Oh hey there! It's been quite some time since I have been on this thing- life has taken a major turn as Tim and I purchased a home in Brooklyn- something we thought we could never do. Now, it's not in any trendy part of Brooklyn, but it's Brooklyn, it's a legit detached house (and nearly 100 years old-- 98, to be exact), and it ours!
Now, being an old house, of course it came with lots to do- ripping up carpets, painting, installing/refurbishing wood floors, moving (did you know you could saw a box spring in half and reassemble to get it up a flight of tight stairs? me neither!), buying new appliances, installing new appliances, telling the kid neighbors next door that your yard is no longer a place to smoke their joints, fixing things, questioning the thought behind how things were put together by the past owners, and acclimating our pets-- all of that destroyed my free time. Also, I never have been so interested in any of this - matching paints, cleaning, etc - but when you own something and gave your life saving towards this hunk of home, you suddenly have a change of heart.
In the time living here, I noticed a huge difference in my neighborhood birds- blue jays are out of the picture but now I hear gulls, living closer to the water - laughing, herring-- and all the odd noises they produce. The other day, while driving through the neighborhood, I had a glossy ibis fly over- not too shabby!
With the exception of a bird outing on early June with my friend Molly (who is featured in
this NY TIMES article) and attaining a life golden-winged warbler- I haven't gotten out much. So today, despite heat soaring into the 90's, I like it hot and I was ready to get out!
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I stopped out at Jamaica Bay hoping to see not just birds, but also a local reptile-- the Diamondback Terrapin. |
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This female was not too far out onto the trail and she was busy digging a hole in which to nest. |
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Heat can be problematic to us creatures that produce our own body heat- but for reptiles, it is power. It raises their metabolism, it gives them energy, and it helps to incubate their eggs. |
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Diamondback terrapins are monitored here by a group of volunteers based from Hofstra University. I was able to let one of them know that this female was hard at work as they put cages up over nests to reduce nest predation by raccoons. |
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Saw quite a few yellow warblers who nest here. |
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This tree swallow is just appalled... at the temperature. Birds can't sweat, so open mouth "panting" helps for cooling down. |
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Young tree swallow is also pretty warm in that box! |
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I bet this little nugget is calculating costs for installing ductless AC... |
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Soon that young tree swallow will fledge and eventually will take on the amazing plumage of its parents. |
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...speaking of glossy ibis... |
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Spotted another large female simply on the move. |
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I love how each terrapin is such an individual, their spots, blotches, and patterns vary greatly from one turtle to the next. |
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They also have really cool feet- their rear feet have flaps on their heels- I'm sure it helps with swimming a bunch, but also excavating a nest if you're looking to lay eggs. |
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Spotted an osprey not on a nest platform. |
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Osprey were blessed with a truly majestic look on their face...
After this photo I then proceeded to donate much of my blood to the local mosquitoes. I came off the trail bleeding, having been stabbed mercilessly by many little needles. I also ran to CVS for some after bite as I got destroyed and big bottle of deet -- I have no mercy for mosquitoes, the natural stuff never works for me- gotta spray myself down with carcinogens. |
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Now, sprayed down with off-deep woods, I continued on to one of my new neighborhood birding spots- the Marine Park Salt Marsh! I enjoyed watching this yellow-crowned night heron on the hunt. |
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So, I didn't spray my face with deet-- and that's then where the biting flies and mosquitoes honed their sights on-- I coulda used your help, dude. |
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This was fun to watch- little bird, big attitude! A male red-winged blackbird chases off a great egret that flew too close to his singing perch. |
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Chased that egret a good 30-40 yards! |
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Family photo. There are three chicks in there! |
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2 of a family of seven barn swallows assess the water feature they should avoid below. |
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Always enjoy a good stare down with a grey catbird. It was good to get out again, hoping I can do some before work birding as I pass through the nature center on my way to work and can pass through Plumb beach-- biking is good for that! Here's to picking up the habit again and exploring my new patches fully. |
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