Look! A bird!

[nebo113]

Gold finches at the yellow feeder.  Hummers at the red feeder (clear juice).   But no blue birds at the blue meal worm feeder.  Are bluebirds color blind?!?!?  Just a joke, folks.  I was struck by what seems to me to be  a marketing gimmick, although I know birds see color.  Except perhaps for the hummers, does color on feeders attract them?

Seems like I read somewhere once that blue birds prefer brown meal worms to blue meal worms.  So you wouldn't expect to see blue birds at a blue meal worm feeder.  It's a common mistake, like expecting cardinals to like red meal worms.

I thought you were pulling my leg about blue meal worms!!!!

Me, pull somebody's leg?  You'd better believe it!

Apparently, blue/rainbow meal worms are a thing, though. 

[Langue_doc]

During the bird walk yesterday, we had a good view of a great crested flycatcher sitting on one of the trees in the parking lot. The crest was clearly visible because of the angle, and the fact that the bird remained in the same position for some time.

Then, on the mudflats (low tide) we saw several night herons, black-crested and yellow-crested ones. There were several juveniles, year-olds, that were distinguishable from the adults because of the lighter plumage. Some of them were standing in arrested poses reminiscent of the Egyptian friezes looking into the water/mud for prey. One of the herons caught several fish as we were watching. There were also the usual gulls, a few ducks, and a snowy egret. There were several vantage points to see this stretch of water/shoreline/mudflats. At a different location in the same park, we saw four brant geese which I found surprising because I thought these were migratory birds that only wintered in our areas.

We also saw several barn swallows fly rather low, displaying their plumage, and chimney swifts above. We could hear a warbling vireo and eventually found it sitting on a nest on one of the leafy trees. In addition to the usual birds, there were several cedar waxwings in different areas in the park, an Eastern kingbird flying above us, a couple of willow flycatchers, a few yellow warblers, and at least a couple of indigo buntings, one of which was chasing a barn swallow.

We walked past some cottonwood trees that had seeded, so there were clumps of cotton with seeds on the trees as well as on the bushes below the trees. We also helped ourselves to mulberries, the purple and the white ones during the walk.

[mamselle]

The swan has hatched her eggs; I didn't see them, and they're already out swimming these days, it seems, but ran into someone who had a couple photos, and they're all one could hope for a little trio of cygnets.

A few more ducks and geese around, but the herons haven't appeared at all, so far this year, and no bobbleheads yet, either.

Maybe later.

More walking tomorrow.

M.

[Puget]

My department has been temporarily relocated across campus while work is done on our building, and our new space is on the 5th floor with trees below. The view from my new office window now regularly features a show by a pair of Coopers hawks, who must have a nest in one of those trees (though I haven't spotted it). Herons also sometimes fly past (cutting off a bend in the nearby river perhaps?). It is delightful if rather distracting!

[mamselle]

I used to work on the 4th floor of a building with a large pipe-rail balcony; we regularly had one (and once, two) hawks ensconced on the railing, peering down at the greensward below for all the little mice and voles to be seen.

Occasionally, the bird would lift off and swoop down, and someone would say, "...oops, there goes another one..."

M.

[Langue_doc]

Puget, can I visit your office?

In today's birding news--
On my way home from a medical appointment, I decided to walk through Central Park. Along the pond at the south end, I first saw a Great Egret flying across the pond. He was quite active and flew across the pond several times, and then settled on a rock at the far end. A great blue heron soon followed the first flight of the heron. He too flew to several locations, all of them on the other side of the pond. On one of the low branches of a tree on the other side of the pond was a black-crested night heron, who unlike his fellow fishing birds stayed in the same spot. A solitary double-crested cormorant was diving and surfacing along the length of the pond. I knew I'd see at least one of these birds at this spot, but seeing two of them move from one vantage point to the next was quite a treat.

It was quite a satisfactory long way to the subway station interlude.

[mamselle]

I saw all four swans...two parents, two cygnets.

I got photos. Swoon.....(or, swaaan?)

The babies are a week old today, and they already have the "crook your neck before going for food underwater" rule down.

A bit hard to do with a fluffy, scrawny little 2-inch neck, while trying to keep your dignity, but they did so swanfully.

I might be just a little bit in love.

M.

[Langue_doc]

Treated myself to more birding in Central Park. I had a few errands in Manhattan and then walked 25 blocks to the pond in Central Park. The black-crested night heron (probably a different one as this one was larger than the one I saw yesterday) was sitting on a low branch and then hopped onto the rock below the tree, poking around for fish. I could see the bird swallow what appeared to be fish several times. This bird was much more active than the one I saw yesterday. There was also a great blue heron, lurking in the undergrowth.

Just off the path on a low branch was a robin sitting in its nest. There were sparrow fledglings almost the size of the adults, hopping behind the parents, mouths wide open, wanting to be fed. I saw several fledglings yesterday as well, and robin fledglings on previous saunters and walks.

[mamselle]

I bet you've got our herons....

;--}

M.

[Thursday's_Child]

A red-headed woodpecker stopped by the feeder the other day!  I was thrilled b/c they are not common here, but it hasn't returned.

[mamselle]

Cormorant on yesterday's walk. (Still almost no ducks or geese, and the swans' nest looked OK, even had some more down in it, but they weren't around either).

I got a couple pictures of the cormorant, though, and then he dove.

I can NEVER figure out how far to move the camera forward to catch them when they come up.

He was much further downstream when he finally did come up than I allowed for....of course.

M.

P.S., Old Abner the ?50-year-old turtle must have a younger, thinner friend.

I'm going to call her Adele, perhaps about 35?... she was just about at the place I saw Abner scooting for the river after I freed him from the plastic fencing the construction guys had left up. (I've checked x3 days now, he hasn't been back there)

She was doing fine, just sunning, so I took a couple of snaps and left her to it.

[apl68]

At first I read that as "750 year old turtle."  That would be old, even for a turtle.

[mamselle]

Oh, sorry, yeah, maybe I could have left a space between the ? and the 50...!

But his shell is really thick and mottled, so I don't think I'm overestimating.

M.

[Juvenal]

For the first time ever (and that means about fifty years) sitting on my stoop, brooding on the Universe (not quite a full-time job), I am seeing against the sky the dartings-around of what must be hummingbirds, and more than one pair.  Years ago, elsewhere, sitting on another stoop, wearing white athletic sox with a red stripe, was investigated by a hummer hovering at my ankle.  Sorry Humbert--nothing there for you.

[Langue_doc]

Northern mockingbirds are everywhere. Most of my neighbors have them--rather, their trees host them. This morning, on my way out, there was a persistent call from one of them. I looked up to see him sitting on a neighbor's roof. I think he wanted the attention because he stopped chattering as soon as I looked up. The other day I saw one feeding on mulberries in another neighbor's yard. He didn't seem to be bothered by the people passing by despite the proximity of the branch he was sitting on. During an outing over the weekend, we saw more mockingbirds in the park. One was sitting on a rather low nest; the nest was larger than those of robins' nests, but not quite tidy.