August 2015
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Morning’s Heronry
Just before Bush Terminal Park opened yesterday morning, we had a trifecta of herons. There were three Black-crowned Night Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) the adult above, and two juveniles.One of the youngsters stuck around as parent and sibling (?) flew off “kwoking” to this Cottonwood:This tree also hosted a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) — barely…
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Ant Farm
Ants herding a flock of aphids. The ants protect the aphids from other predators and harvest the aphids’ sweet honeydew for themselves. The aphids go about their business sucking plant juices. Just another day in Brooklyn.
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Monarchweed
This Monarch was doing pretty well, considering the chunk taken out of its wings. (Backyard and Beyond is not on summer vacation: B & B has lately moved from the Back 40 after ten years residence and is the process of unpacking in Sunset Park, in the midst of a home-made renovation and this enervating…
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White’s Selborne
Have you read Richard Mabey’s rousing defense of nature writing? You should. I’ll wait here until you return. Mabey quite rightly marks the beginnings of nature writing in English with Gilbert White (1720-1793), the British country parson whose Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne I’ve finally come around to reading. Mostly: I picked up a…
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Bombus
This large, handsome bumble bee was thoroughly probing the Hostas in Green-Wood. Now, I find bumblebee identification difficult. There are four or five species that have yellow abdomen, and none of them are commonly seen here. I narrowed it down to Bombus pensylvanicus or B. borealis (but we are a bit south of its range)…
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Webworm Parent
The Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva aurea) is distinctive. For one thing, it was working in daylight and most moths are nocturnal. Also, with its small wings tightly rolled, it doesn’t look like your typical moth; it’s one of the ermine moths. Its nominal host plant, Ailanthus (The Tree that Grows on Roofs), is originally from…
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Frog, Rock, Turtle
This downward-facing turtle was king of the hill.This frog wanted a piece of the action.And this was one determined frog.It made several attempts to…well, what, exactly? Dislodge the turtle? In theory, the right amount of force applied to the fulcrum here should have knocked off the much larger turtle. But the turtle’s steadying feet made…
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A Better Way To Plant
This patch of native meadow in Green-Wood Cemetery was a revelation on a recent afternoon when it was absolutely pulsing with life as numerous species of butterflies, dragonflies, bees, wasps, and beetles gathered pollen and nectar and munched on plants and each other. I gather it’s an experiment. I hope it thrives, and that those…
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Spotted Cucumber Beetle
Diabrotica undecimpunctata on Liatris.
Backyard and Beyond 