Fieldnotes
-
Captive Gyr
The largest falcon, Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus).* Birds of the tundra and elsewhere northwards. Occasionally they drift down into the U.S.I’ve never seen one in the wild in North America. I have seen a dark morph in Iceland. (They come dramatically white like this, gray, and dark.)This one is all jessed up and has no place…
-
Dawn Corvids
One morning recently, a great parliament of crows flew over the apartment heading towards the bay. I estimated fifty at least. They boiled around the air column over the empty parking lot of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, before turning right to head northish along the coast of Brooklyn. They must have been roosting inland.…
-
Are We Getting the Blue Jays All Wrong?
These boldly colored birds are usually described in negative, highly moralistic terms. Cue up J.J. Audubon: “Who could imagine that a form so graceful, arrayed by nature in a garb so resplendent, should harbour so much mischief;–that selfishness, duplicity, and malice should form the moral accompaniments of so much physical perfection!”In my experience, they’re actually…
-
Raptor Wednesday
Let me introduce you to two different American Kestrel males, who have been spotted several times ten blocks apart along the western edge of Green-Wood in the last few months. First up today is this one, with a nicely russet chest. Rather more prominent, however, is his tail:The male standard, for both adult and juvenile,…
-
Ravens
I usually hear them before I see them. Brooklyn’s Common Ravens regularly fly across the bow, the view from here down to the coast of Upper New York Bay. They are generally quite vocal, which helps to distinguish them from the crows from afar. In this case, the somewhat swine-like krongking was right overhead. The bird…
-
Mammal Monday
If it’s quiet enough, not generally a condition found within the bounds of NYC, a squirrel gnawing on a walnut will ring throughout the area.The eating of buds, on the other paw, is much more subtle. You may only notice when things start falling on your head.
-
Superb Owl Sunday Extra Point
Blue Jay points the way. Or, more accurately, calls “jay! jay! jay!” to the way.I heard the Jays from afar. Couldn’t see anything in the tree, so I walked underneath it to look for owl sign (whitewash or pellets) or feathers from a raptor kill. Nothing but cones and raccoon poop. Well, Jays do yell…
-
Superb Owl Sunday Halftime Show
Some large owl pellets spotted recently in the Borough of Kings.Considering I previously saw a Great Horned Owl in this tree, it’s a good bet these belong to that critter, although I saw no sign of the bird when I found these.To recap, owls gobble their food whole or in chunks — bones, fur, feathers,…
-
Superb Owl Sunday Kick-off
On the next to last day of 2018, we saw three Saw-whet Owls in Central Park.I’ve been saving them for today, international Superb Owl day, which transforms something toxic and commercial (“Superbowl”) into something delightfully non-corporate and much, much shorter.It’s been a bumper winter for Saw-whets here in the city, but in a sad way:…
-
The Flow
The initial sign. Seven days later. About right on time (see last year).
Backyard and Beyond 