birds
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Just ducks, ducky
The other day I was actually heard to express some weariness with winter. Even me. Mostly, I’m just tired of putting on and taking off my boots, putting on and taking off my boots. A surefire antidote to the winter ice blues, though, is to go looking for waterfowl. These fat-swaddled birds let the cold…
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Three hour harbor tour
Thalatta, thalatta! cried Xenophon’s Greeks when, after a long struggle, they finally saw the Black Sea again. (In modern Greek, it’s thalasssa, thalassa, the sea, the sea!) I often think of this rejoicing when I see the water. Like the Aegean, another cradle of civilizations, New York City is an archipelago, with almost all of…
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Cardinals
I’m betting that an awful lot of people who say they don’t know their birds can recognize the cardinals. The Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, is one of our most distinctive year-around birds. They are particularly obvious in winter, when the red male sticks out like a tropical flower in the snow. The female, although less…
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Winter Trio
The winter beach can be an unforgiving landscape, scraped by the wind and beaten by the waves. There are almost always dead sea birds to be found washed ashore. This red-breasted merganser was on its way to being thoroughly recycled. Note the serrated jaws here, a characteristic of the species notably lacking in the loons.…
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Winter II
Maybe it was my peripatetic upbringing, but I didn’t know until fairly recently that trees carry their buds all through winter. I just assumed they appeared right before they opened up as the days grew longer and temperatures rose in the spring. This was another instance of my not actually seeing while I was looking.…
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Owl Week: Golden
There are some 181 species of owls in the world. Nineteen breed in North America. The one above is one of the many symbolic or metaphysical types. You’ll find it atop the ornate entrance of the Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch, Grand Army Plaza, along with the golden characters of some great American books. Glaukos,…
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Owl Week: Owling
The best way to see an owl is to follow the birders. Owl sightings, especially in the city, are rare, exotic, and spectacular. As such they attract crowds. This can be a problem, since during the day, which is of course when we see best, owls sleep. Crowds can keep the animal awake and stress…
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Owl Week: Great Horned
So far during Owl Week here at B&B, we’ve seen some of the smaller owls, which are rare for Brooklyn per se. But today we have the Great Horned owl, Bubo virginianus, which is big and bold and most definitely living here in Kings County. This picture is from two winters ago. Unfortunately, the nest…
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Owl Week: Saw-whet
The Northern Saw-whet owl, Aegolius acadicus, being owly in a conifer, the only trees that provide cover during the winter months. Nocturnal animals, owls sleep and rest during the day either in cavities or deep within the protective branches of trees. This photo was taken in the New York Botanical Garden two winters ago. The…
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Owl Week: Screech
A Eastern Screech owl, Otus asio. These photographs were taken at a raptor demonstation at the Queens Co. Farm Museum a couple of years ago. Such birds are partially rehabilitated rescuees who can’t be released back into the wild The Screech owl comes in three forms, or morphs: gray, brown, or red, as here. It’s…
Backyard and Beyond 