Brooklyn
-
Keeping Up With The Kestrels
…is exhausting! The distinctive calling of the birds brings us to the windows throughout the day.They seem to be very effective hunters. In the photo above, the male is gripping a dead sparrow. You can just see the sparrow’s little toes. As he usually does, he proceeded to eat the sparrow’s head. Then he plucked…
-
The Raid
I heard the raven’s wings. The bird flew right overhead, close enough for me to hear the work of those great wings.This Common Raven returned to this duck nest six times, taking five eggs.The bird wasn’t gone very long after each foray. Presumably the eggs were eaten or cached nearby. The fifth time, the bird…
-
Raptor Wednesday
I was returning home after several hours of birding. Right across the street from my apartment, a Red-tailed Hawk suddenly landed on top of a parked car. At the edge of the park, a shrub full of House Sparrows and a bush with a Grey Squirrel reverberated with chattered alarms. The big buteo launched into…
-
Corvus corax
You usually hear them before you see them. Common Ravens are loud, croaking, talkative, barky.The pair circled around the Sylvan Water recently, skimming down low over the water and stirring up the geese. It was a spectacular display.And it was quite a scene there at the Sylvan. At least seven Phoebes and two Northern Rough-winged…
-
Eating
Buds.Muffin wrapper tidbits?Pineapple? It was hard as a brick whatever it was, but this didn’t stop several gulls from fighting over it. Actually, I’m not sure it was at all edible. I wonder if this was a small echo of our great ocean disaster: floating plastic picks up dimethyl sulfide and so smells like…
-
Snowbirds
After our last snowfall, we noticed something for the first time.Where, after all, are birds that normally forage on the ground going to go when the snow covers everything?These Juncoes were feeding on a tree-limb garden.
-
More Songs of Spring
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus). You can’t hear anything (so get yourself outside), but look at that throat moving! Also note that he has a bit of breaking bloom in his mouth: can sing with his beak full. Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) singing in a cherry. Except when I took pictures…The built-in microphone is a paltry…
-
Also, They’re Here!
What is a little snow in the long run? Waves of migratory birds are washing upon our shores. This weekend, little flocks of Golden-crowned Kinglets, chortling Northern Flickers, tail-snapping Phoebes who make you wonder what they’re catching, but then, the early insects are out, too. And the warblers:Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus). Yes, they can be a…
-
Felis silvestris
University of New Jersey researchers studying the rare tree cats of eastern North America asked me to hold onto this photo until now. I snapped it last year and was all set to bring it to your — my motto here is “if I see something I say something” — when I stumbled on their…
-
Kestrel Week In Review
Saturday. The female had some prey, a small bird, probably House Sparrow. There aren’t many other options around here, yet. She flew down to the roof with her prey, then soon after flew up to another pipe without it. Too soon to have plucked, eaten the prey. Did she cache it?Wednesday.Walking up the hill after…
Backyard and Beyond 