birds
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Hairy Nest?
A female Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus). Less common in our area than the smaller but otherwise very similar Downy Woodpecker. I find that the best way to differentiate these species is to look at the bill/head size ratio. Note how this bird’s bill is almost as long as her head; the Downy’s bill length is…
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Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is another of those unfortunately-named birds, since the yellow belly is really hard to see. The namers were looking at dead specimens. The sapsucking part is accurate, though; these birds will drill horizontal rows of holes in trees to bleed sap, which they will lap up along with the bugs…
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Springtime
On the water, American Black Ducks in action. Considering the brief but un-Disney-like results to follow, best to look away for the moment since this is an all-ages blog.Up above, the work of a Red-bellied Woodpecker, which he will have to defend against:Unless a Cooper’s Hawk intervenes. It could go either way. Meanwhile:The snowbirds, Dark-eyed…
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Sights
Yesterday, in Brooklyn Bridge Park:A lone female Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator).As a Man of Hair, I do appreciate the random crest feathers.Unexpectedly, a Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena). I last ran into one in February. The red of the neck, breeding plumage, looks like it is just starting to come in. The bird was spending more…
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Last of the Snowy Owls
Wind-swept and plastic-strewn grasslands at the edge of the city. Can you spot the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)?Not all of the white blobs here are (unfortunately ubiquitous) white plastic bags. This heavily-barred Snowy is one of this winter’s massive influx of the birds from the Arctic. This bird and its cohort will be trying to…
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Harbinger
One of the earliest arriving birds of Spring is the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe). I saw one yesterday in Green-Wood. There was much tail-wagging on the part of the bird, a characteristic of the species when it is perched, and rejoicing on mine (also characteristic of the species). The American Woodcock is an even earlier…
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Redheads and Other Excitements
A pair of Redheads (Aythya americana) in Green-Wood. The male, in front, sports that beacon of a head. These two, along with two slightly smaller female Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris), very craftily kept their distance from me as I circled the blob-shaped Valley Water twice, as I aimed for the best distance and light.Here’s the…
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Red-Shouldered Hawk
A Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) perches near the Nature Center at Marine Park. A brief sighting; the bird zoomed off quick as a… hawk. Usually birds of the forest, they’re a rare sight in the city; I last saw one in Brooklyn in March 2011, at Calvert Vaux Park. I hear that this one has…
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Area Closed
The signs are back up at the grasslands at Floyd Bennett Field. This doesn’t stop everybody, but they are better than nothing. Stay off the grasslands. Leave them to the Kestrels (Falco sparverius). This is a male, with blue on the wing.The signs are a handy perch. These birds hunt by hovering over the ground,…
Backyard and Beyond 