mthew

This bend in the linden is a favored perch. But this was the only time I saw a Merlin up there in January. As I was returning some 30-45 minutes later to this spot I heard an unfamiliar sound. The Merlin powered overhead at impressive speed, veered sharply right towards the sun where there was…

This was the same crow as yesterday. I thought the bird was working some raw or rare meat. Common Loon with a crab. Which it chomped down on sending pieces flying.

What a nice surprise–my first Mourning Cloak of the year. And so early, too! This is the second observation in NY state on iNaturalist this month, the first in NYC. It was very sunny and in the low 50s F this morning near noon in the Dell in Green-Wood. Nymphalis antiopa, also known as the…

Ring-billed eating seaweed. Another Ring-billed. Crow stripping the bark off this piece of wood. Presumably to get at something inside the wood.

On the nest, 2-1-23.

Small pellet, small prey. I wonder if this could be a Saw-whet’s pellet? Another, fresher. And another. Separated this one in the wind. Some incisors. Some molars.

Too big for pinecones: a pair of Great Horned Owls. A Great Horned’s pellet. Something Rodenta was a meal, probably Brown Rat. Another pellet, under the same owl-less tree, found the same time as the larger pellet. Looked fresher, was smaller. More GHO, or something else?

Special B&B Agent Traci reported this Northern Saw-whet snoozing away next to a busy throughway and I was on my way. This is the most common and smallest owl species on the eastern half of the U.S. The 1980-85 NY state breeding bird survey had them in Queens and Nassau counties, but the second edition…

The Stupor Bowl is on this weekend for fans of four hours of commercials and ten minutes of play, so I hope you find some owls.