Fieldnotes
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Kestrel Renewal
Well, here they are, kitty-corner from last year’s cornice nest. Have seen no mating as yet, but that sure doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any. Picture above from March 5th. On Thursday, March 14th, at about 5:30pm, the same set up: both on the chimney pot after she flew there from a nearby roof pipe.…
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Fossils
A collection of fossils from Missouri, from back when the region was a shallow sea. Long before our time, my friends. These were a gift from a friend who recommended they be boiled a long, long time before they’re ready. I can’t get over the ones that look like liberty or Phrygian caps. You might…
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Raptor Wednesday
A young Red-tailed launches into the air in pursuit of… a Canada Goose? No, really? Yes, really. There were a dozen geese herding up the hill above Crescent Water in Green-Wood. The hawk raised a gaggle and disappeared from my sight. Then it flew back to this tree, making another pass of the geese as…
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Hatchin’ Still
We began the winter with White-breasted Nuthatches, and as we near the end of it… three of them were working over this old horse chestnut, whispering amongst themselves. This one kept finding tidbits in this tree cave. On an hour’s walk in very chilly Green-Wood recently, I came across around a dozen of these nuthatches,…
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Mammal Monday
Curling up on a roof on a cold winter day. For two days, this raccoon spent daylight hours up here on a neighboring roof. The gutter, and poor roof drainage, provided water from the recent snowfall. It disappeared just a few minutes before sunset the first day. I thought it might be a goner, for…
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Dogs of Prospect, Again
I used to spend so much time in Prospect Park! It’s farther away now, but that’s not the reason I’m there so infrequently now. Half a dozen Red-winged Blackbirds were burbling with Spring there the other day. A Song Sparrow was singing, tree buds were clearly on the edge of bursting, mosses waved their tiny…
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Pupa Knows Best
Revisiting this pupa of what I think is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail in better light and because I find it fascinating. If you look closely, you can see breathing holes on the segments. And the support filament that secures the lower end (or right third in the horizontal view) of the structure to the rock.…
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Raptor Wednesday
Perched relatively close to each other, an adult Red-tailed Hawkand a juvenile, from the class of ’18. They were not in sight of each other, but they certainly were in calling distance. I wonder if they are teaming up? You can see the difference in tail feathers nicely here, russet for the adult, stripped reddish-brown…
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Blink
Once more, with feeling!Blinkin’ Downy Woodpecker. *** This blog was begun nine years ago very much under the influence of naturalist and dissenter H.D. Thoreau. I’ve written about him here and there over the years. Let me take this anniversary week opportunity to link back to some of the pieces: On his journal. On his…
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Mammal Monday
The raccoons have taken a walloping from canine distemper, but they aren’t finished yet. In honor of the bloggiversary: all the mammals on the blog! And a couple of personal favorites: Eurasian Red in the ice-cream. Muskrat at dusk.
Backyard and Beyond 