Brooklyn
-
-
Raptor Notes
Saint Michael’s curious tower continues to be a lively raptor center. On a recent morning, I noticed a black bird diving up and down around a corner of the tower’s base. The glasses revealed a crow dive-bombing a perched Red-tailed Hawk. The big buteo looked cumbersome in comparison to the sleek corvid. It’s worth nothing…
-
Peregrine’s Perch and Other Raptors
On the afternoon of December 5th, I noticed a Peregrine atop St. Michael’s. The bird was eating; you can just barely see the prey; it also looks like something is on the far cross arm as well. (Note that these shots are at the limits of my optics, from two long avenue blocks and one…
-
Shagbark Hickory
Carya ovata produces thick-fleshed fruit, which dries out to hard four-quarter shell protecting the inner nutshell. Most of them fall to the ground before splitting, or being split/gnawed/chewed by our fellow mammals, but this one was still up on a twig.
-
Painted Bunting
A rare, resplendent adult male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) has been in Prospect Park for two weeks now, attracting an enormous amount of media attention and hordes of viewers. Note this big seed-cracking bunting bill. The bird has stuck to the area around and atop the new ice-skating complex, which has a green roof. The…
-
Armchair Naturalist at Sunrise
A Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) scouting out House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) cribs as a scrum of sparrows protest. Bit late in the year for eggs or young in these hideaways, innit?
-
-
Black-headed Gull
The other exotic bird in Prospect Park lately is a Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), which is common in Europe but scanter on this side of the Atlantic. I first saw them in Scotland in 2006. Over here, the coast of Canada is where you might normally expect to see one during the winter. The black…
Backyard and Beyond 