birds
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Grackle
One of a quarrel of Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) in the Ramble in Central Park.A nice illustration of the way feathers on the head can be manipulated. Puffed up above. Sleeked down below.The purple-blue sheen isn’t registering as iridescently as it did to the naked eye, but it’s getting there.
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Who Wow!
Three Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) were recorded in Brooklyn (Kings Co.) during the Christmas bird count. Wow! Yes, this is one of the most common owl species in North America, found from backyards to deserts, but three of these big birds in the borough seems pretty good (I know of three others elsewhere in…
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Purple
One of two Purple Sandpipers (Calidris maritima) spotted along the breakwater rocks of the Belt Parkway walkway from 69th to the Narrows the other day. Are these toes longer than your typical shorebird, to grasp ahold of the slick wet rocks that are their preferred habitat in winter?By now you may be asking what’s so…
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Raptor Notes
Saint Michael’s curious tower continues to be a lively raptor center. On a recent morning, I noticed a black bird diving up and down around a corner of the tower’s base. The glasses revealed a crow dive-bombing a perched Red-tailed Hawk. The big buteo looked cumbersome in comparison to the sleek corvid. It’s worth nothing…
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Peregrine’s Perch and Other Raptors
On the afternoon of December 5th, I noticed a Peregrine atop St. Michael’s. The bird was eating; you can just barely see the prey; it also looks like something is on the far cross arm as well. (Note that these shots are at the limits of my optics, from two long avenue blocks and one…
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Painted Bunting
A rare, resplendent adult male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) has been in Prospect Park for two weeks now, attracting an enormous amount of media attention and hordes of viewers. Note this big seed-cracking bunting bill. The bird has stuck to the area around and atop the new ice-skating complex, which has a green roof. The…
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Armchair Naturalist at Sunrise
A Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) scouting out House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) cribs as a scrum of sparrows protest. Bit late in the year for eggs or young in these hideaways, innit?
Backyard and Beyond 