birds
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Twilight’s Last Gleaming Wood Ducks
We’ve been having some magnificent sunsets lately. This was last night, from the Nethermead. When I crossed over Payne Hill, I found a mess of Wood Ducks still at the far end of the Upper Pool. I went hoping for a repeat of the previous night’s phenomenon, which I heard about from two witnesses: masses…
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Coincidental Juxtaposition
A flash of yellow in a flock of House Sparrows caught my eye in the Nethermead. The bird quickly flew back down to the ground from its temporary perch. Melopsittacus undulatus, no? The same day I saw four Red-tailed hawks kettling above the Lake. Later, one flew low over the Nethermead. And then later still,…
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Common Yellowthroat
A male Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), one of this year’s young. He was picking and pecking into that metal grill, which had collected leaves behind it, and hence some invertebrates.
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Heron Trio
From back to front, a Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret, and a Snowy Egret. Salt-marshing in Brooklyn. Heron. Egret. What’s the difference? “Egret” comes from the Fr. aigrette, which seems to have come out the Old High German heigir, which means… heron. But then you know a hawk from a handsaw, right? Hamlet should…
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Bobolink
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) perching at Marine Park Nature Center. This is the adult, non-breeding plumage. The species migrates to southern South America. Like many grassland species, its numbers are dropping because of habitat loss.
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Elegy for Martha
One hundred years ago today, Martha died of old age in Cincinnati. She was 29 years old and had been raised since birth in captivity. She never reproduced.Martha was the last of her species, the Passenger Pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius). Of course, by the time of her demise, the species was already functionally extinct in the…
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Common Nighthawks
It’s been a difficult week. But one of the highlights was on Thursday, when a friend and I went into Prospect Park in the late afternoon. Just before sunset, we were in the Nethermead. Overhead, the chittering of many Chimney Swifts was heard as the little birds darted all over the sky taking their last…
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Great Crested Flycatcher
Always a nice surprise to get a good look at a Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus), since they are usually at tree-top level. I thought this might be a migrant, and it may well be, but it should be noted that there are breeding records for the species in Prospect. They are the only cavity-nesting…
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Spotted (or Not) and Streaky
Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularius) — no spots once they’ve moved out of their breeding plumage — are patrolling the edges of fresh water bodies now during migration. Also along the watery edges these days are Northern Waterthrushes (Parkesia noveboracensis).
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Robin Spotty Breast
Late brood young American Robin. The binomial Turdus migratorius may raise an eyebrow, but Turdus is just the Latin for “thrush.”
Backyard and Beyond 