I saw Flaco twice on Thursday, once in the afternoon and again in the evening.

In the afternoon, he was a stop before I went to see the two Green-winged Teals that were on The Pool with a group of newly arrived Gadwalls. He was comfortable roosting in an oak tree. Construction has started on the Recreation Center, and this might be changing his choice of roosting locations.

In the evening, I caught up with him at the construction site for the new rink/pool by the Harlem Meer. He was often on the ground, equipment or a barricade. He also was on the roof, on the steps and under the construction trailer. He also hooted.

He got flushed by the night watchman, while hooting and then ended up hooting from a tree east of the constructions site. Since he’s often gone out of the construction site and up to the compost heap, the three of us watching him made the hike up the hill to look for him. It was late, so everyone decided to go home. I left via the constructions site, as I can catch my bus from 110th Street.

On my way out, with my camera equipment in my bag, I saw that he had returned to the construction site. But he was inside the new building on a stack of metal ducts waiting to be installed wrapped in a blue film. He then flew around the inside of the building. He was hidden most of the time, but I got to see him on four perches. I was still setting up my camera, so my video was at times shaky or out of focus, but it was fascinating to see him inside the building. So, on this night Flaco was a Building Inspector.