Immature Red-Tail in D.C.

Today a friend of mine, me and my family went to downtown D.C. to visit the museums. It was snowing quite  a bit outside, and I was able to catch sight of a hawk flying towards a crooked-looking tree. I ran with my binoculars on hand, and was able to get a perfect view of the Immature Red-Tail, seeking protection from the snow. Here are some pictures I was able to get of the hawk. My favorites  must be the ones shown above:

Have I already mentioned that I love Red-Tails?

-Cristina (Happy Holidays!)

All Photos: Me and must not be used without my permission.

The Legend of Pale Male

I just found out about this amazing movie called "The Legend of Pale Male" Just by watching the trailer did I almost begin weeping.

Here's the synopsis of the documentary:

This is the true account of one of the most surprising and remarkable love stories in the history of New York.  It begins in 1993, when a young man from Belgium looking to change his life has an unexpected encounter in Central Park.  He meets a hawk.  Not just any hawk, but a wild Red tailed, a fierce predator that has not lived in the City for almost a hundred years.  Compelled to follow this extraordinary creature, he buys a video camera and sets out to track the hawk.  Little does he know that the journey will take him almost twenty years and lead him down many trails of life, death, birth, hope, and redemption. 

Affectionately known to New Yorkers as Pale Male, the hawk becomes a magnificent obsession and a metaphor for triumph against all odds.  His nest, perched on a posh 5th Avenue co-op, starts out as a novel curiosity to a handful of avid birdwatchers but becomes an international tourist destination - a place of pilgrimage.

Then, on a December afternoon without warning, in the space of half an hour, the building dismantles Pale Male's beloved nest.  In a wingbeat, media from around the world assemble on 5th Avenue to cover the unprecedented protest.  Gathering behind Pale Male is an army of birdwatchers, movie stars, poets, children, dogs, and late night comedy show hosts.  What unfolds next, as they say, could only happen in New York. 

Length; 85 minutes

Screening format: HD

 Here's the trailer:

Check out your local movie theater for showtimes.

-Cristina

Photo: Pale Male official poster from TheLegendofPaleMale.com

My Blog's First Flight

First Post, people!

Today, I officially decided to make a blog. Why? Well, every time I look out the window to my bird-feeders, or pretty much every time I see something interesting, I begin writing in my mind, such as the time when I saw a red-tailed hawk flying near the not-so-dense woods around my apartment a few weeks ago: "I quickly flung my binoculars and adjusted them on the hawk . The sun shone for a split second on the hawks tail, revealing a bright orange color, thus confirming its identification. The red-tailed hawk swooped down and let out a harsh keee-yeeeeer!, while heading directly towards the nearby woods. This was an amazing experience I will certainly never forget..." But I had nowhere where to write it down and show it to everyone. I didn't want a diary, because what I wrote was not "private", nor did I want a writer's notebook. After looking through Julie Zickefoose's blog I thought 'well, why not a blog?' and here it is.

Now I'll talk a little bit about myself. I am young, actually very young for the usual age someone would begin a blog.  I am a self-taught birder and artist. I am a native Costa Rican temporarily living in the U.S. I live in an apartment building with a balcony that has a beautiful view to a nearby patch of woods, and I live alongside a young brother and an older sister (both of them sometimes nice, but usually annoying :D) plus my mother and father. Back in Costa Rica I had my beloved dog, an adopted mutt named Meneco, and my little singing canary, Miss. Canary. 

Here in this blog I'll talk about several things, not only about my own life and wildlife observations, but also about conservation issues and maybe even a little bit of politics. Therefore, expect quite a lot of interesting posts over here. I may post new entries every day, maybe even more than once a day, but if I don't post anything for a long time without telling anything, it's perhaps because of this Internet of ours, that sometimes isn't very cooperative.

I'll finish this post with a gorgeous black-and-white picture I took of my good old mutt, Meneco:

Doesn't he look angelical in that picture? Doesn't he?

-Cristina

Top Photo: Juvenile Red-tailed hawk, from Wiki Commons