Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Ruins

IMG_6177In the Henry Street Basin next to the old Port of New York Authority Grain Terminal* colossus, there were a pair or Mallards, a Gadwall, and a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers. And then there was this: IMG_1147Some kind of carp. Usually, the members of the Cyprinidae are freshwater fish. Here, next to the Gowanus Bay and a tank farm, where invisible guards order you off what seem to be public streets via a PA system, “fresh” water of any sort is pretty much a non-starter.IMG_1155

* This great ruin of a building was a bust from its beginnings when it was built to save NYC as a major grain port. It was sold off by the PANYNJ to a character who has done nothing with it for nearly two decades. That seems par for the course. I know two of his other (residential) properties: one’s remained a hollow shell for ten years. Meanwhile, the house he lives in looks abandoned, except for the security cameras, and often has squirrels living on the upper floors.

2 responses to “Ruins”

  1. What a fun/creepy spot for birding!

    1. All of Brooklyn’s watery edges present surprises.

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