Why? Because I Like Them! II

As I noted in this blog last June (Why? Because I Like Them!), I sometimes edit photos in no particular order and without a theme, unless you call pix that give me joy a theme. If I think some of the photos are worth posting, I put together a slideshow video. I call these my Mickey Mouse Club photos (“M-I-C, See you real soon! K-E Y, Why? because we like you!”), which I imagine really dates me.

So I have some more photos for you, accompanied by an etude by Chopin.

The most delightful photos in this offering, in my opinion, are of the Eastern bluebirds I saw at Croton Point Park on November 17, 2025. That walk also got me a lot more photos of other birds, including American tree sparrows, song sparrows, dark-eyed juncos and a white-throated sparrow, plus a nice scenic shot of a Metro North train heading into the Croton-Harmon station. You can also see a cute squirrel, plus a mourning dove and some late-fall rosebuds.

Eastern bluebird, Croton Point Park, November 17, 2025

Metro North train, seen from Croton Point Park, November 17, 2025

Rosebuds, Croton Point Park, November 17, 2025

A trip to Delwit Avenue on Staten Island on August 1, 2025, was another source of fun photos. You may already have seen the white and glossy ibises in my last blog posting (Divine Ibises, February 15). But this out-of-the-way location, which in some ways looks like a dump site, yielded really good looks at yellow-crowned night herons, snowy egrets, little blue herons (juvenile and adult) and assorted sandpipers.

Snowy egrets, Staten Island, August 1, 2025

Least and spotted sandpipers, Staten Island, August 1, 2025

Two other trips to Staten Island rewarded me with shots of a bald eagle, a Cooper’s hawk and a photogenic mockingbird.

Cooper’s hawk, Brookfield Park, Staten Island, January 8, 2026

Bald eagle, Mt. Loretto Unique Area, Staten Island, January 13, 2025

Some of my favorite photos are of flowers, particularly closeups of the blooms. I went to the community garden at 89th Street in Riverside Park on September 2, 2025, and was so happy to take pix of some lovely flowers.

Central Park also rewarded me, in both 2025 and 2026, with photos of a long-eared owl, a northern cardinal, a fox sparrow, a dark-eyed junco and red-tailed hawks.

I'm still editing photos from past walks, and I expect that there will be another compilation post relatively soon. To keep informed, feel free to subscribe to this blog.

Winter Red-Tails

Chasing red-tailed hawks has been tremendous fun so far in 2018, since the trees are bare and the hawks are easier to spot. The newest video series featuring the hawks is called Winter Red-Tails, and so far four videos have been created to celebrate these raptors. (It was also fun chasing them in December, which you can see in Ho! Ho! Hawks!!!)

Juvenile red-tailed hawk, Central Park, January 17

The four videos cover January 18 through February 21, 2018, and were taken in Central Park, at Stateline Lookout, on Staten Island and near the Harlem Piers. Some contain graphic hawk dining, so be prepared.

These are some of the photos taken during the days spent chasing the hawks. For more, visit the Red-Tailed Hawks page, as well as the Red-Tailed Hawks: Fred and Ginger page.

Juvenile red-tailed hawk, Stateline Lookout, January 18

Juvenile red-tailed hawk, Cherry Hill, Central Park, January 20

Juvenile red-tailed hawk with pigeon, near Falconer statue, February 1

Fred (left) and Ginger (right), Central Park, February 21

Ginger, February 21

Fred, February 20

Juvenile red-tailed hawk in rain, Cherry Hill, February 16

Adult visiting red-tail near Reservoir, February 18