September 2012
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Early Fall
Yesterday morning around 10, it was under 60F and cloudy. The bumblebees were not quite warmed up. Some didn’t move at all, others were quite sluggish. Burly little things, with lots of muscle, which is one of the reasons they are one of the first flying bugs in the spring. They can warm themselves up…
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Confused Tulips
More likely a confused blogger. I am informed by a sharp-eyed reader that these are autumn crocuses, Colchicum speciosum, not tulips (their stalks were distinctly pallid, making me think they were ailing tulips). At the very southern end of the Promenade right now. With two species of ants exploring their tender hearts.
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Mantids Take Brooklyn Bridge Park
I’ll be giving a tour for Brooklyn Bridge Park volunteers tomorrow. What will we see? Here are some of the things I’ve run into in the Park in the two years it has been open. And here’s the latest sighting:Chinese mantid, Tenodera aridifolia. Introduced to the U.S. in the late 19th century to go after…
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To see the world in a grain of
I find these in my apartment every once and a while.I assumed they come in via my shoes. But before that? And then I noticed some in the bottom of my backpack. Hmmm. For some reason this made me think of those silica gel desiccant packets. I’ve never knowingly opened one of these packets before.…
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Re-blooming
A resurgent Magnolia bloom, as sweet smelling and disconcerting as early spring. Yesterday afternoon, Atlantic Avenue entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park.
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Grasshopper
Almost two inches long, and with bold chevrons on their hind femurs, the Differential Grasshoppers (Melanoplus differentialis) are out and about now and engaged in making little grasshoppers for the future. They are fans of the Polygonum smartweeds, which grow practically anywhere, which means you might stumble across one (grasshopper, plant) in the midst of…
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Underside and inside
European paper wasp, Polistes diminula. Through a window. It was a cold morning, the first of the nascent fall, and this individual was hardly moving, waiting to warm up with the sun. This European import, introduced to the U.S. only in the late 1960s and now wide-spread, has markings similar to some of the yellow…
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This used to be a parking space
Now it’s all covered in flowers. (Tip of the hat to the Talking Heads for the misquote, and here’s D. Byrne doing it on his own for the last day of summer.)
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Blackpoll in BBP
From the air, or, as in this case, the great bridge, Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 is an island of green. We’re not the only species that sees and enjoys this. Recently a migrating Eastern Red Bat was noticed resting through the daylight. Yesterday, I saw three species of warblers in the park. They’ve dropped…
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Spiderlings
Last month, I watched a spider feed heartily and then build a silken sac for her young. Two weeks ago, the young spiderlings emerged from the sac. And just sat there for several days. Then the mother spider disappeared. And a few days after that, all the little ones. In the outdoors, some young spiders…
Backyard and Beyond 