mthew
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Sassafras
Sassafras albidum drupe on its pedicel. Such sassy colors! This should be eaten by a bird, the single seed within spread elsewhere, hopefully to germinate into one of these lovely three-leaf-type trees. This wonderfully aromatic plant–from the roots to the leaves–was long used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes. It was also one of the…
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Sunset Park Elm
An overcast view of the great elm during this week’s sweltering heat. The leaves are dark, dark green now. That’s the gilded city of Oz to the distant right. (Don’t forget you can click on these images to get larger versions.)
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More Beetlemania
This tiny beetle is Sehirus cinctus, the White-margined Burrowing Beetle. 4-6.5mm long. There were several on the very hairy leaves of what looks like Stachys something or other. Adult females of this species care for their young, which is fairly unusual in the insect world. Plenty of insects provision their young, but most aren’t around…
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Common Terns
The southern end of Prince/ss Bay* ends at a fresh water stream just before the aptly named Red Bank. This gravel beach is the backdrop for these Common Terns (Sterna hirundo). The eroded terminal moraine provides nice camouflage, at least for the above bird’s bill.Youngster demanding food. Constantly. Some of the adults were bringing freshly…
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Mammal Eyes
A young Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) in Green-Wood. You have to watch out for these: once, one started climbing up my leg, looking for a parent.Winter’s coming! (As hard as it is to imagine.) So there’s no time for paternity suits at the NYBG. Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus).
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Tiger Bee Fly
Xenox tiginus is a large fly with a distinctive black and clear wing patterning. At least in our eastern region, where there is just one of these Xenox genus flies; there are a few more out west. These lay their eggs at the entrances of Carpenter Bee nests so that their larvae can parasitize the bee’s larvae.…
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SI Surprise
This time of year, one visits Mt. Loretto Unique Area, a NYS DEC property on Staten Island, for the rich plethora of summer plants and insects, with some good birds thrown into the mix. But as soon as we got out of the car the other day, we noticed two big dark birds in the…
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Parasites
Well, if I don’t recognize it, how will the other birds? Spotted in Marine Park’s wild west side a week ago: the identity of this bird baffled me for while. And then it hit me. Young Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). This bird was raised by another species, for Brown-headed Cowbirds are brood parasites: they lay…
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Orange Bluet
Most of the bluet damselflies are, you guessed it, blue, but this one bucks the trend. Sort of: this is a mature male, but when he was younger, he had blue markings instead of these orange ones. Enallagma signatum.
Backyard and Beyond 