Inwood
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Mammal Monday
Directly above this very cautious squirrel was a A Red-tailed Hawk (and some obstreperous Blue Jays). The hawk had a very full crop. So digesting and chillaxing. In the same tree as the hawk, another squirrel.
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Recent Birds
Eastern Willet.Red-winged Blackbird female.Tree Swallow male.The male was perched above this nest box with a female boldly covering the entrance.Red-breasted Mergansers.Yellow-crowned Night-heron. House Wren.
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Pothole
Seemingly drilled into the schist of Inwood Hill by some kind of large-bore drill, this is actually a glacial pothole, scoured out by the mighty power of swirling water and abrasive stones during the heady days of the Wisconsin glaciation. The diameter is a little over a foot and a half. The heights of Inwood,…
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But Let’s Not Get Too Sentimental
American Robin nests are the easiest to see, not least because there are so many of them. This one was in Inwood Hill Park. When we walked by again coming down the hill, it wasn’t filled by the parent bird. Sometimes the birds will dart off, but that does leave the eggs vulnerable. The day…
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Home, Sweet Home
A Carpenter bee (Xylocopa) in the wood of a Parks Department sign at Inwood Hill. At top, there are holes for birds at both gable ends, and House Sparrows, of course, have moved in.
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Building
A Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) shapes a growing nest with its body. “Its” because this could be either male or female, as both work on the nest. Cornell’s All About Birds does say that on average males do more gathering of nesting materials and females more actual nest-building. Note the ribbon: our cast-offs are finding…
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City Lores
I saw my first egrets of the year Saturday, with three Great Egrets and four Black-crowned Night-herons at Floyd Bennett Field’s little freshwater pond, amidst a thunderous chorus of spring peepers. On Sunday, I saw another Great Egret in Inwood, looking here towards the Bronx, with perhaps a bit of Marble Hill in there as…
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Weekend Birds, Ice, Sky
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglots). This bird was quite territorial, chasing robins, sparrows, and me, making two passes overhead. Spring must be not too far away.Downy Woodpercker (Picoides pubescens). A rather subtle tapping alerted me to this one.Size comparison between Herring (Larus smithsonianus) and Ring-billed (Larus delawarensis). All of the above were in Brooklyn Bridge Park.Gratuitous:…
Backyard and Beyond 