Plate-billed Mountain Toucan

A very shy and intelligent bird. They can be skittish even at the feeders but I got lucky to them display and call!

Osprey Bath

Spirit Hawk

From internet history this hawk is at least 10 years old. Native people in this area considered it a Spirit Animal. The logic being that since it stood out so much and was so easy to track and kill, that it represented the essence of the animal, almost like an avatar and was not to be hunted or ever fucked with. For me, I had tried to see this bird for the past 5 years (since moving to NJ). Today I found it on a remote foot path on the Rutgers Campus, just after it caught a robin. It was too busy wolfing it down to notice my approach. As soon as it was done, it looked directly at me and flew up and away!

Cops Rescue Coopers

A young cooper's smashed through a window in the Village. As is common, the NYPD gets onsite before anyone trained to do this but despite that, they managed to free it. Glad it all worked well. Thanks to R. DeNiro for the videos and call to Audubon Society. If a bird of prey is trapped or in trouble, always try this link to the Audubon Society for info first.

Hudson Yards Saw-whet Owl Rescue

Definitely a very weird and difficult rescue of a Saw-whet Owl trapped in the maintenance floor of one of the new Hudson Yards buildings. Luckily there were two very concerned and compassionate men, Daniel and Rob, who alerted us and then worked with us to get him in a very active construction site. At first myself and Ranger Rob Mastrianni tried for it but he kept slipping away. Rather than risk injury or stress we backed off and the next day Bobby Horvath of WINORR showed up with a reaaaaaaaaly long net and was able to snag him! All donations to WINORR can be make through their Facebook page or GoFundme.