Backyard and Beyond

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.