Rusty

This was a first for me. Another birder said, "There's a rusty blackbird near the wooden bridge." A rusty what??? Never heard of this let alone seen one. Had I seen this bird myself my brain would have thought, "strange female grackle ?", but of course it's not like a grackle, or anything else I'd ever seen before. It's very pretty. And different. It was in the muddy end of the Gill tossing leaves, finding snails, cracking snail shells with beak and eating the snails. I can't even remember the last time I saw a black bird let alone a rusty one. Interesting surprise. Live and learn.

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They bark !!

Today started off perfectly with the ultimate springtime observation. There are lots of images to prep, but for this blog there are only two subjects, the worm and the raccoons.

The first raccoon observation was a pleasant surprise. The young raccoon has obviously been trapped, observed, innoculated and returned to the lair. Healthy youngster. Note ID tag in ear. The raccoons are being trapped to make sure they're healthy and then innoculated against rabies. I saw a raccoon in a trap this morning in Strawberry Fields. The traps are checked each day. This juvenile preened, scratched every part of its anatomy on the tree bark, rested and then decided to climb upstairs to Mama.

The upward climb was not easy, first part on the adjacent limb and then the balance of the ascent on the trunk of the tree.

Ah, arrived. Time to rest on new branch near Mama's apartment.

I walked off thinking that was that. All of a sudden there was a huge noise. Barking! Everyone turned around. What's going on????? Where????? The where was up the tree, Mama raccoon ferociously barking and chasing youngster out of her space. It was a swirl of enraged raccoon, impossible to photograph clearly, big fur ball of fury. Youngster came down the tree much faster than the ascent. Youngster rested for a while. All calm? Stupid kid made the ascent again and once again enraged Mama chased youngster back down the tree.

There's only one explanation. Mama is in a family way, new family and previous youngster had better vamoose and get a life somewhere else. The pattern repeated all afternoon. This is nature. Kids have to grow up fast. For today the youngster hung out downstairs. I never knew that raccoons could bark- sort of a combination Yorkie/schnauzer with no question about the message. " GET LOST!!!!!"

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Face off

It was obvious what this sparrow was working on. The nest is in a knot hole of a tree by the 69th street park entrance. Solid, cozy spot.

Not nest building- but definitely territorial squabbling. There just aren't enough trees for two downy woodpecks. The face-off went on for quite a while, "yelling" and flashing. Both males.

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Up a tree

There's no way to predict what's going to be seen on any given day. This was a fine subject to start a Sunday stroll. Fatso.

Finally, a phoebe.

But the best was the wood duck up a tree. It flew up there to avoid a dog and stayed perched for a couple of hours. How often do you get a chance to see the underside of any duck??

When it flew it headed to the lake, a lake heavily populated by row boats.

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Kinglet!

First little spring bird for me, the sweet, flitting kinglet, golden. The woodcock, earlier blog, was my first spring observation.

Eating bits invisible to the human eye.

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Protein

Rain = soft soil = ease of finding a meal. Good to the very last inch.

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Oops !!!

One good peck.
Oops!!
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