February 2014
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Red-breasted
Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator) can be spotted from both sides of the East River now. They will be heading north to breed soon. (I may be optimistic with that “soon.”) This is a male. Of our three merganser species, this one likes salt water the best.
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Borough, Sweet Borough
Not what most out-of-towners think of when they think of Brooklyn. Nor what most in-the-towners think of, either, for that matter. But it all depends on where and how you look. Winter, 2014. The first real winter in a long, long time.
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Snow Day
The other day, the news was this was, so far, the 9th snowiest winter in NYC. (We’re number nine, we’re number nine!) I have to admit most of it has fallen while I’ve been inside. But yesterday I took a walk thinking I would avoid the snow and ended up walking amidst it. Except for…
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Snowbird
It hasn’t been a big year for Slate-colored Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis), a generally common winter visitor. This was the only one around the other day and I haven’t seen many this winter. They are are usually found close to the ground in small flocks, so this view gives a good sense of the very…
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Charles Darwin’s Birthday
And some elementary wisdom from Martin Chalfie, who shared the 2008 Nobel prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein. He spoke about his work last night at the Linnaean Society.
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Iridescent
A still can only capture one moment of the shifting iridescence of this Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). But what a moment in the later afternoon sun!
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Same Sumac, Another Bird
“O my Starling, O my Starling….” Note the yellowing bill, a breeding sign for Sturnus vulgaris. Spring is in the air. Another Starling, a week later, in the glow of a setting Sun.
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Eagle Resurrection
Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) over Croton Point Park. Hugely perched in trees, wheeling in the air on their seven-feet wingspans, primary feathers sticking out like fingers, or powerfully, but not super-speedily, rowing through the air. I was reminded of the giant eagles in Tolkien, deus-ex-machina-ing over and over again to pull Hobbits and wizards out…
Backyard and Beyond 