Rough Morning Raccoon

     Ever wake up feeling rough? Maybe you had a long, hard day before at work and you wake up realizing you need to return. Or maybe you wake up from a sleepless night after catching the stomach bug. Or maybe you just had too much to drink the night before.
     Well, I woke up on Tuesday to a hungry cat and parrot and part of my morning prep involves washing their old dishes in the kitchen sink. I always like to spy out the window to the back tree and the cemetery to see what may be out there. Often it's the same crowd, blue jays, house sparrows, and the occasional red-bellied woodpecker with feral cats below.
     Well on this morning someone else was out there and they looked like they had themselves a rough go of things...

A big fluffy rotund mammal... it's no other than a raccoon!
I love raccoons and have a lot of respect for these urban raccoons- they have a lot of obstacles to overcome throughout their lives.

This animals' face revealed it has seen better days, for sure. Those crinkled ears-- perhaps frostbite. It's eyes seem almost puffy,  eyen an old (pink) scar on its nose- who knows what this raccoon has seen!

At the same time- he has the best spot to collect some morning warmth.

Hopefully this raccoon had a good days sleep and got up that evening better than it ended the previous night.

Last Snow of Winter?

     I sit inside today, and while issued a proper snow day from work (that's a free day off for us non-essential staff) I am still trying to getting some work done while snow falls outside my window. I am surrounded by a lazy cat and a napping parrot, while the reptiles rest warmly in their properly heated room. I wonder if this will be the last snow (please let it be!!!) and when we can properly welcome and embrace spring.
     Meanwhile, in recent times I encountered a different kind of snow. It was snow I was not expecting or seeking - which honestly, this was my favorite snow of the season.
     All of my snowy owl sightings this season have been pretty awful. They involved crowds, birds being harassed, and my having to call park enforcement, more than once. This is not a fun time in the field, it makes me feel a variety of emotions, anger for the people, empathetic for this owl who is just trying to rest before its next hunt, or next long flight, then I also want to communicate to the people and share information about their practices - which often never works out- and can also put me in danger since more often than not I am by myself. I find myself with every owl post sharing ethics -- but I am so happy to say this encounter was so different from all the others.
     I was not seeking a snowy, but I found one and observed it myself, from a respectable distance and for only about 5 minutes. I finally felt at peace and observed a bird at rest, not with eyes wide open or in an alerted posture. I hope this is my last snowy of the season, I'd like to end on a happier note for both the owl and myself.
     Here is this beautiful girl, in solitude, taken at a distance, at 500mm, and then cropped down. With the wind in her feathers and a plethora of prey available to her, she is top predator for just a bit longer as she prepares to head North. Soon she will be surrounded by Arctic wildlife and a complete change of scenery awaits her. I wish her a safe flight and I hope she has some beautiful downy chicks that can come visit one of the quieter spaces where humans won't bother them next winter.

Coastal Brooklyn Birding

     After being mostly cooped up during the Nor'easter yesterday I spent my morning and afternoon hitting up the coastal areas from Bush Terminal Park, to Gravesend Bay, to Coney Island Creek, and to Jamaica Bay, by ay of Floyd Bennett Field. I was hoping that the windy condition that persisted into today would blow stuff in or cause congregations of water-loving things closer to shore.

     The adventure began at Bush Terminal Piers Park...

The waves at the park were coming up and onto the path in the park. High tide with strong, constant wind will do that! The way the park's waterway is shaped, there are corners that results in calmer waters. In those corners were some ducks-- and I was very happy to see this female redhead with 2 American wigeons and a mallard in a corner together.

She is my first Kings County Redhead, and from one female redhead to another- it was absolutely wonderful to see her as she braved the waves to find food.

In another corner I found 2 male gadwall.

From afar, gadwall looks like brown ducks that you can ID  easily by their dark bill and butt, and white patch back towards their wings and back end. But up close, they reveal some intricate zigs, zags, spots, and linework on those feathers from head to tail. What a gorgeous duck!

      The adventure continued as I made my way to the middle parking lot on Gravesend Bay, just off the Belt Parkway...

There were hundreds of gulls parked on the grass, but one was really special- a black-headed gull.

