August 2010
-
Bad to the bone
One of the great joys of the library, and to a certain extent the bookstore as well — although tempered there by the odium of commerce — is browsing. Yes, the same word is used for the internet, but it is not the same. Differences: the serendipity and physicality, for two, and the winnowing done…
-
Bestiary
Found recently at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge: Fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea. A potential defoliator, known to munch on 400 species of woody plants. It’s also host to over 50 species of parasitic wasps and flies. Leopard slug, Limax maximus. Invasive, imported from Europe. Approximately 4” long. The main body of this web was over a…
-
Minor Produce
From the Back 40: a vest-pocket garden makes produce that fits into a chest pocket.
-
Clam clamor
Much of my project here is about looking at things in the natural world. Looking, and discovering, and sharing. This is just a fragment of clam shell that I picked up at JBWR last weekend, but I was delighted by the detail. Click on the image to open it up: you can see the animal’s…
-
Blue-themed
The beach plums are ripe out at Jamaica Bay. My mother used to make beach plum jam, but I’m afraid I wasn’t sophisticated enough to appreciate the stuff. I was crazy for the strawberry jam she made, though. Which of course ruined me for life, since now I know what real jam tastes like, and…
-
Park Lobster
Crayfish, actually, and only related to the lobsters — but a little B-52s reference does get the Sunday morning heart a-pumping. With the camera flash, this fearless crawdaddy sure does look like a cooked lobster. When it saw me, it reared up, all three inches of it, to let me know that it was a…
-
Cicadas. Part III.
Found on the Cobble Hill sidewalk: the forewing of a dog day cicada. (Earlier posts about cicadas are here and here.) The size (1.5″ across) and green color identify it. You will, I believe, be pleased if you click on the image to open it up to see it larger. Cicadas, like most bugs, have…
-
On the F train last night: Kid: “Mommy, the sun is red!” Mom: “Yes, honey, it’s setting.” Kid “Is it tired?” Roasted and toasted, more likely. Tonight, in the sky, look for the Perseid meteor shower. And listen for the katydids. In case you missed this, my first posting on HuffPo is about the history…
-
Community garden chick
On Saturday, we walked down to Red Hook, passing several community gardens on Columbia St. In one, we heard an incessant call in a tree. At first, we thought it was the female cardinal we were looking at, but she was just responding to this vocal youngster, clasping a branch right beneath the nest. This…
-
In Green-Wood
Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery is a remarkable place year ’round, but this is the richest season for its natural history. The blush of a crab apple. An Alien-like cicada exuvia. Green frog in the Valley Water. Feral honey bee hive. Cautious frog. I’m not sure of the species. The Valley Water has green frogs (big), bull…
Backyard and Beyond 