Natural habitats

 

The "ugly" brush pile in your corner is saving lives.

Right now — late February — here's who's using it:

🐰 RABBITS

Building nests for babies due in 2-3 weeks.

The pile is predator-proof shelter.

🐦 SPARROWS & WRENS

Roosting inside at night.

Surviving single-digit temps because of your "mess."

🦨 SKUNKS

Maybe denning at the base.

Yes, that's why you smell them.

🐿️ CHIPMUNKS

Still in torpor, but the pile protects their burrow entrance.

🐛 INSECTS

Overwintering in the decay.

These become bird food in spring.

🐍 SNAKES (in a few weeks)

Will emerge from hibernation and shelter here.

WHAT YOU SEE: A pile of sticks and branches that looks messy.

WHAT WILDLIFE SEES: An apartment complex with security.

IF YOU REMOVE IT NOW:

- You evict pregnant rabbits

- You expose roosting birds to predators

- You destroy overwintering insects

- You eliminate spring shelter for emerging reptiles

LEAVE IT UNTIL LATE MAY.

Or better yet — leave it forever.

Brush piles are habitat.

Not mess.

#BrushPile #WildlifeHabitat #LeaveTheMess #BackyardEcosystem

Feb 14th Tribute to Paul Keim memorial walk Croton Point

 

Eastern Screech owl ( gray phased), zoomed photo by Marisa Hernandez 

Hilight 25 plus Bald Eagles and Eastern Screech Owl, a lifer for group participants 

Leader Peter Dorosh

Hilight : 25 plus Bald eagle from train ride to station to park interior  & Eastern Screech Owl a lifer for group participants 

Train ride along Hudson

https://ebird.org/checklist/S301080019

Croton Train Station

https://ebird.org/checklist/S301080339

Croton Point State Park

https://ebird.org/checklist/S301081306

Bald Eagle photos by Marisa Hernandez 

EASTERN SCREECH OWL zoomed photo by Yikun He

Juvenile Bald Eagle photos by Yikun He

GBBC Prospect walk by BBC Feb 15th

Leader Tina Alleva

"How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!"

-- Thomas Wentworth Higginson

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Tina Alleva <>
Date: Sun, Feb 15, 2026, 1:38 PM
Subject: GBBC
To: Peter Dorosh <>

Hi Peter,

We had a great walk today for the Great Backyard Bird Count with about 35 participants. I love this time of year when the resident birds start to sing again.

Highlight today was a low flying adult Red-shouldered hawk.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S301030442

Tina

eBird Checklist - 31 Jan 2026 - Prospect Park - 28 species Goldberg Chklist leading BBC members

https://ebird.org/checklist/S297277875

Note Rusty Blackbird and Red tailed hawk meal

"It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it."

--John Burroughs, conservationist and author















   

January 11th Finchy walk in Greenwood Cemetery

Leader Megan Thornton (debut)

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Megan Thornton 
Date: Mon, Jan 12, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Subject: Re: Gwc walk 
To: Peter Dorosh 

Hi Peter,

It was a great walk! Lots of engagement and excitement from everyone : - D ! We had amazing views as a juvenile RTH attempted to catch a squirrel, and then we watched him practice his technique on an unsuspecting stick before he flew low over us. I was glad to get such a grand show! I'd say we had about 25 people, with a mix of new and familiar faces. 

Here's the checklist:

Red-bellied Woodpecker (6, only 1 male)

Mourning Dove (15)

Monk Parakeets (18)

White-breasted Nuthatch (4)

Red-breasted Nuthatch (2)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1)

American Crow (6)

Red-tailed Hawk (4, 2 of which were beautiful adults, perhaps a pair)

Cooper's Hawk (2 adults)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (1 adult)

Dark-eyed Junco (25)

Tufted Titmouse (2)

White-throated Sparrow (4, surprised there weren't more)

Eastern Towhee (1 female)

Fox Sparrow (6, woohoo!)

Northern Mockingbird (4)

American Robin (10)

Northern Cardinal (6)

Cedar Waxwing (8)

House Finch (10)

American goldfinch (6)

Carolina Wren (1)

Mallard (8)

Bufflehead (3 males)

Ruddy Duck (1 female)

American Black Duck (5)

and about 5 million Blue Jays! (I'm sure it was more like 30... hard to tell, they were EVERYWHERE as expected haha)

We didn't get deep enough in for the Orange-crowned warbler, but thankfully no one minded; everyone seemed eager to check out the feeders at Dell Water, so we hung to those familiar routes. :- )

Thank you again so much for having me lead this walk! I'll be in touch for leading another walk hopefully in late spring or early summer? 

Take care,

Megan

January 3rd Frosty beginnings Coney Island Winter Walk

Chris Laskowski leading

Hi Peter, 

16 people showed up today and toughed it through some chilly 🥶 conditions. It was a fun day nonetheless. We mostly birded the pier and creek (east end) . The highlights were several hundred scooters scattered about, they were mainly Black Scooters but there were also some Surf mixed in. We had 11 duck species in total so we had a nice variety. We saw a few purple sandpipers. A special Thank you to Adelia for helping me and to Sameer for doing the list.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S292150458

eBird Checklist - 1 Jan 2026 - Prospect Park - 29 species. BBC walk led by Stanley Greenberg

https://ebird.org/checklist/S291608713

“ We had 30 species, plus Radka’s brant and merlin, which she had on the way over. Highlights were three ring necked ducks, common merganser, two hairy woodpeckers, yb sapsucker and brown creeper. When I got there 8 people showed up and then a few more added on, so total of 15.

Cold and windy day 

Something to think about for the New year:

What is success?
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!

Ralph Waldo Emerson