Brooklyn
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Coastal Brooklyn, Part II
So much depends on light and distance. The Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) above was sun-ward and far.This Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) was sun-struck and near. Both of these species have very different breeding plumages, which they are named after (that’s not so helpful to those of us so far south of their breeding grounds). I…
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Coastal Brooklyn, Part I
My closest-ever encounter with a Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata). In the calm waters of Erie Basin in Red Hook. The bird’s upturned bill and smaller size helps to distinguish this species from the Common Loon (G. immer), which in roiling winter waters at silhouette distance is still a challenge. The “red-throat” is part of breeding…
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Bagged
On a young Baldcypress in a still-industrial stretch of Plymouth Street: several of these bag worm cocoons. These are the egg cases of a Psychidae family moth. From a distance they look like cones or some other part of the tree itself. Small twigs are glued onto the surprisingly, or, actually, not so surprisingly, tough…
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Peregrines
Wednesday at dusk: Peregrines (Falco peregrinus) on the steeple.Thursday morning, the fifth straight day of seeing Peregrines — either here in Brooklyn or across the East River at 55 Water St. This picture is from two blocks away. Gamaliel King’s steeple is a challenge to shoot between the trees, row houses… And of course the…
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Magic Mushroom
The “vivid” feature of the camera brings out the lurid in this large old shelf-like polypore.Fungus is wild.
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More Blackbirds
Right inside the “wellness center” at LIU Brooklyn’s campus. I assume it used to be a “gym,” short of gymnasium, which was where ancient Greeks played naked (Putin would plotz); gymnós meaning naked. Moving right along: those are pretty good corvid forms, if massively oversized. But what the hell is this on the corner of…
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Borough, Sweet Borough
Not what most out-of-towners think of when they think of Brooklyn. Nor what most in-the-towners think of, either, for that matter. But it all depends on where and how you look. Winter, 2014. The first real winter in a long, long time.
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Snow Day
The other day, the news was this was, so far, the 9th snowiest winter in NYC. (We’re number nine, we’re number nine!) I have to admit most of it has fallen while I’ve been inside. But yesterday I took a walk thinking I would avoid the snow and ended up walking amidst it. Except for…
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Snowbird
It hasn’t been a big year for Slate-colored Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis), a generally common winter visitor. This was the only one around the other day and I haven’t seen many this winter. They are are usually found close to the ground in small flocks, so this view gives a good sense of the very…
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Same Sumac, Another Bird
“O my Starling, O my Starling….” Note the yellowing bill, a breeding sign for Sturnus vulgaris. Spring is in the air. Another Starling, a week later, in the glow of a setting Sun.
Backyard and Beyond 