Another New Cam at Cornell!

The newest bird cam at Cornell is focused on a newborn Albatross in Hawaii.

Click here to view http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/41/Laysan_Albatross/

The parents are Kaluahine and Kululakane and the baby is Koloakalua. The nest is on the island of Kauai.

NOW'S THE TIME!

As some of you know, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology up in Ithaca, New York has been featuring two bird cams on their website--one is in Ontario, Canada and the other is in Ithaca, NY. The cameras are focused on bird feeders in their area. I was just checking on them when I noticed another cam up and running. This cam is also in Ithaca and is focused on two red-tailed hawks that have just started building their nest on a pole on the Cornell University campus. Keep watching and you may see the female, Big Red, lay her eggs. She usually begins egg laying in early March.

Big Red

If you want to learn more about this pair of hawks (they mate for life!), Cornell has more than 60 questions and answers about the couple. Just click here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2607.

See watch the nest cam, click on: http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/16/Red-tailed_Hawks/.

ANOTHER WINTER VISITOR TO MS. SEITZ'S YARD!

This little birdie, and several of its kind, visited my yard recently, desperately looking for food, so I provided some tasty birdseed.

CAN YOU GUESS WHAT BIRD THIS IS?

Another Winter Visitor to Ms. Seitz's Yard

SNOW DAY 2014!

Sledding at Prospect Park

Dress properly and you WON'T FEEL THE COLD!

Hope you got outside!

Red-Tailed Hawks Visit Ms. Seitz's Backyard

Photo by Ms. Seitz

The day after Christmas I opened the shades that look onto my backyard and saw two red-tailed hawks perched in a tree. I went outside in the cold (no shoes, no coat) to get a closer look and noticed that one of the hawks had what looked like a Blue Jay clenched in its talons. Of course, I ran inside and got my camera (but no shoes or coat!). The hawk without the prey kept calling and calling and then flew to a tree in a yard a couple of doors away, but the predator with his prey stayed put and I just took photo after photo. The hawk didn't seem to mind and occasionally even looked down at me. (Eventually, I went in and got some sneakers and a jacket because it was cooooold out there.) The hawk stuck around in the same place for about two hours, and since I eventually had to go inside and get on with my life, I never saw it leave the yard.

Photo by Ms. Seitz

Photo by Ms. Seitz

This was a great way to start the day! (By the way, on Christmas morning I saw a little Carolina wren in my yard. I love the way their short, stubby tails stick up like an exclamation point!

Photo NOT BY Ms. Seitz

Sixty-eight degrees in Brooklyn!

Just returned from Prospect Park with two young birders, Sanjida and Tasfiya.

We visited the bird feeders on this balmy day and saw a Downy Woodpecker, White-Throated Sparrows, a male Cardinal, Mourning Doves, House Finches, and Red-Tailed Hawks (three times!). Quite exciting.

Then we went over to the Prospect Park Lake and saw some American Coots with the funny green chicken feet, a raft of Northern Shovelers, plenty of Canada geese, Mallards and Mute Swans.

It's so nice to bird watch with kids who are really interested in what they see and who, when they go home, follow up on their sightings by doing further research and logging in their nature journals.Way to go girls!