mthew

Several leafy twigs of a mature White Oak were on the ground last week so I picked them up while scouting for galls. I found these Noctuoidea caterpillars. Still working on narrowing these down even to genus, even on Bugguide, but what a great reminder of all the creatures that live off oaks! [Update: for…

Pin Oak, Quercus palustris, is ubiquitous in NYC. The smallish acorns are all over the sidewalks now. (Palustris means swamp; the trees can take the compacted, anaerobic soils of tree pits.) I enjoy hearing them blonking atop cars this time of year. Other creatures enjoy them for other reasons. Bur Oak, Q. macrocarpa is unusual…

Yes, it’s time once again for American Kestrels on the old chapel at Green-Wood. The male is eating something. I suspect Common Green Darner.

Two millimeters long, under the microscope at 40x and 20x. Found the first on a curtain two weekends ago. Last Wednesday, when it got up to about 70F, there were a bunch of the window screen. And, being 2mm long, inside the screen. This is a psyllid, one of the creatures that induces galls in…

At least four Tufted Titmice; two White-breasted Nuthatches; one Red-breasted Nuthatch; a Chipping Sparrow; two Downy Woodpeckers, male and female. A male Cardinal was in there at the end, too. Gleaning the bird-fall surplus on the ground, at least two White-throated Sparrows. These are still photos, calm amidst the swift jockeying, flushing, retreats and returns,…

I abandoned Twitter yesterday when Kid Apartheid Musk and his Saudi executioner-funders took over that app. So here’s what I would have tweeted from yesterday’s walk: this magnificent Nyssa sylvatica. Early voting starts in New York state today. Vote against the threat to democracy, the environment, and our lives embodied by the fascist Republican Party.