Green-Wood
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Oak Wilt
Damn it! I really wanted to start on a positive note, but the bad news just keeps coming. Oak wilt has been discovered in Brooklyn. This is a lethal fungal infection of oaks and other species, its spores spread by beetles. When I was in Green-Wood on Friday, I heard a chipper hard at work.…
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One More Time
Because awesome and delightful. When last we saw this Pied-billed Grebe on the Valley Water, ice covered more than half of the pond. The next time, ice covered it all and no grebe was to be seen. The bird presumably took off looking for open water. The water was completely free of ice yesterday, with…
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Raptor Wednesday
Always note the anomalies, the bumps.Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) on railing. Showing the “belly band” nicely. Way down in the flatlands, 1st & 40th, Raven country.Another day, another sighting. Big shoulders, relatively short, squared-off tail. The mottled white patches on the back, sometimes a little more clearly in a V pattern, are another good sign…
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Cedar Waxwings Bathing
Day two of winter. Can spring be far behind? (No shadows of the waxwing slain here.) Yes, a little bit of last spring and perhaps a forecast of the next. Now, Cedar Waxwings are not unknown this time of year, but they are irregular, meaning you never know. I’ll be presenting a slide-show lecture on…
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Together
A herd of Monk Parakeets eating grass. I did not know they do this. Myiopsitta monachus generally go for fruit and nuts, but of course this time of year the former is in short supply. But boy, give them a backyard Brooklyn apple tree in the fall and they will be there. Some suggestions for…
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Raptor Wednesday
Male American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, on a regular Green-Wood perch. Other recent sightings include Kestrel on the local antenna yesterday afternoon; a beautiful mature Red-Tail right over the apartment earlier Tuesday; two Peregrine at Borough Hall (Friday) and the nearby House of Detention (Monday), site of a long-time nest; Cooper’s here there and everywhere. Actually,…
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Aix sponsa
The Valley Water was the sole preserve of a Pied-billed Grebe recently, until this male Wood Duck came in for a landing. He paddled back and forth a few times as if the pond was a fashion runway and then flew off.What a show-stopper! Those eyes! * The public lands of this nation are a marvel,…
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Patterns of Wood
Trump’s entire proposed cabinet is made up of enemies of science, experts in “the dark arts of misinformation.” EPA-bound Pruitt, for instance, is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the oil and gas industry.
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Podilymbus podiceps
When I first spotted this Pied-bill Grebe in the Valley Water, it was amidst a flotilla of Canada Geese.A week later it was the sole bird on the water.You can see why it’s sticking around. * Trump’s pick for National Security Advisor is a real piece of work: ignorant, power-mad, and conspiratorially deranged. I wrote…
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Ardea herodias
Great Blue Heron.This bird had been hanging out in Green-Wood deep into the autumn. It had got quite used to passersby, in fact several people were concerned about its condition because it was “just standing there.” I last saw it 11/25, when I took these pictures; I haven’t seen it the last two weekends. Perhaps…
Backyard and Beyond 