Brooklyn
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Lulled
The Lullwater looks calm this time of year. But submerged things are a-fin, and just on the other side of the Terrace Bridge, behind me, were three Hooded Mergansers, two Red-breasted Mergansers, a pair of Wood Duck, and several Ruddy Ducks, the males with electric blue bills. Titmouse, Cardinal, Nuthatch, Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Song Sparrow.…
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Checklist
Snowdrops: Check! Crocuses: Check! Witchhazel: Check! And half-a-dozen or so Red-winged Blackbirds, bringing the area around the Terrace Bridge to sudden, raucous life with their insistent “I am now here!” vocalizations: Check! It was interesting to observe these birds, all males. Two at the feeders presented variations in plumage, with one bird sill having some…
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Beading
Water beading on the feathers of a Ring-billed gull’s neck. Like ducks, gulls spend a fair amount of their time afloat, so their feathers need to be waterproof. (This particular bird was an ex-gull, allowing me the close-up.)
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Accidental Habitat
These pontoon-like things were flipped over between Piers 5 & 6 recently, revealing the:barnacles andblue mussels that have found them to be a worthy foundation.
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Foxy
Six species of birds under the feeders in Prospect Park. The large sparrow here, second bird down from the top, is a Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca).This is one of the birds that visit us during the winter months from their breeding grounds in the boreal forests. We never get too many, but there should usually…
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Brooklyn Bridge Park Panoramas
Salt marsh and Pier One. [Click to open for wider images.]View from Promenade.
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It’s the heat, stupid
People, politely called “climate change deniers,” who reject the basic rules of physics and chemistry parade their stupidity with a militance. In their willful ignorance, they like to parrot the line that the planet can’t be warming because we still have winter — even though winters are measurably warmer than they were just half a…
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ABDs
The American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) is often found with Mallard Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos), looks somewhat like the female of that ubiquitous species, and sometimes interbreeds with our most recognizable duck, making for hybrids that mix characteristics of the species. This pair looks relatively un-hybridized, with dark orange legs, dark feathers, strong eyeline, olive-yellowish bills.…
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Galls in Winter
The leaves of this White Oak in Green-Wood have refused to fall. They held up to Sandy, the Nor’easter a week later, and all the rest of the winter so far. Actually, some oaks are tenacious leaf-holders, only shedding them just before, or just as, new leaf growth begins to bud.So I got to take…
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Cold-schmold!
The Monk Parakeets, also known as Quaker Parrots (Myiopsitta monachus) in Green-Wood Cemetery were celebrating the return of (barely) above freezing temperatures yesterday with their usual racket. Once, long ago in Green-Wood, with my bins in hand identifying me as a weirdo, a couple came up and asked if I was there to look at…
Backyard and Beyond 