mthew
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Ice
Yesterday, as the temperature rose up to the freezing point, the bays between the piers at Brooklyn Bridge Park were filled with undulating pancake ice. These Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) were putting their succulent layer of fat to good use.And, Dear Reader, a mystery. The gentleman cleaning the area said a woman had been sitting for…
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Sumac Robin
10* yesterday. This is one of four American Robins who were scouring the Sumac berries. Not all Robins head south for the winter. These could also be birds from further north, this their south. Wintering Robins tend to flock and change their dietary habits, since there are few earthworms to be had now.
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Hoodies
Drake Hooded Merganser, (Lophodytes cucullatus).The hen. Both sexes can extend their feathers into a top-heavy-looking “hooded” crest.Although this day, only the two males were doing so. Keeping up appearances.
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Polar Vortex
The secret, besides bundling up, is walking away from the wind, although I suppose we all have to go home at some point. 5F/-16C according to the Watchtower LED above Brooklyn Bridge Park, a reading which takes no account of the ice-spikes hammered into the sinuses by the wind chill. But I remember much, much…
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A Parliament of Owls
York Street mural by Craig Anthony Miller (“CAM”), who wisely uses a gas mask when working with his medium.
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Hawking Around
Just before the storm, a friend who lives in Manhattan’s Chinatown sent me this phone picture of a raptor she saw on a playground on the edge of the Al Smith Houses. She wanted to know what it was. When I first started to bird-watch, I found the raptors a challenge. Still do. Some are…
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Kestrel
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) doing its hovering-hunting over grasslands. They face the wind, flare their tails, and stiffly beat their wings to hang still as they scan the ground below for movement or signs of prey. Remarkable to see. Especially when a NYPD helicopter is doing something similar nearby. Long-shot… like this raptor’s every drop…
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Special Mega Non-Storm Edition
The capital of media bullshit makes it through another insignificant winter storm. I send my best wishes to people in the Midwest and New England who actually had some serious weather; pay no mind our hysteria and ratings/click-whoring news-tainment companies, who must feed on your eyes like a parasite to survive. Rather more impressive was…
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King Eider
Snowy Owls aren’t our only Arctic visitors. This is a male, or drake, King Eider (Somateria spectabilis). I saw my first ever earlier this month, when, after the Brooklyn CBC, we all hurried over to Beach 59th St. on the Rockaways. The other day another was spotted off Fort Tilden. This time I had my…
Backyard and Beyond 