Fieldnotes
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Raptor Wednesday
A Merlin (Falco columbarius) at Croton Point. On a recent excursion, the peninsula was largely iced-in on the water side and covered in snow on the land. As a result, Bald Eagles were few and far between: we had only nine sightings (we’re getting spoiled). There was also a dearth of Red-tails: just one one…
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The Red-Orange and the Black-Purple
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)
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Ruddy, Ruddy
Many ducks sport their breeding plumage over the winter, but the Ruddy Ducks don’t start turning until… about now. This male should have an astonishingly light, electric blue bill and much warmer cinnamon-brown plumage in a month or so.A female. She won’t get all peacocky. Ruddy ducks often have their stiff tails raised as here…
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Raptor Wednesday
What you don’t see here are the Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) that were buzzing this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). I may have inadvertently flushed the hawk from some prey on the ground on the hill below me, since when it first landed it looked like it was stretching a piece of flesh between talon and…
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Common Reed
It’s certainly photogenic, if nothing else. You don’t find much life in a patch of Phragmites, although Downy Woodpeckers and, as here, a Black-capped Chickadee in winter extremis, peck and poke among the dry stalks for evidence of invertebrates.
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The Diving Goose
Most of Prospect Lake is frozen and snow covered, so an open patch on the southwestern end is absolutely swarming with Ring-billed gulls and assorted waterfowl, bathing, dabbling, diving close to the shore. There was even a turtle the other day, perhaps popping up to look for spring before retreating back down into the muck.Amongst…
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Come Walk With Me
I started this blog in 2010: here’s my very first post from March 3rd. Five years! In the internet’s split-second, ahistorical frenzy, that must be like half-a-hundred in dog-years. To celebrate, I will be taking a walk in Prospect Park and Green-Wood on Sunday, March 1st. You, my faithful readers, are invited to come along…
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The Goldfinch
A European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) was hanging around the feeders in Prospect Park yesterday, snacking at the thistle favored by American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). In the colder regions of their Old World range, the E.G. migrates to warmer climes. Here it is probably rather confused. This one is doubtlessly an escapee from some local cage.…
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Raptor Wednesday Outtakes
I am of course pleased when I can present a fine photograph of a living creature, but this blog has never been about photography per se. I think of my photos as illustrative and educational tools. I’d like people to think they too could take such pictures, right outside their door or not too far…
Backyard and Beyond 