May 2010
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Field Notes: Tuliptrees bloom
The tuliptrees are blooming. Liriodendron tulipifera, also known as the yellow-popular, is one of the tallest tree in North America, and definitely in our area. These two blooms are from Elizabeth’s Tuliptree in Nelly’s Lawn in Prospect Park. I think this is the only named tree in the park. It’s been much battered, losing major…
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Field Notes: Snapping Turtle
I was looking at the new lily pads in the Lullwater in Prospect Park when: Ol’ Snap appeared. Not the kind of turtle to run when you approach. Chelydra serpentina has a fearsome reputation, but that’s probably just bad PR. (Duckling-centric PR, since they are in legend supposed to decimate baby ducks.) Still, you don’t…
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Field Notes: ‘Possum
The Virginia Opossum, Didelphis virginiana, in Prospect Park. Doesn’t look a thing like Pogo. I know they have been seen in the Park, surrounding neighborhoods, and even further afield in the borough, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen one with my own two eyes. I was surprised by the size: up there…
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Specifically Abstract
Detail of a red-winged black bird’s shoulder patch.
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Abstract Specificity
The side of a female mallard by the Upper Pool in Prospect Park. The patch of blue with white edge is called a speculum (that’s Latin for “mirror,” ladies). A number of our ducks have these, but I think this blue/white combo is unique to the mallards (of course, ducks are great hybridizers, so hybrids…
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Field Notes: B&W Warbler
Warbler-mania continues. This is a black and white warbler, Mniotilta varia, one of the most common and easiest to see (and hence photograph). By ear, it’s the omnipresent “weesa weesa weesa weesa weetee weetee wettee” (Sibley’s transliteration) of the woods today. The lack of a black cheek tells me this a female. She has a…
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Life Goatsucker!
My first ever goatsucker, so called because of the wackily mistaken belief that the nighthawks and nightjars suckled goats. Actually, they are efficient nocturnal insect eaters. This handsome scamp was in the Midwood in Prospect Park, midway between Rick’s Place & the Boulder Bridge. I believe it is one of the nightjars, a whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus…
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Field Notes: Chipmunk
The eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus. They are now fully emerged from their winter torpor and found all over Prospect Park (another good reason to obey the city’s leash laws). I’ve always been partial to them and I love the “racing stripes” along their sides. This one was not meeting me eye-to-eye in the Vale of…
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Field Trip: Staten Island
Staten Island was the last of the city’s five borough’s to develop. Most of that development came after the Verrazano Bridge opened in 1964, so it was late “post-war” but it was definitely suburban (some of it god-awful). It remains the least populated part of the city; hence, it is the greenest of the boroughs.…
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Warblering
Shhh, I’m out “hunting” warblers… Before I started birding, I wasn’t aware of the wood-warblers. Like many things, like natural history things in particularly, if you aren’t looking for them, you probably won’t see them. Fast-moving, small, and seasonal, they usually don’t show up in backyards. They are high in leafy trees (some species), and…
Backyard and Beyond 