Saturday, May 10, 2014

International Migratory Bird Day 2014


     Today my husband and I walked through Green-Wood Cemetery today over to where I went one week ago. Birds were much the same, with a few others I didn't see last week, like magnolia warblers, American redstarts, a tanager, and black-throated green warblers. Definitely not complaining, I love seeing all the warblers before they continue up North. We also had a red tail hawk perch up near where we were and the frogs were abundant on the Dell Water.
     Today also happens to be International Migratory Bird Day, most of the birds photographed today are migratory, spending their winter in Central and South America. Something most people don't realize is that the animals living in their neighborhood do not spend 100% of their lives there. Many travel and move about, meaning it is vital not to just preserve habitat in your local area but to also protect habitat in other places, further away- so that wildlife can continue to come back year after year for all to enjoy. We want the birds to keep coming back each year because many species are vital to controlling insect populations, rodents, and helping to disperse seeds of the plants they eat. Heck, a lot of the birds we saw today were on insect patrol, doing some fighter-jet maneuvers in the air to nab flies and gnats.
     It was a lovely morning, worthy of wearing shorts (finally!) and a t-shirt! We were able to get out before the afternoon storms rolled in. Enjoy our sights, from Brooklyn, NY!

Northern Parulas filled much of the cemetery with their calls.
My first magnolia warblers for 2014, lots were foraging on flowering trees.
Magnolia Warbler
Originally I thought yellow warbler.... 
It's actually a female scarlet tanager- I wish the male was around! This is my first NYC tanager- otherwise I have seen them out East on Long Island and wintering in Costa Rica.
Frogs were floating all over the Dell Water
Black-throated green warbler, on the hunt for insects.

A magnolia warbler also gets in on the insect catching....

Black and white warbler foraging in the mulch.


Black throated blue
A young red tail was being mobbed by grackles and mocking birds, it took refuge on the Dell Water

A great view of their binocular eyes, facing forward to hone in on whatever it is they are after.


Check out those talons!

When the hawk flew, the egret who was hunting frogs was not cool with the hawk being near....
A veery
An oven bird



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