Spring discoveries

If you can call it spring... I went looking for migrating warblers in 30 degree (Fahrenheit) weather, geared in clothing more suited to winter trips. The warblers, not having a winter clothing budget, were slow in showing up. Nonetheless, a few birds did pop up on sunny mornings:

Northern Flickers are normally shy, but not this one. The flickers we have in the East are called "Yellow-shafted" because their tails are yellow on the underneath. (In the West, they are red.)


Interesting fact: even though flickers are woodpeckers, they often forage on the ground.


White-Throated Sparrow standing watch. This is their last hurrah in our area - they are getting ready to migrate to Canada for the summer.


The is the first true warbler of the year - a Prairie Warbler. These guys show up early (and apparently in any weather) and try to beat all the other migrants to the nesting areas.




"Hmm, that cloud is sure shaped like a peregrine falcon..." Piping Plover, a state-endangered shorebird, one of the very few that nest in NJ and NY areas.


As the white-throated sparrows migrate north, Chipping Sparrows arrive to take their place. This is the smallest of our sparrows. Its bright rufous head turns dull gray for the winter.


Woodpecker plunge... I think this one was a Downy Woodpecker.


American Robins predict spring better than groundhogs. Normally, they are here by late February. This year, they did not show up until the middle of March.


Another White-Throated Sparrow...


"Is it Thanksgiving already?" Wild Turkey. (BTW, this bird's name is a good example of retronym.)


This Great Egret has the freshest sushi in town...


... but then again, since it came out of Brooklyn's Gravesend Bay, maybe not.


Parting shot - Song Sparrow looking forlorn after several mating songs went unanswered...

India Wildlife - continued

More pictures from the visit to the Indian natural parks:

India Wildlife

Out of all the wonders we saw in India, this has to be to exotic. Elephants is something you see in a zoo. You are not supposed to come across a family of them, just munching on leaves near the side of the road. But this was India, so here they were!

This mother had two more calves, but one stayed next to her almost the entire time:

Two more elephants were a little ways off, across the river:

This is one of the calves. We were able to come so close to it that with my lens, I just couldn't take a wider shot.

This is another common inhabitant of the natural park. Do you have a banana?

Well, if you don't have a banana, I am not talking to you...

This is one of my most favorite birds in the world. Just the name of it: Hoopoe (or in Russian, "Udod"). On one hand, it is very common in all of Europe, Middle East, and Asia. On the other hand, there is no other bird like it!

Can you see it? You can? Something must be wrong then. After all, it's a chameleon.

This handsome hawk is a Brahminy Kite. We saw a number of them in the air all over the places we visited, sometimes in pairs. Like bald eagles, they are fish-eaters. But this one was good enough to pose for us, as we circled him on a boat:

Native Americans call their version "snake bird". This Indian one is called simply Darter. It's a relative or cormorant, and it's so heavy that its entire body sinks in water when it swims. (BTW, the beak is so sharp for a reason - it catches fish not by trapping it between its jaws, but by spearing it. Don't believe me? Check out this post from Texas!)

The Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo is the most graceful bird we captured on camera:

Great Egret is a world traveler. There is a version (all belonging to the same species!) in every part of the world.

Little Cormorant before dinner:

Little Cormorant after dinner:

Indian Pond Heron:

Purple Heron:

Oriental Magpie Robin: