mthew

I have been seeing, and hearing about other people seeing, members of the the Red-shouldered League all fall. This is unprecedented. Usually, Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) pass over during migration periods. I’ve never seen them consistently here in Brooklyn through the fall and now winter. This youngster was perched on Monday in Green-Wood. (Does this…

I didn’t get outside on New Year’s Day, but on Sunday I got to poke about a bit. Underneath a large piece of bark, deeply curled so its underside was not touching the ground, I found a whole universe of delights. Isopods, a spider, a centipede, two kinds of beetles, everything small and active, near…

Swamp white oak leaves clinging on, regardless.

Our smallest woodpecker, the Downy, (Picoides pubescens) is also the boldest in terms of its tolerance of people. Note how the inner eyelid closes on contact. The red patch marks this as a male. This is a Kentucky Coffee Tree. I’m usually long abed by midnight, so here’s a virtual “happy new year!” Anything better…

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) showing the yellow belly for a change. I’m assuming this is a female working towards adult plumage. Sapsucking. The bird drills out holes to pool sap, which she eats, along with any insects attracted to the sap. (We’ve had some Diptera still flying in this mild Decemeber.) Yews (Taxus) are particularly…

A little woodpecker variety for the last Wednesday of the year. Above, a male Downy (Picoides pubescens), who pounded out a grub from a larch branch. These little woodpeckers will range through the borough. This, however, is a Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus), which is uncommon in Brooklyn. This, from the middle of the month, is…