mthew
-
Seen Recently
A male Monarch (Danaus plexippus), part of the mosaic, reliefs, and insets that make the subway station at the American Museum of Natural History so great. Last time, a female in the field.
-
Dusky
A duskywing, perhaps Horace’s (Erynnis horatius), the other option being Juvenal’s (E. juvenalis). All very classical, no? The similar species overlap around here, with Juvenal’s the more northerly and Horace’s the more southerly.
-
Pods and Seeds
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa).Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).The seeds of the above.Another Common, with Milkweed aphids (Aphis nerii) and Variegated Ladybugs (Hippodamia variegata).
-
Common Yellowthroat
A male Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), one of this year’s young. He was picking and pecking into that metal grill, which had collected leaves behind it, and hence some invertebrates.
-
O brave new world
That has such creatures in’t! These are all new discoveries for me, excepting the last, because there’s one thing the arthropods prove, and that’s ever-new discoveries.The aptly-named named Saddleback caterpillar (Acharia stimulea), about 2cm long. The adult moth is one of the fuzzy indistinguishable brown jobs, but this larval stage form is amazingly unique. The…
-
Yellow Bear
Yellow Bear caterpillar (Spilosoma virginica), sometimes known as the Yellow Wooly Bear. Compare with one I photographed last year: they come in a great range of colors. According to Wagner, the pale early instars are gregarious, the older instars wonder lonely as a cloud. (I may have hopped-up Wagner’s description a bit.)
-
Calling Elk
I liked this so much, I bought it. Wendy Klemperer‘s Calling Elk, plasma-cut steel, approx. 20 x 20 x 1/8th, 2008. (Sorry about the strange cropping at the nose.)
-
More Two-Spotted Ladybugs
The Catalpa trees grow and the big heart-shaped leaves attract aphids, lots of aphids. The aphids, tiny little white sucking machines, coat the leaves with their “dew” — what goes in must come out in some form — which in turn attracts ants and wasps. The aphids themselves attract ladybugs, hungry little beasts. All the…
-
Seen Today
At Pier One, Brooklyn Bridge Park: an adult female Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) perched on some Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). It didn’t look like she was laying eggs, but this would be a good place for them. Is it too late for a brood? Is she one of the last generation of this year’s Monarchs,…
-
Heron Trio
From back to front, a Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret, and a Snowy Egret. Salt-marshing in Brooklyn. Heron. Egret. What’s the difference? “Egret” comes from the Fr. aigrette, which seems to have come out the Old High German heigir, which means… heron. But then you know a hawk from a handsaw, right? Hamlet should…
Backyard and Beyond 