Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.
As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”
Well, it seems it’s finally winter, at least for a day or two. That means cold, just like when I was a boy.
Over the weekend we saw a turtle head peeking out of the Lake in Prospect Park. That’s no sign of winter! Two weeks ago, I was battling mosquitos in the tropics of Massachusetts. 
This species has a particularly nice wing pattern.
More ancient enemies here, here, and here.
Nice wing pattern, my eye! You are a charitable enemy. I’m a flat-out skeeter hater. Have you read about the mosquitoes that have been bedeviling a particular block of the upper west side? Living in sewer and coming out to ravage and pillage – well, and BITE. Check out West Side Rag http://www.westsiderag.com/2011/11/30/city-begins-flushing-mosquito-infested-sewers-but-wont-take-311-calls
Must be that sweet UWS blood. But more seriously, I think an investment in mosquito netting would be appropriate. It’s clear that radical climate change’s warmer winters already mean more mosquitoes for NYC, as well as more instances of southern mosquito species spreading further north. (Another factor, as in the Asian Tiger, is how the ease of global travel/trade spreads species.) Question is, will they bring their tropical diseases with them? And how will both the insects and the diseases (and, at a slower rate, humans) evolve as they do so?
Backyard and Beyond 
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