mthew

I recently came upon a young Cooper’s Hawk astride the remains of a pigeon. The spot looked like it had been used before for plucking and eating prey. This blue! I eventually got to within 6 feet of the bird, which is the closest I’ve ever been, allowing for some nice of the squab-bloodied face.

January 3rd. pair over Industry City. January 4th, over Green-Wood Two hours later, a pair over Industry City.

Gadwall/Mareca strepera. The touch of green on the nape and the pronounced neck ring makes me wonder if this one is a mix or cross with Wigeon.

Late December… a late bird, or an early one? Notably, last year was the first year in a while that I did not see any evidence of Killdeer nesting around Bush Terminal Park.

Female American Wigeon on the rocks at Bush Terminal, before it was taken over for use as a helicopter landing pad for Dumpf’s Maduro show trial/Venezuelan oil cornering. Nice illustration of how big Anas genus Mallards & Black Ducks are compared to most of our other ducks.

One of Green-Wood’s male American Kestrels eating something in the nature of a small songbird. Everything but the feathers. I’ve seen this a few times now: even the feet get eaten, swallowed toes-up. 20 minutes later, another male. Some days later, a female. The day after that…. These were the first sightings of females I’d…