birding
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Lulled
The Lullwater looks calm this time of year. But submerged things are a-fin, and just on the other side of the Terrace Bridge, behind me, were three Hooded Mergansers, two Red-breasted Mergansers, a pair of Wood Duck, and several Ruddy Ducks, the males with electric blue bills. Titmouse, Cardinal, Nuthatch, Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Song Sparrow.…
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Checklist
Snowdrops: Check! Crocuses: Check! Witchhazel: Check! And half-a-dozen or so Red-winged Blackbirds, bringing the area around the Terrace Bridge to sudden, raucous life with their insistent “I am now here!” vocalizations: Check! It was interesting to observe these birds, all males. Two at the feeders presented variations in plumage, with one bird sill having some…
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Beading
Water beading on the feathers of a Ring-billed gull’s neck. Like ducks, gulls spend a fair amount of their time afloat, so their feathers need to be waterproof. (This particular bird was an ex-gull, allowing me the close-up.)
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Foxy
Six species of birds under the feeders in Prospect Park. The large sparrow here, second bird down from the top, is a Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca).This is one of the birds that visit us during the winter months from their breeding grounds in the boreal forests. We never get too many, but there should usually…
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ABDs
The American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) is often found with Mallard Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos), looks somewhat like the female of that ubiquitous species, and sometimes interbreeds with our most recognizable duck, making for hybrids that mix characteristics of the species. This pair looks relatively un-hybridized, with dark orange legs, dark feathers, strong eyeline, olive-yellowish bills.…
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Ice, eagles
Yesterday morning, on a blustery cold day in Columbia County, New York, we listened to the ice moving down the Hudson. This wasn’t a very loud sound, but it was hypnotic hearing the crinkle of ice folding into itself, the cristle of it moving south with the current. (Excuse the smudge of my frozen finger…
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Watering Hole
An open patch of water in Prospect Park’s Lake attracts everybody. The Ring-billed gulls — of which there were hundreds on the ice — had just taken off, leaving the Mute swans in charge. The crowd meant more fowl were on-shore and close to the path, grooming and resting. This allowed me to get up-close…
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Cold-schmold!
The Monk Parakeets, also known as Quaker Parrots (Myiopsitta monachus) in Green-Wood Cemetery were celebrating the return of (barely) above freezing temperatures yesterday with their usual racket. Once, long ago in Green-Wood, with my bins in hand identifying me as a weirdo, a couple came up and asked if I was there to look at…
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Brooklyn Raven
Winter, especially at the tail-end of a bona fide cold snap like we’ve had most of the week, generally presents few surprises for the nature watcher. But this morning, as I wandered about Green-Wood Cemetery, I watched a Common raven (Corvus corax) and a Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) contest the airspace overhead. The Red-tailed was…
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Tree Sparrows
American Tree Sparrows (Spizella arborea). They breed in the tundra, and visit us during winter. These were seen at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Rufus-caps and sides, white bars on the wing, and a dark central spot distinguish them from the other little brown jobs that are the New World sparrows. (The omnipresent House Sparrow is…
Backyard and Beyond 