Fieldnotes

Crows harrying a Red-tailed Hawk. Not too much later, two Red-tails were in the same tree. Then four of them were in the air together. Another day of crow patrol. Nest building in a pine. Copulating on a cross. These might not be the same birds as the ones building the nest. Yes, this is…

There are places where the ground is crawling with what I think are thin-legged wolf spiders. Centipede scurrying from the light. Small Milkweed Bug was an unexpected find on a 42F day. Mantis egg case. Found four here.

The tapping and pecking of various birds in the winter stillness grabs the ears. The woodpeckers, the nuthatches. And in this case, a Tufted Titmouse. I didn’t have time to get focused because the bird dropped its prize, which I first thought might be a peanut, and flew away. But it was a cocoon! And,…

A not uncommon sight from the apartment windows this winter. Although the last few weeks have seen scant evidence of this male American Kestrel. But here he was March 8 as the Staten Island Ferry, Big Orange to those of us on the moraine, goes by. Then, last Thursday, March 11, the pair! American Kestrels…

The cinnamon belly of an American Woodcock is one of the great delights of the world. Hard to see, though.

In abstentia… Rodent jaws. Coin is an inch across. Same, with the teeth pulled out. They come out rather easily. These were found amid the ruins of some owl pellets. Owls swallow prey whole and then spit up the gnarly bits. Considering how clean these bones are, those are some serious digestive juices. A mess…

Look who’s back! I mean, probably. Couldn’t see the bands on this bird’s leg, but assume they are the black rings marked R, top, and 7, bottom. Some call the bird “Rover,” but I don’t think the Adamic naming thing has turned out well, so I pass on naming wild animals. The bird was banded…

Airy and with a view. I’ve posted pictures of these traffic light support poles before. Practically every single one has a House Sparrow nest at both ends. And the birds are staking their claims over them now, actively! See also yesterday’s post. This was on the long 5th Avenue border of Green-Wood. Along this same…

A knock-down fight between two male House Sparrows. Bill-biting seemed to be the main strategy here. I wonder if this is to immobilize this fearsome weapon? (In social media discussion on another topic recently, an ornithologist noted that these birds can inflict a painful bite.) In his classic The House Sparrow, J.D. Summers-Smith notes that…

I surprised this adult Cooper’s Hawk bathing in the Sylvan Water, in the only patch that was un-iced along the water’s edge. A couple of days later, in the same tree. The bird’s crop was bulging with a meal, and there was blood under the chin. In addition to having the russet rippled chest as…