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Mussel-breaking
This Herring Gull* dropped this mussel on the beach twice, to no effect. The first drop on a parking lot, however, was quite successful. *A sharp-eyed reader caught my initial error in calling this a Ring-billed Gull.
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See Under: Trees
Exploring the shady underbellies of conifers this time of year can reveal some deep… uh… stuff. Yes. there’s quite a lot of excrement, for one thing, although that is by no means confined to the base of conifers. I’ll spare you pictures of the turd-like turds, but here are a couple of interesting byproducts. Not…
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Raptor Wednesday
December 15th. Every bird is unique, but we rarely have the opportunity to study them that closely. But this yearling Red-tailed Hawk has quite a lot of scapular markings, the wide white on the wings. This is broader than general for our local Red-tails (the species is found across North America with lots of variety).…
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Water, Water, Not Everywhere In Winter
Brant (Branta bernicla), geese who visit the region in winter.A trio of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) in the mid-zone for scale. These two geese species share a genus and look superficially similar from afar. This was fresh water rippling out into Jamaica Bay, and everybody was happy to get some. Last week it was…
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Uncommon Common Goldeneye
A male Common Goldeneye, spotted recently off Red Hook.A rare bird for Upper New York Bay. Seen in ones and twos and occasionally threes. Locally, Jamaica Bay is better. I’ve never been this close.Where pop, Cold War, and birding intersect: bird-watcher Ian Fleming’s Jamaica home was named Goldeneye, whence the Bond title (or was it…
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Et tu, Planet Earth II?
Have you heard Planet Earth II? The sound effects are absolutely maddening. The dramatic music is bad enough, but they saturated the soundtrack with all sorts of business invented by sound designers and foley artists. Why do they do this? Nature is often quite silent, except for the wind, to our rather limited ears. Faking…
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Squirrel, Noise
As befitting a cemetery, Green-Wood can be very quiet, barring the constant faint background hum of the universe — or traffic as we call it here in Brooklyn — and the intermittent roar of passing planes. I heard this squirrel before seeing it. And clearly it saw me. Another squirrel was foraging on the ground…
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Owling
Did you see this essay on owl etiquette? Food for thought, before you spit up the bones and fur. Personally, I wouldn’t announce an owl location on social media, but I very much like his point that owls are excellent ambassadors for recruits for friends of the wild. Because the planet has enough enemies already.…
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Raptor Wednesday
This fire escape is about one third of the way down the block. In the mornings, Mourning Doves, Starlings, and House Sparrows are wont to huddle here to catch the warming rays of the sun, sheltered from the predominately western wind. When this male American Kestrel appears, everybody else flees. I’ve spotted him up here…
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Waterfowl Counting
Four of us braved the element of a cold NNW wind coming off the bay to count waterfowl for an annual NYSOA survey. We were assigned to two segments of the Brooklyn waterfront, Bush Terminal Park and the Brooklyn Army Terminal pier. The latter was quiet; large bays on either side of the pier had…
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Backyard and Beyond 