A bird that normally breeds in Europe naturally sought refuge among familiar chaps- it truly had an affinity for joining the European Starling flocks and would even fly over to join them as they foraged over the lawn.

Why is this gull so different from the hundreds of ring-billed gulls that surrounded it? It's smaller (and ring-billed gulls are one of our smaller gulls), has orange feet AND a small orange bill, tipped with black. They also have that "leftover" look on their heads of where the black feathers once were or will grow in.

This is an immature black-headed gull, as its wings are not a uniform grey.
I have had no white-winged gulls (Iceland/Glacous) all winter, so this was a plesant add to the year list.

     I continued to BJ's, but not to shop (I'm not a member) but to bird along the loittle park behind their parking garage. Some good birds had been reported back there in the last week- none of which I saw...

...But there were a bunch of greater scaup back there and even better, a female common goldeneye.

     Scooting a bit more east, next stop was Calvert Vaux Park...

Was happy to see a different gull among the other- and two of them, at that: Bonaparte's Gulls!

They look most similar to the black-headed gull seen eariler- like them they are smaller than the ring-billed gulls around them, but their bill is black. Feet in the winter are pink to orange. I noticed these two had orange feet. These birds are a North American species, unlike the black-headed. During breeding both the Bonaparte and Black-headed gull have black heads.
Also nice to see in the park, I saw my first two Tree Sparrows in Brooklyn. Signs of spring!

     Last stop-- Floyd Bennett Field...

Lots of American Kestrels hunting over the fields.

One of my favorite birds to always see. Little badass falcons.

Prospect Park 2.24.18

     I continue to be late in sharing findings, life has become very busy with very many (not bad) things going on in my world. So with that, going outside is my priority in my free time. It's very important to me as one who doesn't meditate and do all that sorta stuff- the outdoors helps me find balance and to focus all my efforts on wildlife and identifying it, leaving no time for my mind to think about anything else.
     As Tim prepares for round two of the NYC Marathon, it leaves me an open window of me time to go birding. This is a nice balance for us to be able to tend to ourselves and focus on our interests with our free time.
     Last week I took that window of time and did a loop around the lake in Prospect Park. It was crisp and refreshing- not at all cold with some sounds and sights of spring.

After finding Lookout Hill pretty empty of birds but full of runners for the annual Al Gordon 4 Mile race, I headed down from Well House drive to the lake/Lullwater where I found this Juvenile Cooper's hawk staring off toward the lake where lots of sparrows were singing and flying around.

When I rounded the trunk of that same tree, I saw a larger hawk- a red tail in the same tree, staring off in the same direction, perhaps more focused on the squirrels also active in the same area as the sparrows. I was surprised to see both hawks sitting together in such close proximity- I usually see different species of hawks chasing each other when they are close in proximity, I would assume this has to do with similar prey interests.

But these two seemed alright together, I'm not complaining I love raptors and a two for one tree special is a great deal!

Sounds of spring were in the air with the loud "honk-a-ree!" of the red-wing blackbirds, singing loudly in the phragmites and low shrubs around the lake. This is a sound I am very happy to hear - also singing were song sparrows, cardinals, and lots of low coo-ing by the mourning doves.

As I approached Lakeside, I took a trip up the green roof of LeFrak where a Hockey game was taking place below and this non-singing song sparrow splayed out across this perch on the roof.

When singing, song sparrows are loud and can usually be seen belting out their song, of versus repeated 2-3 times each, from the top of a perfect branch to ensure their song is broadcast to all nearby females.

A sign of spring- Common Grackles have arrived! Saw small groups at the tops of trees scattered about around the lake. 

On the lake I enjoyed seeing a small group of male (this is a male) and female ring-neck ducks. They do have a faint ring around their neck that you barely ever see- but they are easy to identify from scaups and similar ducks because of that ring also around their bill.

Not a typical lake visitor- a pair of horned grebes have been on the lake for the past week or so. Normally you see these birds off the coast. Maybe these two had a hankering for fresh water fish.

Grebes are very odd birds- they have odd pupils, and cute fluffy bums-- and their feet are quite odd too, they are not webbed but lobed.

Like I said, they have very interesting eyes.

A red breasted merganser drake tries to blend in among the ruddy ducks-- again, seen quite commonly on the coast- must have been craving fresh water.

