Spring in February

     A balmy day greeted us, the temperatures quickly rose up out of the 30's up to 60 degrees. So I got out early today before work and just basked in the warmth and beauty of the morning. I visited the Marine Park salt marsh and Sheepshead Bay before starting the workday and very happy I did!

I arrived to fog rising and dissipating over a still icy marsh. The wind wasn't blowing and the result was this amazing warm, still, and beautiful landscape. It is all that I love about Brooklyn, this is the urban wilderness I love.

A belted kingfisher rattled in the trees, looking over the areas not frozen for a meal.

A lone ruddy duck paddled across the glassy waters.

Swimming through the clouds and sky.

Eye contact, and then a morning trail walker spooked him.
The marsh provided lots of robins, blue jays, a few white-throated sparrows, and a loud, singing Carolina wren, who I not only heard, but saw the pint-sized bird with an amplified voice.

At Sheepshead Bay, I was on the search for a duck. Not these ducks. But these are always nice to see, these are lesser scaup. The duck I am looking for is related, in the pochard family. Pochards are diving ducks. And in an instant they can disappear below the surface in search of food or to avoid being spotted.

In 15 minutes I was able to find the duck I was after, just from silhouette alone with that sloping forehead, a canvasback.

I saw a canvasback last month in Queens, this one is in Brooklyn, close to home and work, and close to the walkways, giving opportunities for amazing close looks. I couldn't pass up the chance!

Sheepshead Bay is as developed a habitat as any. The Bay is a marina, surrounded by commercial businesses and a major road on its north side, and residences and schools on its south side. It is riddled with mute swans, boats, and unfortunately trash.
But, then there are scaup, mergansers, bufflehead, black ducks, and sometimes the odd black-headed gull or canvasback shows up.

This is a drake (male), and he is handsome! 

Canvasbacks, a great start to a beautiful, (unseasonably) warm day!

Superb Owl 2019

     It's that time of year again, Surpeb Owl Sunday! Let's celebrate the owls that got me through this season and then we'll take a look at some owls of past seasons. All are champions, many of whom fly great distances to the places where we had the the chance to cross paths.
     It happen to be, that this point of the year is an exciting time for owls, Many are starting to find a mate and nest. Which is why it's also a good chance to remind the biggest owls fans, that it is super important not to disrupt owls during the day, approach a nest site, and share their locations due to the crowds they draw which in turn are detrimental to their natural habits and behaviors. If you do have the very fortunate chance to happen upon an owl, it's important to mind your distance, keep voice levels down, and overall keep a low profile.
     Even though an owl will do it's best to keep a low profile itself, it generally knows you are there. It heard you coming before you saw it and is doing it's best to "blend in." If an owl opens its eyes wide or raises its tufts of feathers suddenly (if it has feather tufts, not all do), or goes into an alerted posture-- then you know you've gone too far. Unfortunately these are often the photos photographers crave and some go to great lengths at the expense of the animal for that perfect photo. When I see a bird, I'm glad to see it, and if a few pine needles, blades of grass or other obstructions are in the way, so be it. That's what owls look like, hidden!
     Anywhere, here are some owls from the 2018-19 season, taken at 500mm zoom, photos are cropped, and I never overstayed my welcome...

Saw my first barred owl in December. I really like the birds a lot. I used to work with one, his name was Kirk. He would give his signature "who-cooks-for-you?" call any time a police or fire siren drove by.
I can confirm, this bird is 95% feathers.

Saw this snowy last December. It looked to be eating well.

Then a crow flew by and caused the bird to perk up and give a glimpse of their "I'm not messing around" bits.

Shared this snowy with my friend Jeffrey in January. And nice to see this bird being fairly respected by its photo entourage.

A life bird last month, I get to finally say, I saw-whet!I saw three of three of whet, actually. Very very special to see these birds. And holy heck, they are tiny!!!

I see why pinecones are mistaken for these little too-ters.
Oh yeah, saw-whets dont "Whoo," they "Too!"

Now for some past season owls...

Got to share this Eastern Screech also with my friend, Jeffrey- it was a life bird for us both!

I also have a soft spot for birds that share similar plumage to myself.

I froze my @$$ off for 3 hours as dusk appoached, waiting to see my lifer barn owl.
Here it was.
It popped its head up and looked around.
Blinds are a great tool to provide a respectful shade and keep folks at a respectable distance giving birds owl or not some necessary privacy.

It could probably hear me shivering and was probably enjoying the spell it had cast on us silly hairless mammals, waiting just to catch a glimpse.
It might have even be mirroring us, as we peeked through a blind to see an owl peering at us, from its blind.

