Davey Crockett

Davey or Davida, not sure which. This was a disquieting experience, because this raccoon was determinedly searching for food while there was a heavy human presence on this warm sunny day. I first spotted the raccoon on the prowl in the Shakespeare Garden, all around the garden. Had there been a food stash or bird's nest in the tree all would have been eaten.

From the underbrush the next course was up and over the fence into the open field, up and over another fence, onto the path, into the brush near the 79th street transverse, across the transverse and into the upper lobe area.

In the upper lobe area the raccoon was obviously looking for crayfish and or snails. The only problem was that there were people sitting on the rocks at the edge of the lake. Raccoon faced off with three small dogs. Fortunately, the dogs were on leashes. Owner grabbed dogs and fled. Raccoon was inches away from dogs baring teeth, hissing. This was the raccoon's turf, humans in the way.

Followed raccoon along side of lake, from upper lobe to area of Indian Cave, over land, around Gill all the way to the Oven, then upside and presumably to garbage cans at the Boat House. This could be a raccoon having awakened from hibernation hungry. It really got very close to people, nosing all the way, a little too close for comfort.

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Quiet Saturday

The small birds love the peanut butter/suet/seed mash in the hollow coconut.

This immature red-tail was up near west 80th street seriously hunting. At one point the hawk flew over my head within touching distance.

The beautiful hooded merganser, female.

Oops. The merganser meets the turtle.

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Roaming

Some days there's just nothing spectacular to see and that's fine, because it's a chance to really study how beautiful the park regulars are. The white throated sparrows are singing now. Spring is in the air.

The ice on Tanner's Spring has melted.

Evidence of a fine meal for a raptor I missed seeing.

Evidence of the sad damage caused by the storm.

The jays were yelling, purely sociable, not mobbing.

So loud, and so beautiful.

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Pods, not the "i" variety

Not worms. This caught me by surprise, robins eating the seed pods that the cedar waxwings gorge on. A couple of branches fell down in the storm, pods attached. The robins are yanking the pods off. Snow chips in between to wash beans down.

This robin, however, has acquired a taste for peanuts and sips snow water in between.

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Warmer

It was warmer yesterday which rendered the snow soft and sloshy. Birds were singing, robins sipping snow water, a fine afternoon for strolling and observing, all in all a happy stroll.


I think this sign says something about staying off the grass.

It's been a while since I've seen the 69th street raccoon out of the hidey-hole. All seems fine, a healthy raccoon, four seconds of preening and back to sleep.

The redbelly woodpecker pecks at, rather than sleeping in holes.

Screaming for food. Or territorial claim??

I heard them before seeing them, a nice flock of cedar waxwings.

Bottoms up!

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R.I.P. Riverside Park

Not everything survives in the winter. This is in Riverside Park, so I'm not worried about rabies.

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