birds
-
Black-headed Gull
The other exotic bird in Prospect Park lately is a Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), which is common in Europe but scanter on this side of the Atlantic. I first saw them in Scotland in 2006. Over here, the coast of Canada is where you might normally expect to see one during the winter. The black…
-
When Drones Attack
At first it seems as if the raptor-versus-drone videos are a win for the birds. Rah, rah, nature over technology and all that. I’ve seen about half a dozen now, though, and don’t think it’s good for them at all. Which is why I won’t link to any here: publicity begets copycats, drone-heads eager for…
-
Mourning Dove
Zenaida macroura.A bird probably taken too much for granted by bird-watchers.Note the pale blue eye-ring. Watch long enough and you’ll see that the nictating membrane is the same color.
-
Rusty Blackbird
A male Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) was working its way through a goopy edge of the Lower Pool in Prospect Park.It was tossing wet leaves around like a stevedore and plucking the goodness out of half-drowned Sweetgum balls.Gorgeous patterning here in the non-breeding plumage. Bright shadow seems to favor him more than direct sunlight: Rusty…
-
Flight Sluggish and Swift
On a blooming goldenrod, the only visible flower around, a single bumblebee. It was warm enough yesterday for invertebrates, but they have damn few places to feed. This bee did seem a little sluggish, but it was roused by the proximity of my phone camera, and buzzed a short distance away, and then returned as…
-
Woodcock Wednesday
As I finished photographing the leaves I posted yesterday, I heard a leaf being crunched behind me. I turned and saw this Woodcock (Scolopax minor) wobbling along. Before the bird settled down, I had a fine view of its beautiful cinnamon-tinged belly. This has been the third weekend in a row I’ve seen Woodcock in…
-
Borough Kestrels
This male Kestrel zoomed up to the top of Green-Wood’s Gothic Revival gate while a Red-tailed Hawk circled overhead. Then it made an unsuccessful dive at a Monk Parakeet, a bird roughly its own size. I’ve noted Kestrels up there before.This one found the lights and goal posts of the football field at Floyd Bennett…
-
Buteo
The broad-winged hawks of the genus Buteo are named after the Latin name of the Common Buzzard. If that sentence doesn’t open up a can of Annelida, I don’t know what will. Buteo simply means “hawk.” There is a North American species called the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus). Here in the U.S. “buzzard” is another…
Backyard and Beyond 