Feathered Rattlers

I often hear the belted kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon) before I see them. I hear the rattle, then spot the bird zipping over the water, often smacking down to catch a fish or crayfish. These colorful, big-headed birds hang out along rivers and shorelines — including the water areas of Central Park, Mount Loretto Unique Area and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, where I filmed them for the Filming the Feathers video. The females are the colorful ones in this bird species, having a blue "belt" and a rusty colored "belt" (the male has a blue belt).

Belted kingfisher, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, September 30, 2017

The video is accompanied by harpsichord music, and features kingfishers filmed at Central Park, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and Mount Loretto Unique Area.

Usually the belted kingfishers are pretty far away, so my photos are generally not that crisp and clear. I did have a nice opportunity on September 30 to see a kingfisher up close at Jamaica Bay, though, so you get more of these photos. The first three photos were taken in Central Park, the fourth at Mount Loretto and the last, close-up shots at Jamaica Bay.

Lady Hawks

In the Middle Ages, falconers called merlins (Falco columbarius) "lady hawks," and noblewomen used them to hunt sky larks. These small, fierce falcons became endangered because of DDT, but have made a comeback and now can be spotted on shorelines hunting small birds and dragonflies.

Merlin, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Sept. 27, 2017

The merlins filmed in the Filming the Feathers video were seen in Central Park on March 9, 2015; at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens on Aug. 16, Sept.23, Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, 2017; and over the beach at Wolfe's Pond in Staten Island on Sept. 29, 2017. Two of the merlins filmed were banded.

Banded merlin, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Aug. 16, 2017

Banded merlin, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Oct. 3, 2017

Fiddler Crab Beachcombers

Fiddler crabs, beetle-sized crustaceans of the genus Uca, scurry sideways along some of the beaches and intertidal mudflats of New York City. I've seen them in beach parks in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. They climb in and out of small holes after the tide goes out, the males dragging their extra-large claws along with them (the females have equal-sized claws, the males have one large claw and a smaller claw). These crabs eat by using their smaller claws to shovel food in their mouths, capturing algae, microbes, fungus and other decaying detritus and returning what's left in small balls on the ground. Their beachcombing habits are thought to help preserve the wetlands by aerating the substrate.

Male fiddler crab, Hunter Island, Pelham Bay Park, near Orchard Beach, Sept. 20, 2017

The Fiddler Crab video is set to a violin sonata by Jan Brandts Buys, performed by Steve's Bedroom Band and obtained from MusOpen.org, a royalty-free music source. It shows these small crabs at Marine Park in Brooklyn, Broad Channel Park on Jamaica Bay in Queens, and Pelham Bay Park (Hunter Island, near Orchard Beach) in the Bronx on July 25, 2015, and August 22 and 31, and September 20 and 23, 2017.

More fiddler crab shots below. These are fascinating, though slightly creepy, animals. They do molt, shedding their shells as they grow. If a male loses the big claw, a new claw will grow on the opposite side after the next molt. You often see these reclusive crabs go hurrying into their holes, where they will stay after molting until the new shells harden.