mthew
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Pied-billed Grebe
Our smallest grebe species is the Pied-billed, Podilymbus podiceps.There was one in a flotilla of Canada Geese the other day in the Valley Water.(Same bird here, just a lot of differing lighting situations.) * Two and a quarter million more Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump, and counting (freaking California is so…
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Daily Raptor
I don’t see raptors single every day here in Brooklyn, but it sure seems like it averages out that way. Take this weekend. Yesterday morning, before I was fully awake, I looked out the window and saw a Cooper’s Hawk above a confusion of pigeons over towards 4th Avenue. After breakfast: there was a male…
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Great Horned Owl
Everybody could probably do with some Bubo virginianus right about now, right? (Excepting the night mammals, of course!) Spotted this one today when a fire-alarm of White-breasted Nuthatches alerted me to SOMETHING being up.
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Crime of the Century
“Models predict that the present trend of fossil fuel use will lead to dramatic climatic changes within the next 75 years…. Should it be deemed necessary to maintain atmospheric CO2 levels to prevent significant climatic changes, dramatic changes in patterns of energy use would be required.” A 1979 Exxon memo, one of many revealing finds…
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American Black Ducks
Anas rubripesAmerican Black Ducks are year-’round birds, but they are now sharing the harbor with our wintering Buffleheads, Gadwall, Wigeon, and Red-breasted Mergansers. Soon, loons and grebes should be seen as well. There’s been a Humpback Whale in the harbor and up the Hudson, too, lately, although this blogger hasn’t seen a tail of it…
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Longleaf Again
I’ve written about the Longleaf Pine several times, including in this essay for Humans and Nature, but I’ve never seen a living example of the tree until recently. Alas, it’s just a stripling of 25 years or so of age at NYBG, perhaps 25 feet high.But look at those needles!
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On The Rocks
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). This one-footed stance is common among shore birds. Did somebody say vociferus? This quintet was silent, but in breeding season Killdeer can be loud! It’s Thanksgiving, time to remember what we have to be thankful for and stand on both our feet in defense of it. Let me convey my solidarity with…
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Raptor Wednesday
A Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) was perched atop the head of the statue of Justice atop Brooklyn’s Borough Hall when I emerged from the R train.The bird remained there as I made some copies, went to the Post Office, and returned to swing around to the chignon-side.Not all Justice is blind. We can see the neo-confederate…
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Bigleaf Maple
Acer macrophyllum is one big-leafed maple. Also known as Oregon Maple, these trees of the moist, shady canyons of the Coast Range can have leaves 9″ or more long. The leafstalk can be up to a foot long. Just wow! And, speaking of wow, check out this intersection of the great naturalist David George Haskell…
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For the love of moth snowstorms
A public service announcement: I wrote about Michael McCarthy’s necessary book The Moth Snowstorm for Humans and Nature. I hope you’ll pop over and read it. Biophilia must be political.
Backyard and Beyond 