mthew
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Nethermead in Bondage
The lockdown of the Nethermead is almost complete.Curious, how gated communities, the security state, and private takings of the public sphere all begin to look alike.According to the Brooklyn Paper, the Prospect Alliance is expected to make “at least $75,000” from the Great Googa Mooga Shit Pile. Or put another way, something less than $3…
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Snake/Privatization
An albino version of the New York native Black Rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta) being held by one of Prospect Park’s “Pop-Up Audubon” staffers recently. This is the largest snake species in the state, reaching up to six feet in length. They get bigger in the South. Constrictors, Black Rat snakes squeeze their prey to death,…
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Wildflower Week
New York City Wildflower Week begins tomorrow. It’s a celebration of all things wildflower, and all things habitat, because you can not separate the two, and a reminder that the NYC region has already lost over 40% of its native flora. I will be leading two walks this year. Events are free. Pictured: In the…
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Barn Swallow Nest
Underneath a bridge in Prospect Park, little mud pellets mark the beginning of a Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) nest. Interestingly, the swallows seem to be using an old Organpipe Mud Dauber wasp nest as a brace or support.Five days later, the cup-like nest is coming along. A few bits of twig or the like seem…
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Frog Weather
An enormous Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) in the Lullwater.Nonchalant as a dozen people file by five feet away.
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Listen
Do you want to know a secret? This Saturday at 6 a.m. I will be leading one of my Listening Tours for New York City Wildflower Week. You may register here if you want to come along to this free event. Note the time: we meet at the Grand Army Plaza entrance to Prospect Park…
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Black-Crowned Night Heron
Nycticorax nycticorax is the most-common heron in the NYC area. It is also the most wide-spread of herons on the planet, being found on five continents. This one was very close to me, and everybody else, in Prospect Park recently, and seemed oblivious to all of us gawkers. As their common name suggests, they do…
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Assume the Position
Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s… actually, yes, it is a bird, a small darting thing high high high up in leafy elm. Perhaps a flame-throated Blackburnian, a sky-bringing Cerulean, a red-faced Cape May. Warbler season is upon us, and, even though, as of this writing (Sunday evening), the weather is particularly…
Backyard and Beyond 