mthew

On a recent midday walk in Green-Wood I came across a Downy Woodpecker/Dryobates pubescens battering away at a dead looking branch of Beech. A Northern Flicker/Colaptes auratus caught me by surprise. Later I saw two more. Although one of them could have been this one. A couple of Red-bellied/Melanerpes carolinus were seen. A Yellow-belied Sapsucker/Sphyrapicus…

The morning Red-tailed Hawk. Another American Crow came to greet this youngster. This is the third winter in a row that a young Red-tail has been around Sunset Park. This is how December 16th began. Not well-photographed through window and two different trees, but there’s the young RT again at 8:37 a.m. 9:50. Peregrine on…

Parakeets, whatever. Forty-some of them anyway: Monk Parakeet/Myiopsitta monachuss.

A first winter Larus delawarensis‘s bill isn’t ringed yet.

A couple of wintering-over American Oystercatchers/ Haematopus palliatus. One is an Atlantic Jacknife/Ensis leei -catcher.

This female American Kestrel is pretty much the boss of the territory around the Old Chapel in Green-Wood. This male likes the Green-Wood corner of 36th and 5th. About ten blocks separate them. Recently, I saw a second male near the Chapel. Speaking of territory. I noticed the two crows from some distance away, then…

One of a pair of Common Ravens/Corvus corax circling. Nine days earlier, fit them both in the viewfinder.

I’ve seen a good number of dead birds over the years, and I’m almost always surprised by how difficult I find it to identify their scraggly-miserable corpses. I took a look at this bill on Plumb Beach and thought…tern? But in December? Pink feet and a wide black band on the tail also pushed this…