Marine Park Fiddler

Sand Fiddler Crab (Uca pugilator) at Marine Park. Many little ones are eaten by Yellow-crowned Night Herons.

Handedness in crabs (from Copilot):

“In most fiddler crab species, males have one greatly enlarged claw (the major claw) and one smaller claw (the minor claw), and the side on which the major claw grows is called the crab’s “handedness.”

The myth that losing a major claw causes the crab to “switch” to the other side is false — the crab regenerates a new major claw on the same side, and the small claw stays small

In many species, males are evenly split between right- and left-handed (about 50:50) www.fiddlercrab.info.

The exception is the genus Gelasimus, where males are almost entirely right-handed (often >95%) www.fiddlercrab.info.”

Marine Park Heron

I enjoyed watching this Yellow-crowned Night Heron tossing small crabs into its beak like popcorn.

Marine Park Osprey

Osprey breed here every year. We saw one young one in this nest.

Marine Park Mix

Walking along the path by the inlet in Marine Park in June in Brooklyn NY.

Marine Park Birds

in June we went to Marine Park : NYC Parks in Brooklyn, New York. The marsh there is always rewarding.

Marine Park Osprey

I’m not sure what sort of fish the Osprey is eating. It looks like it might be a Menhaden.

Menhaden, also known as mossbunker and bunker and “the most important fish in the sea”, are forage fish of the genera Brevoortia and Ethmidium, two genera of marine fish in the family Clupeidae. Menhaden is a blend of poghaden (pogy for short) and an Algonquian word akin to Narragansett munnawhatteaûg, derived from munnohquohteau (“he fertilizes”), referring to their use of the fish as fertilizer. It is thought that Pilgrims were advised by Tisquantum (also known as Squanto) to plant menhaden with their crops. (Menhaden – Wikipedia)

The Osprey was busy eating and chasing off rivals. I’m guessing that the one sitting on the nest is the female.

Shared with bird of the week at https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2023/04/04/intermediate-egret-bird-of-the-week/

Marine Park Mix

I photographed these by the Salt Marsh Nature Center in Marine Park, Brooklyn.

Marine Park

Marine Park in Brooklyn was the third place we stopped at during the LSNY field trip. We found our target bird, a Red-headed Woodpecker. The Hooded Mergansers were at the Salt Marsh nature Center at Marine Park.