mthew
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Snakes on Monday
Two variations on Northern Water Snakes (Nerodia sipedon). The first was warming up ashore on a cool spring morning. The second was swimming between the sedge tussocks.New Jersey has 22 species of snakes, according to a NJ Fish & Wildlife pamphlet we picked up at Great Swamp NWR. Historically, there was at least one more,…
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Ol’ Blue Eyes
Phalacrocorax auritus, the Double-crested Cormorant, with reflections of cherry trees in torrid bloom in the water.
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Blooms, Bugs, Walks
Ornamental quince with pollinator butt. Which reminds me: I will be doing a Blooms and Bugs walk in Brooklyn Bridge Park on May 11th for NYC Wildflower Week. I’ll also be doing a sunrise Listening Tour for them on May 9th. And while we’re on the topic of walks, it’s the Jane’s Walk weekend (NYC…
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May Day
Amidst clusters of purple Viola in Green-Wood, a lone blue. Variation? Different species? A Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon): the azure is on the inside.Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) paints the sky blue. A Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) in the Great Swamp brings us back to the pinkish.
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Poison Ivy
The bright shiny new leaves of Toxicodendron radicans in its tree-climbing vine form.
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Newts!
One of several Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) in the high reservoir at Black Rock Forest recently. The red-spots are telling here, identifying the animal (another common name is Red-spotted Newt) and warning predators to lay off. This is the mature, aquatic stage of the animal’s life-cycle. They can live more than a dozen years. As…
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Wild Ginger
Now blooming: the ground-hugging flowers of Asarum canadense.
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Raptor Wednesday
A field trip to Great Swamp NWR was a field day for raptors. There were several road-side Red-tailed along the way as well as inside the NWR’s bounds. A pair of soaring birds turned out to be a Sharp-shinned and a Broad-winged. We saw a Merlin and a Kestrel. Two birds that were probably a…
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Hemlocks Past
The devastation caused by the aphid-like Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae) was on display on our visit to Black Rock Forest. It was grim: skeletal bones of dead trees towered above us, waiting to fall. The Adelgids, which are fairly benign in their native Japan, where their host trees evolved along with them, kill our…
Backyard and Beyond 