Though perched on a Red Deadnettle/Lamium purpureum, this Black-shouldered Drone Fly/Eristalis dimidiata is covered in what I think is Dandelion/Taraxacum pollen. Another Black-shouldered on the same patch of Dandelions. Narrow-headed Marsh Fly/Helophilus fasciatus on the same Dandelions. Flesh fly/Sarcophaginae. Look at how pollen-y these field ants are! Pale Field Ants/Formica pallidefulva In Lesser Celandine/Ficaria verna.…

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Ten days ago, an American Bittern touched down besides Crescent Water in Green-Wood. I wasn’t there. Today, I was about to enter the 5th Avenue tunnel when a car pulled up and a guy named Chris asked me if I’d seen the Bittern he’d been alerted to. I hadn’t and hadn’t known to look until…

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The wing-gap Red-tail has a blue band that seems to read 10 over A. (I’ve submitted details to the Bird Banding Lab…) With sticks for the nest. Which could use a renovation. The mate, I presume the female, in the nest. She was trying to break off some twigs in a nearby tree as well.

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While Magnolias certainly are showy, they’re not particularly pollinator-friendly. As some of the oldest flowering plants, they actually pre-date bees, butterflies, and moths. Beetles and flies are attracted to their flowers, and it’s these older insects who pollinate them. However, I’ve never seen much evidence of any insects in the flowers. Most of the magnolias…

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Bathing is really important for birds, but the problem is where. From the blog command center, we see birds bathing in roof puddles and what are obviously backed-up gutters. A pond seems like a good possibility, but this one is walled in: the drop off is deep. This Red-tailed Hawk was long considering strategy here.…

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Golden-crowned Kinglet/Regulus satrapa. All over this particular day. This binomial means little king, crowned. Our other kinglet, the Ruby-crowned, turns out to be not all that similar to the other birds of the Regulus genera. Formerly known as Regulus calendula, the Ruby-crowneds were recently re-named Corthylio calendula. Corthylio calendula is the sole member of its…

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Finally, a warm day! Saturday’s southwinds turned the temperature up to 70F for the first time, and the joint was jumping! Saw my first Eastern Carpenter Bees of the season: this one on Lesser Celandine and another on Japanese Andromeda. Sedgesitter fly of some sort on Lesser Celandine. Black-shouldered Drone Fly on Virginia Spring Beauty.…

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Marian the Falcarian, who has been monitoring this American Kestrel couple for two years, calls this the “Mean Church” because of these anti-bird spikes. Highlights of less than 45 seconds of falcon sex. Nest cavity in an old rotting cornice.

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There were sightings of an American Kestrel female all winter from the apartment, but in the last month she’s only been spotted once. About 10 blocks and two avenues away, however, I’ve lately come across a pair in courtship. The nest site. American Kestrels are unusual amongst raptors in that they nest in cavities. There…

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