Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Kestrel

The male American Kestrel was hunting. Repeatedly flying down to the ground, the bird returned to this sign or another nearby, sometimes landing briefly in a tree before making another sortie. It was December 12, the temperatures in the forties. I could hear crickets, so there was certainly some invertebrate life to be had in the grass.

Nothing talon-worthy was caught, however, while I watched.

The Brooklyn CBC results will be published in an upcoming Clapper Rail. Top-line results: “49,961 individuals, representing 129 species.  These totals exceed our average totals of 43,897 individuals and 123 species.” Still seems like a remarkably unbirdy winter, in Green-Wood at least, but tomorrow’s blog will feature an unexpected holdout.

2 responses to “Kestrel”

  1. Charles McAlexander

    Gtrat shots of my spark/spirit bird. Merry Christmas

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