Little Terns on Governor's Island

We visited Governor's Island on July 17, a very hot day with a very hot sun. Our first stop was the pier with the nesting common terns. The area was fenced off to protect the birds, and we had to shoot our photographs through the fence. But the little birds were a joy to watch as they waited for their parents to fly in with little fish dinners. I was taken with how each parent feeds only his or her own little chicks, and will take off if another chick tries to take the fish.

New York State lists the common tern as "threatened," so the pier on Governor's Island is fenced off so the birds can nest safely.

The state lists the common tern as "threatened," but among the terns, the common tern is the most widespread and abundant in New York. With their blood-red bills and glossy black caps, these birds are very distinctive.

We got to see chicks of various ages. I especially liked the youngster who sought cooling relief in a very shallow little puddle, and the two even younger chicks who pranced around the pier waiting for dinner. I set the Filming the Feathers video from our visit to the terns' own sounds and to music by Alexander Borodin, performed by the Musopen String Quartet.

The terns skim the water in shallow dives to come up with fish that are about 3-4 inches in length. Both parents take on incubation duties. Incubation lasts 21-27 days. The video of the parents' feeding did not come out great, but you can catch a little of it. The photographs of the adults came out better than those of the young terns (they were farther down the pier).

Source: Common Tern Fact Sheet, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Filming the Young Herons

I have had a chance to see several young night herons this year, some yellow-crowned night heron youngsters on Governor's Island, and some young black-crowned night herons in Central Park.

Young black-crowned night heron at Turtle Pond, Central Park, August 2, 2016

I will post the yellow-crowned youngsters soon, but I wanted to share some black-crowned babies I saw on July 29 and August 2. When I see the young herons, I am taken by how different their coloring is from the adults'. You can see in this selection a young fledgling, an older fledgling and the adult. The brown and white feathers turn blue and white, and the golden eyes turn red.

The Filming the Feathers video, Young Black-Crowned Night Herons in Central Park, features the two younger fledglings — the one at the 59th Street Pond on July 29 and August 2, and the one at Turtle Pond on August 2 — and one older heron on August 2 at Turtle Pond. The music is a wind octet by Beethoven, performed by Soni Ventorum Wind Quartet.

The photos below feature an adult black-crowned night heron at 59th Street and the two youngest herons (photos 2 through 4 show the bird at the 59th Street Pond, who could be the offspring of the adult; the remaining photos are of the Turtle Pond youngster).

The Starling and the Berries

The European starling is ubiquitous in North America, but that was not always the case. The starling was introduced into Central Park in the 1890s. According to Scientific American, the story goes that the American Acclimation Society wanted to introduce into America every bird mentioned in Shakespeare. For reference, in Henry IV, Part 1, Hotspur says:

Nay, I will. That’s flat!
He said he would not ransom Mortimer,
Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer.
But I will find him when he lies asleep,
And in his ear I’ll holla 'Mortimer!'
Nay, 
I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but 'Mortimer,' and give it him
To keep his anger still in motion.

The society, in the person of Eugene Schieffelin, released some 60 starlings (or starling pairs — Internet sources seem to disagree on the number) into Central Park in 1890 and '91, and by 1950 the starlings could be found from the Atlantic to the Pacific, all across the continent. So now Mr. Schieffelin is blamed for introducing Sturnus vulgaris into North America and therefore loosing what many now consider a nuisance bird across the country, 200 million strong. 

When I first heard that starlings were an introduced species, I was told a tale that the birds had been brought over to be part of a theater production, and after the show closed, the birds were released in the park. I liked that story better, but now have to accept that most sources hold Mr. Schieffelin responsible.

So when many people think of starlings, they think of pest birds. But as I hope you'll see in this video, starlings are very often beautiful. They have personality, and watching the flocks fly can be so exciting.

Perhaps seeing this one starling, as I did on August 2 at Turtle Pond in Central Park, next to the berries the bird proceeded to chow down, will help you appreciate the beauty of this common bird.

A Starling Among the Berries is set to music by Chopin.

I will note, though, two things I have observed about starlings: First, they really love to take baths, so much so that I opened my video Bird Bath with them. The joy they have in flapping in the water is contagious. Second, the young starlings, after they've fledged and are full sized and should be feeding themselves, follow their parents around and squawk at them for food, much like American teenagers do when they're quite capable of opening the refrigerator themselves!