American Goldfinch.
Purple Finch. Check out that touch of pink in the throat.
Not seen in this one. (That’s a sunflower seed-still-in-shell, not a tongue.)
Pine Siskins, and more sunflower seeds. Bit of a challenge for these fine bills, but the Siskins are swarming around the feeders in Dell Water. It’s an extraordinary year for Siskins down here… meaning it’s a bad year up there.
Posts Tagged 'birding'
Male and female American Kestrels calling, hovering, and diving towards a tree in the distance. Worth a detour.
Sure enough, they had reason to be upset. This Cooper’s Hawk is the first I’ve seen in months.
While a regular sighting during the off-breeding months, not many Cooper’s nest here in the city. (For the last two seasons, a pair has bred in Prospect Park.)
Fall migration, winter, spring migration: look out, raptor season is here again. The remains of a Blue Jay probably testify to that.
Fall Migration in Play
Published August 28, 2020 Fieldnotes 1 CommentTags: birding, birds, Brooklyn
Lost count of the mosquito bites I got waiting for this Chestnut-sided Warbler to appear within a magnolia.
Blue-winged Warbler.
Canada Warbler.
Focus is unnecessary for American Redstarts.
Cape May Warbler.
The early migratory “eh-eh-eh” of Red-breasted Nuthatches ravaging our conifers is very welcome.
Yellow Warbler making some noise, too.
Just enough to tell this is a Warbling Vireo.
A Fish Crow, identified by its vocalizations, patrolling neighboring roofs. For bugs.
Crunchy snacks.
I believe the prey here is a Common Green June Beetle.
Seemed to already dead up there. Crow was scavenging and found several tidbits.
Flashbacks:
Two years ago, Laughing Gulls were swarming over a bunch of these same beetles at Bush Terminal Park.
American Kestrels eat these beetles, too.
I’m still looking for hard evidence, i.e. fledglings, of Green-Wood breeding Eastern Kingbirds. In the meantime, enjoy this rare look at the rather subtle touch of red on the bird’s head.
At Sylvan Water.
At Valley Water.
Throwing up a pellet of indigestible insect bits. Camera didn’t catch the bolus, but last year….
Here They Come/Here They Come/Here They Come
Published May 23, 2020 Fieldnotes Leave a CommentTags: birding, birds, Sunset Park
Yesterday morning the “bronk!” of a raven lifted my eyes to the window. They were passing right over the building. Four of them! Another followed from another angle. Looks like the class of 2020 is on the wing.
Two of them landed on St. Michael’s for a brief perch above their domaine.
A hour or so later I heard through the grapevine that the five of them were spotted in Green-Wood. Last year around this time I ran into a family of six in Green-Wood. In 2016, I had my first view of that year’s family in early June.
(Post title of Laurie Anderson: “Strange angels/singing just for me”)
Warblers
Published May 17, 2020 Fieldnotes Leave a CommentTags: birding, birds, Brooklyn, Green-Wood
Sometimes they land right in front of you. Magnolia Warbler.
Other times, most times, not so much. Bay-breasted Warbler.
Rather more typical view… Wilson’s Warbler, named after pioneering ornithologist Alexander Wilson.
And sometimes, termites reproductives, the winged ones, emerge, and the songbirds fly right overhead hawking them out of the air. (As I was trying to count Cape May Warblers, a Rudy-throated Hummingbird got close enough to me for me to hear its wings.)
American Redstart.
Two different Blackpoll Warblers. “Poll” old word for head. One of the farthest flying migratory warbler species.
All spotted yesterday amid the rain/reign of Swainson’s Thrushes in Green-Wood.
Two Well-Grounded Warblers
Published May 8, 2020 Fieldnotes 2 CommentsTags: birding, birds, Brooklyn
Ovenbird.
Worm-eating Warbler. (Needs a better publicist, right?)
Raptor Wednesday
Published April 29, 2020 Fieldnotes 2 CommentsTags: birding, birds, Brooklyn, fish
Every once and a while, an Osprey scouts out Green-Wood’s Sylvan Water, the largest body of water in the cemetery. Just in case.
There certainly are fish in there. This one is entirely too small for an Osprey, but intriguing nonetheless. What is it?
Of course, that fish is perfect for a Kingfisher. This one was spotted earlier in the day than the Osprey. Heard first, actually, which is typical.
Now this one is more Osprey size. It was found in G-W last September. Just like this, at the mouth of the drain. Swam upstream from the bay through the combined sewage-outflow system the city absurdly still uses? I doubt it.
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Worth reading: on Science-ism.
Backyard and Beyond 