Brooklyn
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Raptor Wednesday and Gratitude
A new year of Backyard and Beyond is nothing without you, dear readers. And photo-viewers (I know some of you don’t bother with the words)! Male American Kestrel on the lookout. And on the… Zorkanian death ray? Actually, it’s an antenna on a MTA building. Relic TV antennas still dot the rooftops here. I can…
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Brantlings
I was crouching down at Brant-height when the whole company of them were spooked by something. Their runway was in my direction. They took off not far above my head. One of the last to pass above dropped a very compact and intensely green turd, which bounced off my hat and landed in the grass.…
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Creature Comforts
Common Raven with grassy clump. Doubtlessly to line a nest with. On Twitter, I saw some photos from the Bronx, I think, that showed a Raven with a similar bill-full. Remember, the week before, these Brooklyn birds were carrying sticks.
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Water Bugs and Birds
Under a thin layer of ice, two true bugs in the Crescent Water. The first is a water boatman, the second a backswimmer. Not all of the pond was iced over. Aerators keep donut holes of water ice-free, and the edge along one side of the pond was also open. This Eastern Phoebe was making…
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Breeding Birds
The third edition of the New York State Breeding Bird Atlas project is underway. So far I’ve submitted observations to ebird of American Kestrels mating and Common Ravens carrying nesting material. One of them, anyway. I almost always hear these big corvids before I see them. One of their most common calls is a “ha-rupp”…
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