Modeling for Bird Collective in Prospect Park
Photos of me by Alexandra Noelle Chan, bird photos by me.
I was super excited to work with Bird Collective last month to model one of their latest shirts, a collaboration with the Finch Research Network. If you're even tangentially interested in birds and birding, you need to check both of them out!
Bird Collective makes the kind of bird apparel I've been searching for — modern, beautiful, and just cool in the way that the other birding merch I've owned has never been for me. It's a little pricey, but in my opinion you absolutely get the value you're paying for.
As for the Finch Research Network, I find their work scientifically astounding. They're best known for a winter finch forecast predicting the movement patterns of finch species in northern North America, but also contribute to ornithological research projects on finches worldwide.
My shirt features illustrations by Jada Fitch of Evening Grosbeak, White-winged Crossbill, Pine Grosbeak, Common Redpoll, and Purple Finch.
I went out with my friend (and WSN colleague) Alex Chan, who's one of the best photographers I know. It was still a little early in the season to see winter finches, but we headed to Lookout Hill in Prospect Park because the habitat there (a mix of conifers and grasses) will be good for them when they do get here.
On the way over, we got some good looks at my first Yellow-rumped Warblers of the season flitting between the trees and the grass near the ballfields.
Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler // Setophaga coronata coronata
Brooklyn, N.Y. — Prospect Park // Oct. 08, 2021
We did see American Goldfinches at Lookout Hill, and even spotted a fledgling being fed by an adult. Goldfinches typically breed later in the season — they have to wait for thistles to bloom to provide food (seeds) and nest material (thistle fluff) — but October is late even by their standards.
A few Hermit Thrushes and Gray Catbirds, two species particularly fond of feeding on berries, were hanging around a berry-laden bush across the path from the meadow on this part of Lookout Hill. The catbirds and I both posed for photos.
Gray Catbird // Dumatella carolinensis
Brooklyn, N.Y. — Lookout Hill, Prospect Park // Oct. 08, 2021
We watched them and some early-ish White-throated Sparrows foraging for seeds in the small meadow until they were flushed by an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk coursing across the clearing. I was excited to see the Sharpie — it was the first one I'd seen in two years.
Though not exactly less abundant than their very similar Accipiter cousin Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk is much rarer in the urban areas where I usually bird, preferring to stick to more denser, more wild forests. Migration is your best chance for seeing them outside of their typical habitat — anything can turn up anywhere during migration. (The last time I saw one was at a hawkwatch in Quaker Ridge, Conn. in October 2019.)
Speaking of hawkwatches, check out Bird Collective's collaboration with Hawkwatch International — a super cool organization and some super cool merch.