northeast-flora-and-fauna

Although getting pictures of them isn't easy I'm a little surprised I haven't talked about Northern Harriers before now in this blog. They are the most owl-like hawk species in our area, with a flattish owl face. This is due to how important hearing is for this hawk; similar to owls, sounds hitting their faces gets funneled to their ears, making it more likely they're going to hear small prey to pounce on.  Their most common hunting technique is to fly just a few feet above the vegetation of a meadow, veering left and right, up and down, until they hear a mouse/vole/shrew scamper through the grasses, at which point they dive on that spot. At this point they might disappear below the grassline; it's not always easy to tell whether their hunt was successful.  They are associated with Short-eared Owls , with both species spending the winters here, breeding further north, and hunting similar prey using similar techniques, frequently in the same area. And both species a...

Late last summer this seemed to be a favorite perching spot for this Double-crested Cormorant ; I'm pretty sure I saw it there on a few different days at Duke Farms' Vista Lake. A lot of times you'll see them on perches like this with their wings held open. This is because their feathers aren't all that waterproof - they don't produce waterproofing oils like ducks/geese - they need to dry their wings off after a good swim. And they are skilled swimmers, probably being the deepest diving birds in my area. This is aided by their large webbed feet that you can see in the picture. It sounds like Double-crested Cormorants are one species seeing a population upswing, though this is partly because of something we've stopped using. It's believed that these birds were some of the ones being hurt by our use of DDT . (I know Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons were similarly affected.) August 31, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 229849056, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (C...