Brooklyn
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Dive!
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) taking to the water.
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Green-Wood is Red-Head Country
The Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) who came to stay? An unusual species for Brooklyn, this bird over-wintered in Green-Wood, and quite locally, too: this is the same tree — snags are perfect habitat for them — I photographed it in back in January. You can see how the red feathers of the head have really…
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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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Backyard and Beyond 