mthew
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Little, Big
A Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) looks somewhat like the Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), but with a shorter tail. There is also usually a yellow cast to the lores. A couple were atop the old landfill at Croton Point recently. I went looking for Bald Eagles. There was a dearth of them for over an hour.…
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Insistent Kinglet(s)
I have had two run-ins with Ruby-crowned Kinglets recently in Brooklyn Bridge Park. These birds are called kinglets because they are little kings, fearless creatures. They are the birds I’ve always gotten closest too; or, put another way, they are birds that have always gotten closest to me. Easily within hand’s reach. They have other…
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Lord of All He Surveys
Richard Upjohn’s Gothic-y gate to Green-Wood Cemetery. The Monk Parakeets have colonized it with their massive stick nest. Maybe it reminds them of the Andes? On a recent weekend, the birds were unusually quiet. I spotted half a dozen nearby.And up there with the lightning rod? Our old friend the American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). That…
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Dark
Our wet days and autumnal leaves are ideal for making for a lot of sidewalk prints. The Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) leaf above the Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) leaf below are both particularly good examples.
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Bestiary
While perusing the plethora of Picassos currently found in Chelsea galleries (I recommend the P. & Photography at Gagosian) I came across this exhibit of Quentin Garel’s sculptures.At Bertrand Delacroix until Saturday. These are actually made of bronze.
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A Good Walk
A good walk in Prospect Park with Ken Chaya, who always adds immeasurably to my knowledge. This young Red Oak (Quercus rubra) was holding on to its youthfully large leaves.A particularly nice spread of “knees” of a Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum). It was once thought that these projections from the roots were pneumatophores, helping the…
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Sweetgum
A pod of the American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) on a recent bright day.These little nuggets came out the mouth-like openings of the pod, so I assumed they were the seeds. But I was wrong. Later, walking with tree-maven Ken Chaya, we knocked another pod. The winged seeds, or samaras, are seen here with more of…
Backyard and Beyond 