birds
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Shorebirds
Breeding season over, shorebirds are heading back south as the migration pendulum swings the other way. Here are a few of the species I saw this week along Brooklyn’s shoreline:Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola). Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) and American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus), which looks like it’s got a Blue Mussel (which shouldn’t be that hard,…
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Meet the Herons
Members of the family of Green Herons (Butorides virescens) in the Lullwater. The youngsters are yammering at each other, one of the parents is on the left. Now, let’s get some more details of one of the streaky-necked juveniles:A little neck-scratching, a little crest-spreading. Love the eyes, which a human like me reads as “intense.”…
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Carolina Wren
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) on a chessboard. Usually more often heard than seen, for this little bird has a big, big voice that rolls through the woods.Here using its tail feathers woodpecker-style, for support against the vertical as it goes about gleaning for insects.
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Clapper
Clapper Rails (Rallus longirostris)* are more often heard than seen. They are named after the clapping-like “kek” sound they make, the soundtrack behind our saltwater and brackish marshes. Several years ago, before the big rehab of the Saltmarsh Center at Marine Park, I had my best view of this species. One kept emerging from the…
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Dead Wood?
The fence posts in Brooklyn Bridge Park are made from Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), a durable, naturally rot-resistant wood. Of course, like anything in a natural environment, even one as heavily managed as this, it will end up having more than a single, intended purpose.The top, for instance, is a great place for birds to…
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kingbird
An Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) between insecticidal sorties over the Upper Pool. What a binomial to saddled with, eh? Called “king” because of their aggressively territorial characteristics. Often return to the same perching place overlooking meadows or water bodies. King of all it surveys, at least according to us. Just barely seen here, the white…
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Night Walk
A downy woodpecker patrols the trunk of a tree, the white strip down its back almost glowing as the light turns to dark. Above, a blue jay is remarkably quiet as it works out some issues before roosting for the night. As predicted, a young raccoon ambles out from the bushes to start pulling plastic…
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All the birds
A Buzzard (Buteo buteo) and an unidentified raptor battling it out over Fenworthy Down. Buzzards, akin to our Red-tailed hawks and no relation to our buzzards (vultures), were frequent distant companions on my long walk. In the same place, another flew sentinel in the face of the wind swooping up the Down, seemingly hanging in…
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British Birds 3
A fledgling Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes). Wrens are the most common species of bird in the UK. I heard them everyday, but saw them much less frequently. Sly.Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinera), seen with some frequency along and on the rocks of fast moving streams and rivers.White/Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba). Wagtails are named because of their very…
Backyard and Beyond 