October 2013
-
Road Killers
Surely the most frightening thing on the roads tonight will be the automobiles, especially the single occupancy vehicles which clog the life-blood of the city like a diseased vampire. The number of traffic deaths in NYC up to the end of 9/13 was 203, while the number of homicides was 242 (the NYPD rarely considers…
-
Dioramas
Or costume ideas. These live at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, in Philadelphia.
-
-
Field Trip: Hawk Mountain
Hawk Mountain, near Kempton, PA, used to be the the site of the slaughter of hundreds to thousands of raptors per day during the autumn months. The raptors were attempting to migrate south along the Kittatinny Ridge, a long spine of the Appalachians, and geography funneled them past the mountain, where gunners could sit and…
-
Shadow Darner
As November nears, the dragonflies are starting to be very scant above the ground. On Saturday, I saw a single Common Green Darner in Green-Wood. Yesterday, I saw this Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa) at Little Stony Point up in Cold Spring. A new species for me, IDed with help from the Northeast Odonata FB crew.…
-
Acorn
This time of year, I enjoy the satisfying “PA-TUNK” of acorns hitting the metal drums of car roofs. This bronze finial, noted on the Block of Perpetual Renovation, would probably dent the roof…. Its twin on the other side of the stoop is missing.
-
Green-Wood Harvest
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa).Three different hickories, genus Carya. Bitternut, Mockernut, Shagbark? Bulllfrog tadpoles (Rana catesbeiana) were still to be seen swimming. A single Common Green Darner was flying. There was also a bee of some kind passing by. Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum).A field of Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra): these were thudderdudduding down in the wind;…
-
-
Backyard and Beyond 