Birds Bring Joy

     I Love Birds. This is no surprise to those who know me best. I am instantly your best pal the moment you say, "I like birds." So, since I love birds, they bring me so much joy. I spend a lot of time in the field with a big dopey smile on my face and saying "hi" to birds, sometimes even giving a little wave. I even talk to them. Don't judge.
     Anyway, yesterday I had the joy of observing field sparrows in the fields at Floyd Bennett and today seeing some spring migrants among others. It was pretty great, the warm temperatures definitely help!
     Here are some pictures of those birbs...

I had the luck to be surrounded by a few singing field sparrows.
Geeze, is their song so beautiful!
Hear there here, on Cornell's All About Birds site.

One would call and you would hear at least one or two others answer with their song.

Gosh, Field Sparrows are mighty cute.

Today I rode my bike to Prospect Park. The common grackles always catch my eye, especially when the light makes them into a rainbow of color.

A dark-eyed junco fishes a centipede out of the leaf litter on the lullwater. After a night of rain, as the sun came out and warmed up the air, the birds become more active.

A mallard drake taking a rest next to his hen-- keeping an eye out, always.

This hen is letting him keep his eyes out while she catches a snooze. Even her eyelids have little feathers on them!

I am 90% certain that this winter wren is molting.
Other than illness or other negative things, I can't imagine why this bird would otherwise look so worn and scruffy.

Despite being scruffy. I still love them so!

LOWA, is that you?!

It is!
I was very happy to see my FOY Louisiana Waterthrush.
I think living not-so-close to Prospect, the way I used to, it is going to hurt during warbler season.

You ever get caught at a HAWKward moment... like when you step out of the bath and 35 camera lenses and binoculars are pointed at you.
Well, thankfully no.
But for this red-tail, yes.

This red tail was super low, after its bath in the ravine so many on lookers got to enjoy this treat.

What a feeling!
... Now I'm dancing for my life!

Trying to make up for that first pic...
But for real, this is a great example of a mature red tail, look at those brick-red tail feathers!

Everyone needs a good bath every so often, even those big "bad" birds.
I think raptors are the best birds.

I always find a bullfrog in the mud of the lower pool. Always.

I swear there was a yellow-rumped warbler there.
As we get into warbler season get ready for more of these...

And these.
Lots of pine warbler (above) today!

And these... where the best photos come out clear in the crap light- but blurry when they move into clear view and good light.
This little nugget is a palm warbler. Red cap, tail twerk, yellow - that's a palm warbler.

Speaking of tail twerk, the eastern phoebe is also known for that tail pumping. Heard a lot of them today, yelling their buzzy "FEE-BEEE!"

I also made a 311 call.
People, keep your dogs on a leash. This dog was off leash, behind the fences to keep people and dogs out, in an area where waterfowl nest. It's owner called and it was white noise to this dog.
Off leash hours are before 9am and after 9pm, in designated areas. This area, the Lullwater is 24 hrs on-leash.
If you see unleashed dogs where they are not supposed to be or causing harm to wildlife, please call 311 in NYC, they need to know this is all too often happening.

While making that call, I watched the wood ducks it flushed from the shore line who looked to be courting.

Gosh, the females are so sneaky pretty. Yellow eyeliner, a sneaky purple feather and blue wings.
I can't wait to see ducklings. We'll be there soon!

On April 26th I am doing a walk for the Feminist Bird Club, and helping our group participate in the City Nature Challenge. I am terribly nervous but also excited. I never led a bird walk for adults before! I hope the folks joining me will find joy in all that we see!

Salt Marsh Views

I've been slacking on getting stuff up on the blog because it's spring, we have the house and have taken on so many DIY type projects. Tim is building a fence to make our yard more private, I have been chiseling away at our bland lawn of patchy grass and other small weeds and transforming it into a lawn of native and pollinator-friendly plants.

So, because of that, here are some birds at Marine Park's Salt Marsh Nature Center last week!

Mourning dove in the morning sun.

These crows brought this harrier right over head! I never had a harrier come so close, legit, like 5 feet over head as the crows gave chase.

Showing male plumage.

There is someone in there... So I kept still and waited.

Hello, Killdeer!

Just took a seat for a few.

Osprey is on the nest... perhaps on eggs by now.

I wonder what he is thinking about...

Probably about hitting those notes just right.

Literally, everyone is singing-- even this Northern Flicker. Who even let me look at it!

Normally the moment you make eye contact with a flicker, they are off!

A young red tail uses the unoccupied osprey playtorm to survey the area.

A female American wigeon, looking especially lovely on a spring day.

April Showers - Green-Wood Cemetery

     A grey day just about all day. I wanted to sneak out before the rain and chose Green-Wood Cemetery. I was hoping for woodcock, but that of course, didn't happen. But I did see some other feathered friends that were just as great!
     Highlights include some new spring arrivals, including my most favorite Egret in all of Brooklyn, the Great Egret who lives at the Crescent and Dell Waters. It is reliably in that location for the season in which it lives here and feasts on frogs, minnows and goldfish. Sometimes it shares with great blue heron, green heron, and night herons- but it is just about always at these two water features from spring till fall migration kicks in for her/him.
     Even with raindrops falling, the birds didn't stop. Birds are tough, rain ain't no thing.

Oh what a lovely surprise! A very feisty (and probably hangry) blue-grey gnatcatcher! 

Best brows, wings down!
Normally these birds are catching little insects, so it took to the ground where the most insects could be found. Normally these birds are high, making you crane your neck to catch those flashing outer white edges of the tail, a sure sign of this bird as it flits through the canopy quickly and meticulously.

A magnolia with buds ready to burst had 2 red-breasted nuthatches among its branches, plus 2 more white breasted nuthatch and a yellow-bellied sapsucker.

Working hard, looking hard for some snacks...

Golden-crowned kinglets were also quite busy looking for food. With the cooler temperatures and grey skies, insects were not really flying.

The Green-Wood great egret is back, and in breeding plumage with those beautiful egret feathers flowing behind it.

Once those feather were its biggest flaw, attractive to humans, egrets were nearly wiped out until protected by the migratory bird treaty act. Those plume were popular for fashion. I think they look best on the bird.

The first warblers are here, a palm warbler sits, briefly at the Sylvan water edge. Pine warbler were more plentiful but hard to photo in the low light. There will be plenty more to come as we progress into the month.

My record shot for the rusty blackbird that my eyes sifted out of common grackles, brown-headed cowbirds, and starlings. It's call also confirmed it for me.

A handsome brown-headed cowbird male nomming on some seeds and grassy things.
Seeing all this nomming made me hungry.
I hit up my favorite dumpling spot (that I mis dearly) before heading home and getting my nom on.