birds
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No Red-Tail?
Sometimes you don’t get a great view. Also, this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is one of last year’s fledglings, so it’s still too young to have the red, which is really russet- or brick-colored, tail. But those rough, white, V-like markings on the back are an excellent clue to the identification of this species, at…
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Adolescent Pigeons
We’ve been following the rapid growth of two baby Rock pigeons (Columba livia) under a local bridge. Click here for the first half of the month. The picture above was taken on May 19th. Just a little of the yellowy-fuzz on their heads now. Wings look good and feathered. Won’t be long now….Well, maybe not…
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More Nesting News
I know of two Green Heron (Butorides virescens) nests in the park, one at eye-level and one way up in the canopy.The sloppy-looking pile of sticks precariously thrown about up there seems to work for them. Someone said there were at least four of pair of breeding Green Herons in the park.Didn’t see any activity…
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Raptor Alignment
Aligned through the new Osprey nesting platform at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s ghost of Pier 4 is the 55 Water Street Peregrine scrape across the East River. It’s too late for Ospreys to nest here this season, but the falcons have three young (maybe four by now). You can spy on the falcons here; note, they…
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Golden Orange
The afternoon sun was going right through this Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) and transforming into something rich and strange.
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Great-Tailed Grackles
The Great-tailed Grackle, a.k.a. the Mexican Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus). Big, bold, noisy, communal roosters. The first time I met them was in San Antonio some years ago. They spent the night in the trees along the River Walk. I was pooped upon. That’ll learn me. This time I enjoyed them from an angle. In 1900,…
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Tern Profile
And now the terns are back in town. This is a Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) on the piers of Brooklyn Bridge Park recently. Forster’s and Least are other locally regular terns during migration and summer, although you usually need to go to the city’s further edges to see them.
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Baby Pigeons
I have been asked more than once if I have ever seen a baby pigeon. If I’m feeling snarky, I say “no, they reproduce via parthenogenesis.”Here’s a pigeon chick, to the right of the parent; it’s so young it can’t even hold itself upright yet. Here it’s being fed by one of the parents, both…
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Orioles Above
Brightening up the greenery and the airwaves in a greensward near you, Baltimore Orioles (Icterus galbula) are in town and nesting. Watch for them pulling at grasses and various fibers, like rope, for their woven nests.
Backyard and Beyond 