When your tipped off by the blue jays. Some of the best ways to find owls and other raptors, follow the mobbing blue jays. This great horned owl was being mobbed by a number of noisy jays.

Canvasback #79 #338

     I went out yesterday continuing to try and build up my year list with some birds who are only here for the winter. It was a success. I drove out to Baisley Pond and Jamaica By Wildlife Refuge. Baisley had a lot more going on as much of the east and west ponds in Jamaica Bay were frozen. Baisley also had a life bird I was super happy to encounter. I love birding in NYC, such amazing abundance and sights to see in sometimes the oddest places.

Gadwall were very present on Baisley. I also got some nice close looks. From afar, gadwall are a brown duck, closer inspection reveals their fine details and beauty.

How many species of bird do you see?
I see six... Ring-necked duck, gadwall, American wigeon, Canada Goose, Mallard, and American coot.

This gadwall guy was quacking up a storm. They sounded very much like a hunters duck call, but shot and deep in tone.

Drake American wigeon.

A hungry little white-throated sparrow.

White-throated sparrows are renowned for their amazing manners.

This is a very special floating lump.
This is a canvasback.
And a life bird.
Bird 79 of 2019 and 338 on my life list.

While waiting for the canvasback to wake, I looked at ring-necked ducks.

Finally, he woke.
And a nice comparison between the Canvasback, left and Redhead, right. That sloped forehead, whiter mid section, and red eyes!

Very happy to view this duck!

A short little preen before he went right back into that nap.

Female and male ring-necked ducks. Quite a number on the pond, enough so that ebird flags them as a high count. I feel like last winter there were just as many here.

Waterfowl mix.
Redheads, American wigeon, mallard, coot, Canada goose.

A little Junco before Jamaica Bay.

Jamaica Bay had good stuff too, but a lot less. Got a year bird here too, Tree sparrow, year bird #81. This is NOT a tree sparrow, but a house finch.

Next weekend, is my favorite, Superb Owl Sunday. Stay tuned!

No Pain, No Gain.

     Sometimes you gotta tough it out, and as my birding buddy Jeana said today, "no pain, no gain!" The cold was painful today, with windchills below zero and actual temp in the single digits, we felt the pain, we made some gains!
     4 layers of pants, 2 pairs of socks, 4 layers of long sleeves, a hat under my new fleece full hood and mask, 2 neck warming items, 2 pairs of gloves, and boots that weigh a few pounds each-- I was ready! The cold and wind brought most birds close to the ground (good because I had so many layers around my neck, looking anywhere but straight ahead was hard), making for really great looks! While most others opted indoors, Jeana and I got some birds that made our trek and weathering the cold worth it!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

More vibrant than I was expecting, an immature/female Varied Thrush, who has been in this park (Clove Lakes Park) since last December (2018).
And the reason why we are excited to see this bird is because its usual range is along the western coast from Alaska (mainly Breeding) down to the northern part of Baja California (winter range). This one took a wrong turn and ended up here. So this cold snap is probably not phasing it, since some do live year round in the southern reaches of Alaska.

Varied thrush are in the thrush family (good thing, with that name!), so they are related to American Robins. They are similarly shaped and sized, and follow a similar diet. They eats insects and grubs during warmer months and for winter, when invertebrates are dormant, their diet switches over to mainly fruits and nuts. This one was picking about at berries.

Hello!

Best views it gave us! Their belly is a bit more plump than a robin, they almost look like they have a pot-belly.

Right before it flew into some underbrush to forage.
Really thankful for such close and great looks at this beautiful bird! Very happy to have seen it to add to my life list!

I started taking pictures of floofy birds so I could dedicate them all to Jeana, because she has similar taste to mine- floofy birds are a favorite.
Here, a flooft mockingbird.
Why floofy? Well, when it's colder than you refer, fluffing up your feathers creates a layer of air between you and your outermost feathers, which acts as insulation and keeps you warm! Many birds had this look today.

A second bonus, a yellow-breasted chat!
(Also floofy)

This bird was at eye level, again, for great looks!
It remained low and when we left it, it went even lower down to the edge of the pond there, foraging on fallen fruits.

Yellow-breasted chat are not terribly out of the ordinary on Staten Island. I learned from another friend that they are year-round residents there.
This one seems to be doing fine, foraging on berries, fallen into the brush. Being in the trees today with the strong winds, not worth it.

A floofy male cardinal, foraging with a few females and white-throated sparrows nearby.

Another mockingbird, staying warm.

We were unable to find the bittern, but enjoyed this one of two great blue herons and a female belted kingfisher, fishing the area along the stream.

Making a b-line for the car, but one last photo, a red-bellied woodpecker.

Braving the cold = worth it!