birds
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Sturnus vulgaris
Third day in a row of young’uns, because it is the season. Starlings. Eating leftover school lunches with that wonderfully prying bill. This one was having trouble keep a grip on the plastic bag, toes sliding out from under…
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Eyas of the Gowanus
A correspondent let me know that there was a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) nest on a fire-escape in Gowanus. I headed over as soon as I could. When I lived in Cobble Hill, I often crossed the Valley of the Shadow of the Gowanus by foot and sometimes saw RTH soaring overhead or on top…
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Owlet
A Barn Owl (Tyto alba) toddler, looking rather alien, can just be glimpsed inside this nest box via long focus. Rather unique looking, Barn Owls are found all over the world, with some 46 recognized subspecies (!), including one on the Galapagos that is half the size of the North American version. Island dwarfism in…
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Solar Power
Great Heron (Ardea alba) and Green Heron (Butorides virescens) on the Crescent Water rotator-thingie (I think it churns up the water to get oxygen in there). The egret has just swallowed a golden fish. Check out those toes.A salute to solar energy, the basis of all life.
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Some Prospect Birds
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) fledgling. American Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) female and young.Same gloomy day. But the hovering gave away this American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) over Lookout Hill, just before it made a pass at some warblers.There were three species of sandpiper along the Lake edge: Spotted, Least, and, pictured: Semipalmated (Calidris pusilla).
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Horseshoe Moon
Horseshoe Crabs (Limulus polyphemus) mating on the shores of Jamaica Bay. It was the day after the full Moon, when the high tide lets them get farther up the beach, where they deposit their eggs.I have written much about these amazing non-crabs and how important they are to our health. I saw a headline the…
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Baltimore O
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) males don’t get their full, distinctive black and orange plumage until the fall of their second year of life. Which explains why this guy is only half way there. It’s too early, after all, for this year’s crop. According to Cornell’s All About Birds, this not-quite-dapper plumage doesn’t necessarily prevent them…
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The Red Hook Ks
Last year, I noticed an American Kestrel nest in a building on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. I learned from locals that it had been there for a few years. Last week, I got some really nice views of the pair in the late afternoon. This is the colorful male.And this is the…
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The Genius of Birds
Birds can see more of the light spectrum than we can; they can re-generate their hearing while we lose ours as we age; some of them have acute senses of smell that helps them find food, and home. Jennifer Ackerman’s new book is a synopsis of recent scientific discoveries about birds. If you are not…
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Mystery With Distraction
So I’m trying to figure what this little warbler is hopping along the side of the road near the grave of Peter Cooper and family in Green-Wood. Female something, right? It flies out of my binocular vision, so I glance away from the glasses and see:A Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) just hanging out on a…
Backyard and Beyond 