June 2011
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Welcome wasps!
I first noticed this mud-dauber wasp nest in my backyard in January. It’s the work of a female black and yellow mud dauber, Sceliphron caementarium. The mud-pellet nest is right outside my back door, on one of the mini I-beams that support the balcony. The nest had probably been built late last summer, or even…
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Harriman State Park
(Or, Catskills Day 2, Part II) On the way back we stopped off at Silvermine Lake in Harriman State Park. The mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, was in bloom. Barn swallows were swooshing all around, and nesting on one of the park structures.We walked along a trail on the south side of the lake. A snake…
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Back 40 Spiders
Very late spring cleaning in the Back 40 reveals some spiders, as usual. This one had two silky egg cases nearby:
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The Catskills ~ Day 2
We started the morning in the thickest fog any of us had ever seen. It lifted as we descended down towards Hunter, NY.We couldn’t resist stopping in this former drive-in on Route 296 south of Windham, now claimed by a meadow. The gate proudly claims “we will be back,” but that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, this…
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The Catskills ~ Luna Moths
Checking out of our fog-bound Catskills hotel, we were greeted with a luna moth on the veranda. One of the giant silk moths, Actias luna is large, startling, and spectacular. (See the comments for the status of these show-stoppers here in the city.) Wingspan ranges from 3-4″ in length. Each of the four wings has…
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The Catskills ~ Day I
Four of us journeyed up to the Catskills this past weekend, daring the iffy, drippy weather. (Considering it was close to 100 degrees in NYC last week, we enjoyed a 50-degree drop going up there.) On the way up, we stopped at the RamsHorn-Livingstone Sanctuary in the town of Catskill. At this Scienic Hudson/NYAudubon administered…
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Stomach-foot
Snails are members of the class Gastropoda, a term derived from Greek words for stomach and foot, based on the mistaken belief that their foot is also their stomach. In fact their guts are usually located in that part of the snail that stays inside its shell. Here’s what it looks like from the earth’s…
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American Chestnut Check
With the trees in Prospect Park fully and lushly leafed, providing blessed shade, I thought I would check in on the American chestnuts there. When last we looked, the little leaves had only just emerged. This is what they look like now, 7-8″ long. The chestnut’s species name is dentata, which makes sense when you…
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Frog and toad
Out of town recently, I ran into a couple of amphibians I don’t see often. This is the northern leopard frog, Rana pipiens, seen amidst its bullish and greeny brethren along the side of a road in Haverhill, MA. UPDATE 6/14: see the comments for discussion of this frog, which is probably a green frog…
Backyard and Beyond 