July 2011
-
Twitching: Grey-headed Gull
A Grey-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus), native to the South America and Africa, has been spotted on Coney Island. Where else? It’s been there several days now, often hanging out in front of the WonderWheel and living on the castoff of beach-goers. This may be only the second confirmed sighting in the U.S. As a result,…
-
Gone Mammothin’
“Shall the great mammoth of the American forest leave his native element and plunge into water in a mad contest with the shark?” John Randolph (1773-1833) – a colorful, not to say histrionic, Congressman who brought his slaves and hunting dogs onto the floor of Congress, ate buckets of opium, and probably had a crush…
-
Earth Space
I know there’s plenty of gnashing of teeth over the end of the space shuttle program, a sort of a low-earth-orbit FedEx, but I invite the star-crossed to look around them down here with more attention. There’s so much yet to be discovered here on Earth. For instance, I was going through some photos, and…
-
Jamaica Bay Update
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.Through the blind at Big John’s Pond: Black-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax, a juvenile), Glosy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), and Green Heron (Butorides virescens). Three Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) were in there as well, but not visible here.…
-
Feathers
I love this cover to Thor Hanson’s book Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle. It was designed by Nicole Caputo. Some things you’ll learn in this book: feathers pre-date birds; some dinosaurs had colored feathers; feathers are amazing at insulation and waterproofing; a peregrine has been recorded diving at 242 mph and making turns…
-
Real-Time Urban Evolution
Not so long ago, we were picnicking in Father Demo Square in the West Village of the Inner Borough. The square is really a triangle bordered by 6th Ave, Bleecker, and Carmine. It underwent a major redesign a few years ago. We’d picked up a few noshes at Murray’s Cheese Shop and parked ourselves on…
-
Last of the Curlews?
The last, the very last, Passenger Pigeon died in captivity (1914). So did the last Carolina Parakeet (1918). The last Heath Hen, named Booming Ben, died in the preserve set aside for the species on Martha’s Vineyard (1932).But we don’t know where or when (or even if) the last Eskimo Curlew died. The species, Numenius…
-
Return of the Prodigal?
A Black-and-Yellow Mud Dauber, Sceliphron caementarium, in the Back 40 today while I was watering parched plants. It was checking out the moist concrete, perhaps looking for a drink or some mud. I’ve noticed these wasps since the local nest started erupting last month, but they are very brief visitors. They probably don’t go far,…
-
Chilling Flashback
The Back 40 im Schnee, January 27, 2011. As it’s forecast to top 100F today — not including the heat index bump of broiling tarmac, radiating concrete, greenhouse glass, and over-stressed generators fighting it all and thus burning even more coal to help heat things up even more — this one’s for you, Midwest/East, and…
-
Sparrow ID
Unaccountably without my bins, I snapped this with my camera’s zoom feature. That’s feature, not actually a zoom lens, unfortunately. Sure, it’s starting to look like it came out of Blow-Up, 1966, highlighting the unreliability of all representation. But, you will pay particular attention to the shortness of the tail. And could you convince yourself…
Backyard and Beyond 