birding
-
Kestrel
This male Kestrel (Falco sparverius) made two fruitless passes at the noisy scrum of Monk Parakeets at the Green-Wood gate. The parakeets are a little longer in body-length but have shorter wingspan than these small falcons, so I wonder if they ever succumb to attack. Certainly the parakeets provide food for raptors; I’ve found their…
-
Pigeon Hawk
A really nice and extended look at a Merlin (Falco columbarius) yesterday in Green-Wood. The bird gave me the big, beady eyes, too.These falcons are known for perching for a long period of time, eyes on the lookout for the prize. The surroundings were busy with Blue Jays and Monk Parakeets.The faint Fu Manchu “mustache”…
-
Flying
Insect-summer is over. But last week I was in Prospect Park and saw masses of dragonflies over the Butterfly Meadow, in a patch of the Nethermead, and then in two clusters along the Long Meadow. They all seemed to be Common Green Darners, the large migrating species. And they were hunting on the wing. Gnats,…
-
Excavations
Evidence of Pileated Woodpecker in the Hudson Highlands. The biggest hole is 7″ tall. This kind of excavation work is standard for this crow-sized woodpecker, which has a skull designed to absorb all that pounding.
-
Troglodytes
It’s rare to spot the tiny Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) out in the open, but this one was most obliging long enough to get a shot or two. They usually prefer damp, shady areas, underneath logs and the like. Note the long bill and what seem like largish toes, the better for poking and scratching…
-
Twilight’s Last Gleaming Wood Ducks
We’ve been having some magnificent sunsets lately. This was last night, from the Nethermead. When I crossed over Payne Hill, I found a mess of Wood Ducks still at the far end of the Upper Pool. I went hoping for a repeat of the previous night’s phenomenon, which I heard about from two witnesses: masses…
-
Coincidental Juxtaposition
A flash of yellow in a flock of House Sparrows caught my eye in the Nethermead. The bird quickly flew back down to the ground from its temporary perch. Melopsittacus undulatus, no? The same day I saw four Red-tailed hawks kettling above the Lake. Later, one flew low over the Nethermead. And then later still,…
-
Common Yellowthroat
A male Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), one of this year’s young. He was picking and pecking into that metal grill, which had collected leaves behind it, and hence some invertebrates.
-
Heron Trio
From back to front, a Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret, and a Snowy Egret. Salt-marshing in Brooklyn. Heron. Egret. What’s the difference? “Egret” comes from the Fr. aigrette, which seems to have come out the Old High German heigir, which means… heron. But then you know a hawk from a handsaw, right? Hamlet should…
-
Bobolink
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) perching at Marine Park Nature Center. This is the adult, non-breeding plumage. The species migrates to southern South America. Like many grassland species, its numbers are dropping because of habitat loss.
Backyard and Beyond 