Serious credit to female wood ducks for making this happen, drake wood ducks are a bird you never get sick of seeing. Good job wood duck hens, selecting for such gaudy but beautiful plumes generation after generation.

The mallard hen made me laugh- she was quacking up a storm, but she had a very high pitched voice- like as if she had a sore throat. She was very intent on telling someone something.

Another sign of spring, the numbers of Northern Shovelers are decreasing as they head back North. This drake is quite handsome in the morning sun. A lot of ducks were sunning themselves.

But even at rest all head eyes on the world around them, especially as an adult Cooper's hawk flew over and low to stir the locals and cause all to lift their heads for a brief moment until it passed.
Looking forward to more signs of spring with birds moving out and in of our area!

Birding Pittsburgh, PA.

     I made a rip out to Wheeling, WV last week for the chance to develop professionally for work. It was a whirlwind of a week, but I rewarded myself with a little extension to visit and meet with folks at some facilities in Pittsburgh and I found a place to go birding.
     Staying in the downtown area, I was able to locate a park that by uber was about a $10-15 ride. The park, Schenley Park, like most of the area, has trails cut into the hillside that run next to small creeks, trickling with water. And spanning the park, were lots of bridges. Pittsburgh has a very interesting topography and everything is hills, bridges, and rivers. Just on the edge of the park are the Carnegie (which I learned pronounce it very differently from the natives) Museum of Natural History and the Phipps Conservatory (which I visited for a warm up and for a little bit of vibrancy).
     My target species was the Pileated woodpecker as I saw them reported here on ebird and bonus would be a Carolina Chickadee (which I did see and hear -- the hearing confirmed it). Thankfully, the unseasonably warm weather helped me out and I had a nice few hours in the park.

This place must be a dream during migration, with paths up high, you can be eye level with the budding tree tops and see all the warblers without getting a case of "warbler neck."
This park was really big, I was told safe, although I still often felt alone until an occasional runner came by. The hills surrounded you, and while there were quite a number of people in the park, you didn't really see them until you rounded a bend.

Birding was tough here. Some spots were barren and others productive. There were railroad tracks through part of the park and thats where I saw the most, in the shrubs and thicket right at the edge of the fairly mature forest.
But, since it's winter, nothing has leaves and looking for brown birds in brown, twiggy thickets on an over cast grey day-- you have to follow sounds and ID a lot by ear, which I did.
Song sparrows were singing stop perches, making it feel like spring is on the horizon.

A nice large (I presume) female red tail hawk. She was perched in the trees next to a soccer field and then flew over to the next hill.

Th epark was busy with nuthatches and woodpeckers, heard them more than saw. Caught one look at a white-breasted nuthatch, otherwise I mostly listened to them.

My bigfoot-esque capture of the pileated. At first I was only hearing it, they have a very distinct call, almost little loud and obnoxious. And when I saw a low flying large bird with that flash of red, I was pretty happy to know I got one.

Camouflage!

I took a break from the grey, monotone scenery - overcast days are beat - visited the conservancy and then took another hour to just see if anything else was around. The bird activity at that point was low or mostly song sparrows.
And then the wildlife started watching me.

Two of the three pairs of white-tailed deer eyes on me. It was also super creepy as they all came up to the edge and walked toward me. To myself I though, oh, I wonder if someone feeds them and they think I have food OR these deer are going to eviscerate me with their cloven hooves and no one will know and this is how it will end.

Thankfully, we both just kinda observed each other and made funny faces.

I like finding deer, to most they are nothing special, or something you shoot at. As someone who doesn't see deer often, I appreciate an urban deer (you can find deer in NYC too!) and having the chance to watch them and be watched too.

This was a nifty little park, according to ebird it is hotspot #13 with 148 species on ebird record. If you have no car and are visiting, this would be a good pick to grab a cab and check out- plus it has other attractions nearby as well, allowing for a nice day trip.
I also bet that this park is more productive during other parts of the year - the bar charts on ebird show spring and fall to be good to see warblers, sparrows, and flycatchers, etc- to be expected.
A pretty decent urban birding experience, I hope this helps anyone plan some birding on their next visit to Pittsburgh.

Somewhere.

