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High Gloss
Poison Ivy/Toxicodendron radicans Virginia Creeper/Parthenocissus quinquefolia Black Tupelo/Nyssa sylvatica Waxy coatings on recently emerged leaves. (The red coloration is defensive against strong sunlight on the baby leaves.)
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On the Hair Bun of Justice
A Peregrine on the statue of Justice atop Brooklyn Borough Hall. Ten years ago, I saw a similar perch and have been glancing up there ever since on my infrequent visits to the area. A friend who is also a serious Peregrine tracker captured a similar photo a few weeks ago. This may be the…
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Bees
We had a couple days of temperatures in the 80s, exciting all the critters, but then things plummeted into overnight 30s. Here’s a small bee clutching a baby oak leaf on a cool morning. Here’s another sucking up some rays on a leaf. But getting back to the hot days: These are all solitary-nesting bees,…
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Raptor Wednesday
A pair of Peregrines flying together over Green-Wood recently. Another day, over the same patch, there was fierce little boomerang chase that I first thought was two American Kestrels. But it was the Merlin above and this male Kestrel: After he’d defended his territory. And another Osprey sighting… .
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Self-portrait as 2/3rds of a Pin Oak
A cross-section of mature Pin Oak in the new Green-House at Green-Wood exhibition space. There’s a classroom in this new facility, and Molly will be presenting Wildflowers of Green-Wood there on May 9th. On June 6th, I’ll be giving my Beyond the Sting presentation there.
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Firsts of the Season This Week
American Lady/Vanessa virginiensis Green Heron/Butorides virescens Small Milkweed Bug/Lygaeus kalmii in a patch where the milkweed has just emerged. Sand Cherry/Prunus pumila, newly planted. Very active with bees, etc. Asian Lady Beetle/Harmonia axyridis, the first of many. Spongy Moth/Lymantria dispar Orchard Orbweaver/Leucauge venusta
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Kestrels Continue
A distant view of Nest 2 pair. I hustle over, but before I’m closer one of them flies. I immediately look towards the nest the next block over as the likely place they’re flying to: Yup. It’s the male. Starting a shift on the egg(s). Here’s momma. She’ll get some sun, bathe/groom, eat, maybe chase…
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Kestrel Food
American Kestrels eat small birds, small mammals, small reptiles, large insects like dragonflies and June beetles (adults and larvae), worms… and, frankly, whatever prey they can capture. Locally in Green-Wood Cemetery, they love the introduced Northern Italian Wall Lizards. First of three kills over three consecutive days by what I think is the same female…
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Backyard and Beyond 