A Great Blue Heron at Sylvan Water

There is a pond in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn called Sylvan Water. On Sept. 28, we saw a great blue heron staring into the water, looking for fish. We didn't see the heron catch anything, but the intensity of the bird's absorption with the pool was fascinating. The bird circled the pool, flying back and forth a few times.

A great blue heron in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Sept. 28, 2016

We saw a few birds at the cemetery, including a great number of flickers. But we spent a lot of time with the handsome heron. The Filming the Feathers video is set to piano pieces by Edvard Grieg.

A Turtle's Lament

Hey, You, Get Off of My Back!

This video is just for fun! Watch as the red-eared sliders jockey for position. Music is by Leo Delibes. I could almost hear the music as I filmed this!

Red-eared sliders at the Lake, Central Park, Sept. 24, 2016

A Handsome Hawk Visits Central Park

On Sept. 23 , we found a visiting young adult red-tailed hawk at the back of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was late in the evening, and the light wasn't great, but I did get some photos and a video. We were struck by how dark the head of this bird was, and how beautiful the coloring (darker than Pale Male, but the head shape was very similar). We don't think bird was related to Pale Male, but he sure was a gorgeous hawk!

A visiting young adult red-tailed hawk on the top of the Met Museum, Sept. 23, 2016

A Pintail Visitor

On Sept. 21, a female northern pintail duck visited Turtle Pond. I have rarely seen pintails. In fact, the only other times I've seen pintails in Central Park were Nov. 20 and Nov. 30, 2013, when male pintails (I think two, though both sightings may have been of the same male) visited the Pool at 103rd Street and the north end of the Reservoir.

Female northern pintail at Turtle Pond, Sept. 21, 2016

I included the male pintails I saw in 2013 in my Reservoir Ducks II video. I am now including that footage, plus video I took on Sept. 21, in a new Filming the Feathers video. The music is the third movement of a Beethoven wind octet, performed by Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet.

The Audubon Web site has a gorgeous pintail photo, and a lot of good info on these handsome birds.

The first five photos in the following gallery are of the male pintail duck taken in November 2013. The other photos are of our female visitor on Sept. 21.