjustments. Both galleries are combined. As we left our home and started out this morning, we photographed a beautiful red-shouldered hawk in a nearby neighborhood.
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