mthew

When twenty Monk Parakeets are hooting and hollering, you know something’s up. Ah, yes. Atop the Neo-Gothic pile of an entrance gate designed by Richard Upjohn for Green-Wood Cemetery, there’s a large parakeet nest. And on this day, there was a Red-tailed Hawk. The bird did some stretching. And flexing. Note how the darker bands…

I started this blog on March 3, 2010 with a picture of a baby Painted Turtle. It was simple, a picture and quote by Stephen Jay Gould: “We must tackle and grasp the larger, encompassing themes of our universe, but we make our best approach through small curiosities that rivet our attention — all those…

Chomping at the bit here for some insect life after months of winter. Sure, I’ve seen a few flies all winter long. And I took this picture of this Polyphemus Moth cocoon in December, but saw it still going strong (i.e. just sitting there) the other day. This is the only one of these I’ve…

The Eastern Gray Squirrel comes in a handful of color forms. Gray is the predominate one. There were six squirrels in this silver maple the other day. Two were gray, the other four were a mix of very dark gray and black with reddish highlights. They were all eating the maple buds. Spring is cusping.

The loudest avian voices during winter here are the Blue Jays. They will often mob a raptor, shrieking stridently and even attacking. It’s as good a raptor-alert system as any: attend the noisy Jays and you may very well find a Red-tail or a Cooper’s in the tree or shrub with them. They aren’t just…

The House Sparrows are staking out their claims. Right next door, the Starlings are proclaiming their nest sites as well. Full-throated singing from a House Finch. A Song Sparrow being a little more subdued but still giving the syrinx a go. And, not pictured, a Northern Cardinal belting it out from the top of a…

A magnificent Merlin in the sun. I must say, this one looked awfully big. I mean, for a Merlin. Females do run larger, as in many of the raptors. Look at those long falcon wings! She was looking this way and that, that way and this. Down below, in the same tree, a squirrel moved…

This time, the bird is perched on one foot, with the other held up in the feathers and just peaking out. In the Dell, where there are several feeders, hence song birds, hence potential meals. Buteo lineatus means striped hawk, evidently for the stripes seen on the wing from above (?). These birds are renown…

A Red-shouldered Hawk. Immature. No red “shoulders” yet. But a smattering of russet under the wing. And a touch of red to the tail feathers, too. Like an immature Cooper’s, this immature Red-shouldered has streaking all the way down the front. Red-tailed Hawks usually have a band of streaking across just the belly. It’s fairly…

Looks like it’s a birthday week of raptors. Here’s a Cooper’s Hawk with nictitating membranes in action. This bird was pointed out by half a dozen Blue Jays screaming bloody murder. An hour later, on the other side of Green-Wood. Same bird? Maybe, maybe not. This one dropped down out of sight behind a yew…