birds
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CYT
Photographing songbirds is a challenge when you don’t have a long lens and flash. Warblers, especially, are little, quick, and often at the top of a tall, leafy oak tree. But we do what we can with the tools at hand. I happened to catch this Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) male, easily distinguished by his…
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Least Bittern
The news went out via twitter and emails yesterday afternoon that a Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) was up a tree in Prospect Park. Unusual: the birds’ habitat is typically the reedy edge of water bodies, and it is generally very elusive. It’s our smallest heron, smaller even than the Green Heron. I’ve only seen one…
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Peregrine Top
My friend Marion has had fun with the #ViewFromTheMoraine. That’s Mike’s Spike there, a notorious Peregrine perch this past winter. I’ve seen less activity there this spring, which could be accounted for by the fact that up to half of all peregrines at any given time now are currently sitting on eggs or feeding their…
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All the Birds
This was my Big Day, on foot through Prospect, Green-Wood, and then down to Bush Terminal Park. Train to park, bus home. In chronological order. Yard Birds: seen from apartment or on way to subway House Sparrow Starling Rock Pigeon Osprey (on nest) Chimney Swift Herring Gull American Robin Blue Jay In Prospect Park: Gray…
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Monk, Oriole
Checking in with the vocal Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) of Green-Wood. Still hollering, in general, although this one was quiet for the photo. Year-around residents, they were introduced from the Andes. There are little clusters elsewhere in Brooklyn, but I believe the colony at the Green-Wood gate and the ConEd substation across the street is…
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Goslings
Not exactly the middle of the road. But close! There were two families of Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) goslings down at the end on 39th St. this weekend. They were hanging out with the feral cats who infest the area.Both goslings (and their parents, who hissed sinisterly at bipeds) and cats seemed cool about the…
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Spotted Sandpiper
Yesterday, there were half a dozen Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularius) around Green-Wood’s Sylvan Water. Another was spotted at the Dell Water. Along with Solitary Sandpipers, this is one of the few sandpiper species that you will find on inland, fresh, waters. I’ve never seen this many at one time. From much farther away, but this…
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Osprey Galore
Are you old enough to remember when there were a lot fewer Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)? By the 1960s, numbers were grim because of a history of assassination, egg-collecting, and finally DDT, which weakened their eggs so much the birds were actually crushing their own young during incubation. In 1969, there were an estimated 150 breeding…
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But Let’s Not Get Too Sentimental
American Robin nests are the easiest to see, not least because there are so many of them. This one was in Inwood Hill Park. When we walked by again coming down the hill, it wasn’t filled by the parent bird. Sometimes the birds will dart off, but that does leave the eggs vulnerable. The day…
Backyard and Beyond 