May 2014
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Golden Orange
The afternoon sun was going right through this Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) and transforming into something rich and strange.
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Great-Tailed Grackles
The Great-tailed Grackle, a.k.a. the Mexican Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus). Big, bold, noisy, communal roosters. The first time I met them was in San Antonio some years ago. They spent the night in the trees along the River Walk. I was pooped upon. That’ll learn me. This time I enjoyed them from an angle. In 1900,…
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Tern Profile
And now the terns are back in town. This is a Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) on the piers of Brooklyn Bridge Park recently. Forster’s and Least are other locally regular terns during migration and summer, although you usually need to go to the city’s further edges to see them.
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Baby Pigeons
I have been asked more than once if I have ever seen a baby pigeon. If I’m feeling snarky, I say “no, they reproduce via parthenogenesis.”Here’s a pigeon chick, to the right of the parent; it’s so young it can’t even hold itself upright yet. Here it’s being fed by one of the parents, both…
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Orioles Above
Brightening up the greenery and the airwaves in a greensward near you, Baltimore Orioles (Icterus galbula) are in town and nesting. Watch for them pulling at grasses and various fibers, like rope, for their woven nests.
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Two Sparrows
A Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) in the grass, where you will usually find them before they flush in little darting flocks into the nearby trees.A White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), whose song enlivens the winter woods, is more likely found under cover, and rooting through the leaves. They breed to the north, mostly in Canada; there…
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Frog, Turtle, ‘Gator
Big Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus).Bigger, much bigger: Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina). Possible looking for a place to exit the water and lay eggs (you need another reason to enforce the leash law in our parks?). Judging by the shell, I’d say I’ve seen this giant before. Also, even enormous Snappers start small; here’s a baby I…
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Audacity
While in the Native Flora Garden the other day, I was surprised to find this, part of a series of stylish new informational panels:Actually, the BBG terminated its science staff last August, the final act of a long-term whittling away of the whole unprofitable notion of research at the institution that began with the new…
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NYC Wildflowers Continued
Heart-leaved Groundsel (Packera aurea).Squawroot (Conopholis americana), needs a new common name.Pinxterbloom azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides).Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium van-bruntiae).Toadshade (Trillium sessile). Large-flowered Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), also known as White Trillium and White Wake-Robin. “Wake-robin” is a name for trilliums in general, (as well as Jack-in-the-Pulpits); it was also the title of John Burroughs’s first book. The name…
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Barn Swallows Wallowing
It’s rare to get a good solid look at a Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), considering they zip through the air at great speed most of the time in pursuit of flying insects, but a pair were gathering mud recently for their nest.Barn Swallows build mud pellet cups; I watched one in process last year in…
Backyard and Beyond 