mthew

American Sand Wasp/Bembix americana I saw one of these attempt several spots in this sandy path before settling in on this one and digging in. She will cache flies in here with her eggs. Microbembex monodonta. A little smaller than the Bembix. This species is a scavenger, which is a little unusual (locally), since most…

Three American Kestrel seen around the old Chapel area within a few minutes of each other. A female above. Male. Another male, but this one is still in juvenile plumage.

I’m leading a couple of insect walks in Green-Wood next month, on the 14th and 15th. There’ll also be a bird walk in Green-Wood on Nov. 23; stay tuned for detail on that. (My Tours and Adventures page.) If you have Netflix, Backyard Wilderness is worth watching, especially with kids. (Their site shows other venues.)

Two of the 11 eggs I spotted on Saturday on some young Common Milkweed plants. In the photo below, you can see one of the eggs on the leaf around 11:00. Eggs are typically deposited on the underside of the leaves, as above, but occasionally you’ll spot one on the top side: Monarch butterflies prefer…

A Black-crowned Night Heron at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The binomial Nycticorax nycticorax basically means night raven night raven. Found throughout much of the world, eating everything. They’ll even dumpster/landfill dive, so maybe that reference to corax/corvids isn’t all that off.

I see a lot of Hump-backed Beewolves/Philanthus gibbosus hunting up nectar. This was the only time I’ve seen one catch a bee, which is the meat they feed to their young. There are some other Philanthus species, but until about month ago I’d never seen any of them. That’s when I ran into this Two…

Last weekend’s raptor sightings. A rather painterly view of a Peregrine atop St. Mike’s. Digiscoping in the early morning. Passing Osprey in Windsor Terrace; I suspect the bird had just scouted Prospect Lake. Soaring Red-tail. Female American Kestrel.

Two of our bigger butterflies: Black Swallowtail/Papilio polyxenes above and even larger the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail/Papilio glaucus below. With a passing Honeybee… Both of these butterflies are syphoning up nectar from big and tall Cup Plant/Siphium perfollatum flowers

This Monarch was laying eggs on the underside of Common Milkweed leaves. Here’s one of the eggs she laid. Have you noticed how they prefer young milkweed plants? Most of the plants here had already gone to fruit, but the edges of this patch had some younger ones. At nearly the same time, I I…

A Mud Fiddler/Minuca pugnax male showing who is boss. (That blue V on the carapace helps to separate these from the two other fiddler crab species in the region.)