birding
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Raptor Wednesday
Squirrels and Blue Jays were in an uproar about this young Red-tailed Hawk. And when this mature Cooper’s Hawk landed briefly on the other side of the same tree, the mammal-avian alarms went haywire. Since I’d used a tree as a blind to get closer for the shots of the Red-tail, I couldn’t see what…
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Raptors vs. Squirrels
Another adult Red-tailed Hawk, another Green-Wood squirrel. Sunday above Sylvan Water. How many squirrels are in the cemetery? Not as many, I would guess, as in Prospect Park.While looking for interesting birds lately I’ve come across a couple of squirrels doing their best to lay low inside conifers. On Sunday, on the other hand, five…
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Raptor Wednesday
It snowed on Saturday. Twice. In between, I happened to be watching several squirrels capering across the park from my window. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught something fly at a bush and then away, turning up to a tree limb. Several squirrels made a racket up there before retreating. It was…
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Sylvan Raptor
Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday I spotted raptors at the gory work of eating. First up is a mature Red-tailed Hawk in Green-Wood at the Sylvan Water. The unfortunate meal is a Grey Squirrel. I used a very large tree as a blind to get close as the weather went from cloudy to breaking sunny to…
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Raptor Wednesday
Cooper’s Hawk! This bird was still up here two hours later. I think it was digesting breakfast. *** Uncivil disobedience: a new paradigm in Hong Kong, or how do you fight the awful might of the state?
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American Wigeon
Male. Female. Choate says wigeon is from the French vigeon, for a whistling duck. Possibly from the Latin vipeo for small crane.
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Mammal Monday
Directly above this very cautious squirrel was a A Red-tailed Hawk (and some obstreperous Blue Jays). The hawk had a very full crop. So digesting and chillaxing. In the same tree as the hawk, another squirrel.
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H. histrionicus
Brooklyn has gone avian rarities this winter. A Varied Thrush, a bird of the northwest into Alaska, has been hanging out in Prospect Park. A female Painted Bunting has been enjoying the amenities at Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is also hosting a Black-headed Gull amid the thousands of Ring-billed Gulls who roost there. And, something…
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Motley Mute
Mute Swans are invasive, but the transition from juvenile to adult plumage is still kinda cool.
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Phoebe Again
The day after spotting an Eastern Phoebe in Green-Wood, I saw one in Prospect Park.Traditionally, one of the first migratory birds to show up here in the spring. This means they’re not coming from very far away. And as it gets warmer, some of them aren’t even leaving. This one made a dive down to…
Backyard and Beyond 