I threw in a load of laundry and headed out to the East End to see what I could find this morning. I snapped this Rock Pigeon just to check my exposure settings and didn’t notice until I got home the American Kestral perched nearby. Nice for sizing this bird: they really are tiny falcons, AKA Sparrow Hawk.
Belted Kingfisher
Perched on a wire out on Boddeker Road. This is about as close as I ever get. They spook so easily.
Eastern Phoebe at the Corp Woods. I saw one in the back yard last week.
Meadowlark of the Eastern or Western variety, can’t tell. It would not sing for me.
Black-crowned Night Heron (immature) They always have the creepy Dr. Evil vibe going somehow. It is not a Yellow-crown because: short and squat stature, short legs and neck, brown back with distinct white arrowhead marks, lower bill is mostly yellow (Yellow-crowns have mostly black bills, though they can have some yellow toward the base.)
Chirp 
What sort of ‘display’ is the meadowlark doing? His feather are significantly ‘fluffed up’.
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I dunno. Birds puff out their feathers from time to time don’t they? It seems a part of the standard preening routine to me. In cold weather they trap air pockets in between for insulation but that’s not what the meadowlark was doing. The next frame on my card he was all slendered up again.
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Yes, they do fluff their feathers for insulation reasons. I guess this just looked more extreme to me. Dramatic anyhow.
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To me, when they do that it looks like it feels good!
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