birding
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New Robins
Out of the nest, still being fed by the parents. Fledged, but less a flier than a hopper and a climber at the moment. People often think birds need help at this stage — can’t fly, looks helpless, no sign of the parents — but they usually don’t. The parents are near, but keeping away…
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Raptor Wednesday
No pictures today, but I do have the link to the 55 Water Street Peregrines. There are four young this year, still looking like fluffy off-white chickens, but that is changing rapidly. When typing this (last night), I pulled up the page expecting to see nothing in the dark, but there was enough ambient light…
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Monday Morning Preening
This is an extreme telephoto, but the bright yellow toes here are a give-away: Snowy Egret (Egretta thula). This bird is a little like a miniaturized version of the Great Egret (Ardea alba), but with black bill/yellow toes to the Great’s yellow bill/black toes. Both species were almost hunted to extinction for their breeding plumes,…
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Raptor Wednesday
You can eyeball the birds at the Raptor Trust in Millington, NJ, pretty closely, albeit through fencing and netting. A Peregrine (Falco peregrinus). American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). The animals on display aren’t releasable, but many of the birds bought here for rehabilitation are returned to the wild. Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura). The facility, surrounded by…
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Nesting
Green Heron (Butorides virescens) sitting on eggs out over the water. It rare to see Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) on the ground. These were stuffing their bills full of mud for their cup nests. Talk about the importance of varied habitats and general all-around messiness! This is a patch where the stone border of the…
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Raptor Wednesday
Red-tailed hawk on the Brooklyn Museum.Another atop the American Museum of Natural History.
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The Birds Certainly Do It
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) throwing out some wood chips from a nest cavity. Both birds were working on the excavation, and defending it from cavity-stealing Starlings. One of a pair of tiny Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea) crafting a nest of spider webs and lichen. Yes, that’s right, spider webs and lichen.Meanwhile, having gotten the jump…
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Another Leucistic Robin
There was a leucistic American Robin (Turdus migratorius) seen in Prospect Park for at least five years, if I remember correctly. This one, spotted in Green-Wood last week, has much less pigmentation in the feathers. There’s enough of the bricky red in the breast to let you know that this is, in fact, a Robin.…
Backyard and Beyond 