     Well, someone ruined it for us all. Today I am not sharing my locations, just the things I saw in the places that I visited because this is getting out of hand.
     Snowy owls are a hot topic among birders, especially in an urban/suburban setting where the population of people is high and so is the interest in such birds. Birders generally follow a code of ethics created by the American Birders Association. Most follow, but many don't and some folks, especially those who are not birders, disregard it all together. And this shouldn't just be limited to owls, but all birds. We all know some birds are more "sensitive" than others, with respect to birds who are nocturnal or nesting, especially.
     Today I went out, mostly had the place to myself-- thought I saw some other birders in a group who I kept away from, I was feeling like a solo adventurer today and found myself a beautiful snowy owl. I kept my distance, snapped a few pictures with my big lens, observed for 5 minutes and moved on because there was much more to see and I wanted to be respectful.
     Unfortunately as I headed back to my vehicle the bird was surrounded by the now revealed to be a photography group. Eventually some of the group left the bird while two remained. One of the two remaining photographers was waving their arms encouraging the bird to open its eyes or fly (which it did the latter).
     This bums me out so badly. Birds of prey are my favorites and it hurts to see people doing this to them. And gosh, forget about nesting season for terns and plovers on the beach. It also hurts me because I know so many great photographers who DO respect their subjects just there are quite a few bad eggs out there who ruin it for us.
     So, to be respectful of these critters, I will not share locations today.

For those who are not aware, I usually utilize a 200-500mm lens so not only am I able to maintain a respectful distance and grab a memory.... but I also have fabulous shoulders and arms. It's a work out.
All images are processed and cropped in Lightroom so I can make things like this happen without causing much disruption to the owl, as indicated by closed/mostly closed eyes and it's floofy, un-alert posture.

The only movement I observed with this juvenile/female (plumage can go either way depending on age) was some head twists, rotating to look behind and above.

On such a grey day, this bird matched the environment quite well... and unfortunately matches the littered bags, buckets, and jugs too...

(Warning, anthropomorphism alert)
Also, an un-disturbed, respected owl subject just has this look of pure joy on its face. It's like a real life emoji.

Also floofy and the cutest badass bird ever-- the American Kestrel. Most birds were floofy today (yes, floofy is an acceptable word in my world) because it was pretty cold outside.

I enjoyed observing this smallest falcon in all of North America as it looked around from it's perch hunting. As if hovering would be (and is) a chore, this post would surely do the trick.
It dove down from its perch twice while I observed and came up empty taloned.

Birds have superb vision and can see in a spectrum that we cannot, ultraviolet. I presume voles live in this area and as voles go about their day, they piddle along the way, marking their trails with their scent. The voles are also leaving a breadcrumb trail for a kestrel as their urine reflects ultraviolet light, illuminating a path to a meal for a kestrel. With cloud cover, I wonder if it is harder for a kestrel to do this. I would guess not since one still gets sunburnt on a cloudy day, that one being me.

And like the snowy owl, kestrels are sexually dimorphic. Snowy owl adult males are almost entirely white while females are larger and barred. American Kestrel adult males are colored with slate blue wings, a rust-colored tum tum, and rufous backside- females are barred mostly tans, browns and blacks.

Got all my gulls in a row... except they are all ring-billed was hoping for maybe an Iceland, glaucous, black-headed - but no. Just ring-billed.

Male bufflehead, preparing for a dive. Food was good here, even the gulls stopped raiding the trash to feed in the water or among the rocks and seaweed.

My favorite part of the bufflehead. Seems unassuming and dapper in his black and white--- but there is a little party in him too. Catch him in the right light and you'll find it.

A male red-breasted merganser was busy diving, coming up empty. I walked past him one way, then on the way back...

... He nabs a crab AND swallows it whole.
NBD.

Love me some purple sandpipers, they made up for the lack of any "rare" gulls.

I hope that all have the chance to see wildlife and observe it. But please remember to be respectful, maintain a distance, and consider the habits of the animal (is this its resting time? Is it tending to young? Is food at a minimum due to local conditions? etc.) as to not cause it unnecessary stress and movement; and it shouldn't stop at birds.
Everyone has a right to connect to nature I just hope all consider the creatures they are trying to enjoy.