Meadow

You can’t actually tell from this photo, but some two dozen Chimney Swifts swooped overhead as numerous dragonflies patrolled just above the grasses. The hunting must have been good here, across the street from the bus terminal and train yard. Nearby, under more canopy, vast numbers of non-biting midges scurried from my feet. It was pretty buggy, but…

After a week in Staatsburg, NY last month, I returned to the city marveling at the untouched oak leaves here. Up there, the oaks were absolutely ravaged, gnawed and chewed by several species of caterpillar. Those leaves were shiny with aphid honeydew, and folded into ingenious insect origami to hide larvae of various sorts. Caterpillar droppings rained down constantly. I found more of grass than ticks on the dog we were sitting. Nobody ever seems to munch on Sassafras here in Brooklyn, so I thought the plant was invulnerable. But it turns out something eats these leaves after all; I’ve never seen Sassafras leaves so ragged as up there. While out of town, I discovered several arthropod species each and every day. I’ve spent years documenting urban wildlife, but there’s no escaping how pauperized biodiversity here is in comparison. Still, it’s ever onwards and upwards: documenting, educating, proselytizing….