May 2013
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New Views, New Lives, New Camera
Nice contrast between the altricial young of the American Robin, with their eyes closed, featherless, and quite helpless, and the precocial Mallard ducklings, who are ready to rock (and swim, forage) almost instantly. Note how much bigger-looking the background bird is in the Robin nest: could this be a Cowbird or just an earlier hatch?…
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Swarm
At first they rise like little puffs of smoke from their ground nest. Then more and more of them emerge, small and unwieldy fliers, swarming into the humid air. They are termite reproductives, and a swarm of them brings birds to gobble them from the air. Stand there and watch as barn and tree swallows…
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Marsh Wren
A early evening walk in Brooklyn Bridge Park interrupted by a small, incessantly burbling bird at the northernmost of the Freshwater Garden ponds on Pier One. I spent quite a while listening and trying to get a picture of this elusive Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris), a bird fairly common in marshy areas, but not so…
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Manitoga
Making up the team “More is More,” my friend Sarah and I won second place in the Open House NY Modern Architecture and Design Scavenger Hunt earlier this spring. We claimed our prize last weekend: a guided tour of Manitoga, the Russell Wright Design Center, near Garrison, NY. I have to admit I’d never heard…
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Kerjillions
The tadpoles of a toad, I assume American Toad (Bufo americanus) rather than Fowler’s (Bufo fowleri), about a centimeter long. In the shallows of Doodletown’s Reservoir. The adult toads live inland but come to fresh water to reproduce.There were innumerable numbers of them. They follow the human sperm plan; produce a lot, a few will…
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After the Storm
They were still cleaning the shit of IdiotMooga out of the Nethermead late this afternoon.A strange legacy of this monstrous farce, now a bust two years in a row. These serving pans were sunk besides the Binnen Bridge, still full of what looked to be sausages on skewers, or “curated cured and bespoke meat” as…
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On Congress
Street, this morning.Along with the roses on the corner of Henry, pictures of which I showered my Twitter followers with, ‘cuz they probably needed a sweet start to the week.
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Ranger Robin Says: Busted!
The Googa Moola occupation of the park was cancelled today because of rain. Good riddance. This is the 2nd year this monstrous invasion of the Nethermead has been a bust. Three times is is not a charm: we’re going to fight any Googa Mooga III plans as hard as we can to take back the…
Backyard and Beyond 