Photo by Anke Frohlich

I made a mention of this last week and couldn’t let it go — so S. helped me track down two of the wildlife photographers who staked out in Washington Market Park to spot a saltmarsh sparrow, a species on its way to extinction.

“I went there today (for the third day in a row), and I finally saw it!” wrote Anke Frohlich, whose photo is above. “I spent a total of 10 hours so far looking for this bird, hence I am quite happy that I succeeded at last.” (Find her on X here.)

Photo by Anke Frohlich

Anke lives in the city and has a remarkable body of work — and she spent nearly a year tracking Flaco, the male Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped his long-time enclosure at Central Park Zoo after someone cut the protective netting in February 2023.

And Richard Nelson was able to spot the little guy last Thursday, despite the fact, he reported, that two kestrels were keeping the birds hiding, kids were climbing over the staircase wall into the maintenance area, a drone was flying over the bird and a park worker was smoking nearby. He first came by to catch the sparrow last Monday and returned Thursday for more. “I came prepared this time and was rewarded with 3:16 total footage + stunning, unique stills,” he wrote. His video and stills are below.

The saltmarsh sparrow is an endangered species — and facing extinction before 2050 due to elevated high tides. The Guardian has even made a documentary about one Rhode Island woman’s fight to preserve the species.

Photos by Richard Nelson