Wednesday at the New York Botanic Garden and More on Avian Tools

Photograph by Pat Gonzalez
Hooded Merganser

Our birder of the New York Botanic Garden Pat Gonzalez has quite the day:

Donegal:

The attached photos were taken on Wednesday, Jan. 20th at the NYBG.

At 10:25 AM, I noticed about six hooded mergansers. I could make out at least one female. They were swimming in the Bronx River just off the Magnolia Way overpass. I was walking on the Spicebush trail in the native forest and was able to see them clearly. Even though I was waaaay up from were they were, looking down at them, I knew that if I made any sudden moves, they would bolt, so I took the shots where I stood.


Photo by Pat Gonzalez
At 10:41 AM in a different section of the forest, a hawk landed on the top of a dead tree. It is the camera angle, the sunlight or me? This hawk looks a bit different from a red-tail. Even with my zoom lens all the way out I still had to crop these photos. Donegal, what do you think?

Photo by Pat Gonzalez
Pat,

Could you tell anything about the size of the hawk from where you were standing? I'm wondering if it is an immature Accipiter. Perhaps a Sharp-shinned?

There are a couple of odd things here which tend toward the bird being something besides a Red-tail. And as we know unless one can see both the tail of a hawk and her belly, it's a tough call.
It could be the light but a Red-tailed Hawks feet are quite a vivid yellow and thicker toed than this bird's feet appear.

This bird looks quite light eyed even if it were only a first year juvenile RT.

There is something odd about the coloration, particularly on the hawk's side. Somehow it doesn't seem to be a warm enough brown for an RT. A clear breast and a belly band instead of a possibly over all streaked anterior would be telling but the hawk just wasn't cooperative about giving us a 360 degree view.

The tail appears longer and slimmer than a buteo.

And at least from this angle, the final bar of the tail looks thicker than the bars higher on the tail.

That said I'm open to suggestions from the house.

Turtle
When I got to the bank of the Bronx River, I was surprised to see a turtle moving under the water. He found a spot, and then stopped, just laying there. In the attached photo, he's just to the right of the branch.

Male Wood Duck, Aix sponsa

At 11:50 AM I was walking along a different section of the Bronx River, just off the Stone Mill Road overpass and saw the usual gang of suspects: a LOT of mallards, the mystery farm duck and later, a couple of Canadian geese.

I was standing right on the river bank, in the mushy soil, when I noticed a beautiful male wood duck. He was spinning, bobbing his head back and forth, opening and closing his beak. I think he was trying to impress a female who was nearby.

As Wood ducks always run (with the exception of the very friendly lone female from last week) when you so much as blink, I moved VERY slowly, ducking behind a tree to get closer to the edge of the bank.
Here's video that I took which I posted on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/user/NATURECAMHD#p/u/0/QJfc0bS-YoU

But it was hard getting a clear photo, because this little duck just couldn't keep still. Attached is the closest shot I've ever taken of a male wood duck.

All in all, a very good day.

Pat Gonzalez

Louie yawns (relieving ear pressure?) while using his feather tool on his ear.

Re Louie cleaning his ears....versus scratching from Linda, Louie's owner, via Robin of Illinois.

Linda writes:
You know....I don't think Louie is cleaning his ears, he's just scratching
the inside. Don’t know if parrots get wax in their ears :)

(As to the possibility of Avian ear wax, you never know, right? So I did a rudimentary search which brought no evidence of the substance nor have I seen any evidence of it with Quicksilver the African Grey. D.B.)

Robin writes:

Linda also said that she discards the tool feathers when Louie is done, so she doesn't really know if he would stash them for future use, since she hasn't given him a chance as yet.

Photograph by Donegal Browne

Also from Robin of Illinois, Crows using traffic to crack their walnuts for them--the automobile as TOOL?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5_DuZ8WuMM

COMING SOON, TEMPERATURE AND THE FIRE ESCAPE ROOST OF THE DIVINES, ISOLDE AND NORMAN

The Young Ms are Sat Upon and So Are the Muskrat Houses

Redtail Nest Photos by Donegal Browne
When I pulled up the adult looked like she was feeding from the rim of the nest. By the time I got out of the car with the camera, she was attempting to hide two rather large eyasses underneath herself.

The eldest slips out but the younger stays nicely squashed down.
(I still have not seen the third eyass since I returned after a week's absence.)

Mom gives it up trying to cover the two bruisers and tries for a distraction tactic. Instead of coming off the nest, gaining a bit of altitude and then disappearing behind the tree where she flies back to the treeline out of my sightline, this time she flies back and forth several times in plain view.

On take off, the birds left behind will either duck out of harm's way as one of the eyasses has done here or at the very least turn their heads away as the second has done. No matter how careful the takeoff, there are always the vagaries to consider and wind tossed talons are extremely dangerous.

No longer having to be squashed the eyasses take in their own particular area of interest. I'm the focal point for one but the other is checking something out in the bowl. Part of dinner perhaps?


Oh my, identical expressions, both giving me a look.


Still staring but shifting as well.
The usual long attention span of an adult hawk is not yet theirs.

Soon they are off to other pursuits, physical and mental.


But they do have the hawk habit of checking back in on whatever it is that has changed in the landscape lately.


Soon though, they sink back into the bowl for more napping and growing. Though not without a few head pop ups before they completely give in to sleep.


Photograph by James W. Blank
Wisconsin is a state of many permanent bodies of water and this year many more vernal ponds have stayed longer than usual. Plus it is one those "hundred year" years in which new places filled with water that no one had seen fill for a "hundred years". The marches are plush. Electrician and nature photographer James Blank does many hours of driving around the state for his work and he's been keeping tabs on all sorts of wildlife.

The turtles are doing very well. And the turtle above appears to be hoping for an even higher turtle population.


Photograph by James W. Blank
Unfortunately his chosen helpmate in the endeavor is slipping out from under him. She rather rudely smacks him under the chin with her shell.


Photograph by James W. Blank
Not only that, she's totally uncooperative and takes to the water.


Photograph by James W. Blank
Stunned and surprised, he just sits and stares.


Photograph by James W. Blank
Though there are many other possible choices over there on the duplex muskrat house.



Photograph by James W. Blank
And also at the marsh, a pair of Wood Ducks peer warily through the wetland grass. Peterson's Field Guide mentions that they very much like to perch in trees. I haven't seen that here, but I have seen them perched on any number of muskrat houses. Thank goodness for muskrats, otherwise where would everyone sit in all these marshes?

Donegal Browne