March 2015
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Scaup
The great rafts of scaup that gather in Dead Horse and Gravesend Bays during the winter will soon be heading to breeding areas in the north. The males are three-toned. The females are brownish with a touch of white on the cheek. I find separating the Greater (Aythya marilla) and Lesser (Aythya affinis) difficult.
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Timberdoodles!
This is American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) country. Actually, this time of year, practically anywhere is American Woodcock country: backyards, bars, porches, Park Avenue medians, DUMBO parking garages. Yes, I’ve heard cases of them appearing in all these places. I’ve written a poem in which I refer to them bombarding us during the migration seasons; I’d link to…
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And by the way…
It’s spring! A Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) and Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) herald the season in Central Park today.
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What the wha…?
A building at Floyd Bennett Field has this Snowy Owl stuffed animal in the window. I mean, I think it’s a stuffed animal.
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The Catskills ~ Luna Moths
Originally posted on Backyard and Beyond: Checking out of our fog-bound Catskills hotel, we were greeted with a luna moth on the veranda. One of the giant silk moths, Actias luna is large, startling, and spectacular. (See the comments for the status of these show-stoppers here in the city.) Wingspan ranges from 3-4″ in length.…
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Wash Your Rocks
One of the earliest disillusionments is the transformation of the beautiful seashell or river rock into something rather dull once it has dried out. Whence the magic of the beach-combing discovery, the footloose, and probably bare-footed, sojourn along the edges of the ocean/pond/lake/stream/river, where the gleaming thing captured our eye? I understand that shell collectors…
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Signs and Meanings
“‘You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.’” ~ A.C. Doyle.
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Raptor Wednesday
A rumor of an American Kestrel being heard and seen on Montague Street had my falcon-senses tingling Saturday. Exploring one of the alleys south of Montague, I faintly heard one of the birds, almost subliminally, just enough to make me look up: the little jet sliced the sky in half. Around the corner — voilà!…
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Crows
There are two species of crows here and along the East Coast: the American and Fish. It is hard to tell them apart by sight, but their voices are distinctive. Since this one wasn’t vocalizing, I can’t be sure which one it was. Fish Crows (Corvus ossifragus), as their name suggests, are usually associated with…
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