Brooklyn
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Earth Day
This beat-up skull comes courtesy of a Great Horned Owl. The owl chomped this down and then spit it back up after the bird’s battery acid stomach had a go at it. I think these might be the remains of a Grey Squirrel skull. Found with plenty of grey hair smushed into the cavities. Cleaned up…
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Raptor Wednesday
The neighborhood American Kestrels are all over the place lately. Here’s the female perching on a roof fence nearer to Falcon Crest — a new name for the apartment — than usual.The building behind her — four little row houses away — is where you will typically find her, perching on the various roof pipes…
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When Doves Sit
Mourning Doves: one of our earliest local — that is, non-migratory — nesters. Their rudimentary stick nests can be tucked into trees or your windowsill. Here’s another pair on our fire escape recently. One or two has been showing up there or on the roofline a lot lately. (These were photographed though window and screen.)There’s…
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At the end of the bath…
And so our saga comes to an end. I had walked around a corner and there was this Red-tailed Hawk on the edge of the water. A large weeping willow was near by, so I used it as cover to get a bit closer. I got this look. It wasn’t as if the bird didn’t…
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How To Bathe, Part 5
Grooming.Never forget your surroundings.Air dry. Part 4. Part 3. Part 2. Part 1.
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How To Bathe, Part 4
And repeat: P.S> the 55 Water Street Peregrine nest camera is back on. (Two eggs yesterday.)
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How To Bathe, Part 3
You have, I hope, noticed this.This Red-tailed Hawk has a single red tail feather. The bird is less than a year old, and with luck will celebrate its birthday this summer. Right now, it’s maturing, a process that includes losing its old tail feathers and growing new and rather different ones. By its first birthday,…
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Incoming
With Coney Island’s iconic Parachute Jump and Kingsborough Community College’s architectural folly in the background, a trio of American Oystercatchers reveal their presence.No subtly with this boldly-patterned species. Plus that long red bill, so cartoon-like, and their rackety vocalizations.Around the corner on the tidal flats, another one sported red leg-bands. It was too far away…
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How To Bathe, Part 2
Birds may bathe everyday, and some passerines have been recorded bathing five or more times a day. In winter and in arid locations, access to water can obviously limit this frequency. “In order to make the flow of water efficient, the movement of the feather tracts is combined with other movements in the following sequence:…
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How To Bathe, Part 1
First of all, the water can’t be too deep. You have to be able to wade in (and out).Frankly, there are only limited places you can do that in Green-Wood.The Dell Water has lately been overflowing it’s banks on one side. So that looks just right…
Backyard and Beyond 