Four Evenings With Pale Male

Pale Male is spending some quiet time in Central Park now that his two babies have learned to hunt and are on their way out of the park (one baby, Speedo, has been active recently, we are happy to report).

Pale Male near Turtle Pond, August 11, 2016

I watched Pale Male for several hours on August 9, 10, 11 and 15, and put together a video showing his zen side. On August 10, I watched him near the 79th Street entrance to the park for two and a half hours. He say on a low branch, very quietly, until finally catching a small rat, eating it, and flying to the south side of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Quiet Time With Pale Male shows Pale Male in the Ramble getting bombarded by jays and quietly calling out, perched on a low branch, hanging out near Turtle Pond before and during a rain storm, and perched high over the bridle path south of the Reservoir.

August 10, 2016, at the entrance to Central Park at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue. I watched Pale Male for two and a half hours as he sat on a low branch. Some of my favorite photos here.

These photos show Pale Male on August 11, 2016, near Turtle Pond.

Pale Male was near the feeders in the Ramble on August 9, getting squawked at by blue jays.

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).