mthew
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Mustard Seed Shot
In his sparrow book, Rick Wright references “mustard seed shot.” Never having heard of this, I was most intrigued. Remember that early naturalists, ornithologists, and their agents collected birds — the skins — by shooting them. Audubon didn’t have a good day if he didn’t bag a hundred or more. But consider a songbird: there’s…
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Cryptus
One of two similar ichneumon wasps I saw yesterday around the trunks of very large trees. I’ve never seen this species before. This is what keeps me looking. I think she’s a Cryptus. Note the long, harpoon-like ovipositor. She is looking for moth larvae to jab her eggs into. She kept moving, but hardly flew.…
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Shells
I am entering observations of animals on iNaturalist with dispatch and alacrity. That includes the structures made by animals, like the shells on this page. All the ones on this post were found last weekend on the shores of Red Hook, Brooklyn. I’m still waiting an ID on the mollusk who made the lovely shell…
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Butterflies Are Free
Recognize this? This was a surprise at the recent Whitman exhibit at the Morgan Library and Museum, where the image for the exhibit shows a famous photograph of the older WW holding a butterfly. Yup, one and the same. (Bigger on the M’s site…) And in that spirit: A full house, Monarchs high.
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Raptor Wednesday
American Kestrel male with prey. Grasshopper, I think. American Kestrel female bossing a Red-tailed Hawk. It was a chilly morning. The small falcon’s cry pulled my eyes skyward. The big buteo was were actually being harried by two kestrels. This female was probably one of them. Several minutes later, I came across her hunting from…
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The Case Against Honeybees
No other exploited farm worker has gotten the attention Apis mellifera has. Our urge to “save the bees” and “save the pollinators” has concentrated on the photogenic and familiar honeybee. They are, after all, a species with the publicity machinery of industrial farming behind them, and the romance of DIY rooftop farming. But we should…
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Late Odonata
Dragonfly eating damselfly. Eastern Pondhawk female gobbling up one of the bluets. Familiar Bluet ungobbled. Common Green Darner male. Autumn Meadowhawk female. Autumn Meadowhawk male (probably). As their name suggests, these Sympetrum genus meadowhawks are one of the last species to fly during the Odonata year.
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Palm Warbler Sunday
They are all over…at least in Green-Wood. And yesterday I saw my first White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos, northern birds that spend the winter here. It’s a transitional time, coming and going, a hinge of seasons, and today suggests it will be very birdy indeed.
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Lizards!
Two sightings of Northern Italian Fence Lizards in Green-Wood this summer. I first became aware of this introduced species when a picture of an American Kestrel carrying one of the lizards made the rounds of the birding crowd years ago. The lizards seem to have gotten here via the animal slave — oh, sorry, I…
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American Chestnut
Some earlier writing about American chestnuts in Prospect Park. *** Just in from the science desk: Zebra Finches dream very much like mammals. Like us. The authors extrapolate to song birds in general. They hypothesize that such shared characteristics are a result of our shared early ancestry.
Backyard and Beyond 