October 2010
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My Thoreau
Reading Henry David Thoreau’s Journal is one of my regular practices. The NYRB condensation of the massive work is my go-to edition: I’ve written about it previously. I find something of value on every page. And, as a whole, this blog, in case you haven’t noticed, has pretensions towards emulating Thoreau’s observations of the world,…
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What a pair
A friend sent me this picture of birds this morning and it took a couple of minutes for me to figure out what they were. I’ve never seen them in the feather. They’re Europan Blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus (formerly Parus caeruleus). The photo was taken in Sweden, where even the birds have a strong social…
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Leaf-footed bug
When last we met an Acanthrocephala terminalis, in Massachusetts, I wasn’t on such firm ground about why its common name was “leaf-footed bug.” At Storm King in Mountainville, NY, we found another, which more clearly illustrates the source of the name. Evidently, the males display more of the leaf-like shape on the hind legs than…
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Itchy and Scratchy
Why, you lousy nitpicking… a WNYC piece on Halloween as the prime season for headlice — all those wigs — had me thinking in the shower this morning. Lice are one of those animals that tend to cause hysteria, but a case of headlice in this day and age really seems more of a bother…
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Prospect Park Colors
The other day, I went looking for the Vesper sparrows that had been reported in the park. Fenced-in sections in the southern end of the Long Meadow, the area converted into the Ball Fields by Robert Moses, are providing excellent habitat for sparrows these days. The grasses are going to seed and there are still…
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Prothonotary
A protonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea) has been hanging out with the lions in front of the New York Public Library’s main building at 42nd Street for the last couple of days. Paparazzi and police lines… no, just kidding, but those photographers sure are sorta-kinda like hunters, aren’t they, trying to “bag” their bird? When I…
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Dear Backyard and Beyond
A curious reader writes in with images of a mystery caterpillar she photographed in Central Park in mid-July. Consulting David L. Wagner’s Caterpillars of Eastern North America, a gorgeously illustrated Princeton Field Guide, and bugguide.net, I believe what we have here is a polyphemus moth, Antheraea polyphemus. This is one of the giant silkworm subfamily…
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Storm King
The colors of fall at Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, NY. (Thanks to Nate for the use of his camera.) A beautiful fall day.
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Columbus Day Weekend
The primary color amid the pine trees of Cape Cod was the flaming autumn red of Virginia creeper, surrounding the tree trunks like red tights. On Nantucket, we found a leaf-green bobble-headed praying mantis on the wood-pile as we hung up some clothes to dry. She slowly moved her head to and fro, as her…
Backyard and Beyond 