birds
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Ardea Duo II
A week later on another of Green-Wood’s “waters.” Great Egret and juvenile Great Blue together again. The Great Blue did a lot of preening. So many feathers, after all. And such long ones! Great Blue primaries are 14″ (36cm) long.The Great E hunted right up its belly. The bird grabbed three small fry. The frogs,…
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Ardea Duo
Ardea herodias and Ardea alba. As a rule, the Great Blue Heron, on the left, is a larger bird than the Great Egret on the right. This GBH is a juvenile, so perhaps not up to full size, and, of course, the GE is closer. Speaking of closer. The Blue walked towards me. I was…
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Raptor Wednesday
Just a short distance from a new parking lot in the Bronx, young Red-tailed Hawks continue to raise a ruckus. *** Reading against fascism. Where I reacquainted myself with this quote from Hannah Arendt: “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction…
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Raptor Wednesday
I can’t recall ever being this close to a Red-tailed Hawk. This is the one I posted about a couple weeks ago.Beset by tiny songbirds, the bird perched no more than 10 feet above the ground.Eyelids closed! That’s something I don’t see often.Those feet!Yes, those feet. Those toes!
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AMKE Saturday
The male of the #BrooklynKestrels pair. I don’t know why he has this gape in his chest feathers. It’s gotten bigger and more noticeable over time. Some commenters on Twitter suggested it was a brood patch for a second round of eggs, but it seems high up on the body for that. Also, as far…
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Speaking of Ticks, or More Foxes, More Possums!
I didn’t have my camera with me, so recent run-ins with three young rabbits in the Bronx went unrecorded. Each of them was festooned with ticks, around the ears, face, and neck. Some of the ticks were hugely bloated, looking like malignant gumballs or creepy purple pearls. A few days later, armed again with lens…
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Raptor Wednesday
Three in number, vocal in youth. (The third is hiding in the lower right.)The apricot/salmon flush to the breast is a sign of youth in Red-tailed Hawks. The feet are signs of raptor.Notice, too, how pale the underside of the tail feathers are.At least one parent was nearby, harried by Blue Jay and Eastern Kingbird.…
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Recent Sightings
A President under investigation shouldn’t be allowed to appoint judges who will decide cases involving him. The Republican corruption of justice continues. And on top of that, this Kavanaugh character is already lying by saying “No president has ever consulted more widely or talked to more people from more backgrounds to seek input for a…
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Summer
You never know what you’ll see out there. Sure, the frying days of summer make it hard to enjoy the brute sun and humidity, but on Saturday we had a respite from the heat tsunami. So off we wandered down to Bush Terminal Park, where lo and behold! Two amazing (and concurrent) sights/sounds. 1.…
Backyard and Beyond 