mthew
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Misc.
Deleting some photographs from my phone and finding a few miscellaneous delights that never made it to B&B. Poppy fruit above. (Sweet dreams…?) This stone door of a mausoleum is wearing poorly. Cutting the shrubs to make room for new plantings along 4th Avenue. An unripened conker from Bottlebrush Buckeye/Aesculus parviflora. B&W American Lady/Vanessa virginiensis.…
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More Raptor
In summer, I can barely schedule Raptor Wednesdays because I don’t see all that many raptors. In fall and winter, I have a surplus. Welcome to Excess Kestrel Friday!
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Hornet Flight
In late summer, I often see a European Hornets/Vespa crabro or two cruising around the pollinators. Last week, on two different days, I saw many more. In both cases, the wasps were flying around beech trees. They were hard to count and impossible to photograph in the air, but I would say maybe two dozen…
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The Book of Beaver
I’ve seen a lot more beaver sign than actual beavers. Flooded areas, dams, lodges, and especially gnawed-off tree trunks: beavers leave a lot of signs. Castor canadensis wrote themselves across most of the continent before the fashion for beaver felt swept over from Europe. There, the native beaver, Castor fiber, had been mostly trapped out.…
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Autumn
Suddenly, Autumn Meadowhawks! Thursday’s sunny temperatures in the mid 60sF brought Sympetrum vicinum out in force. Maybe more than I’ve ever seen? These are the last Odonata of the season, migratory Common Green Darners will continue to pass though, so I always keep an eye out for them.
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Unusual Birds
Recently, Green-Wood has been visited by a Great Cormorant/Phalacrocorax carbo. A Western Kingbird/Tyrannus verticalis. And a Lark Sparrow/Chondestes grammacus. First time I’ve seen any of these here in the cemetery. The Lark S was in the new meadow, which the legions trampled though like Visigoths. And more sad news: the Great Cormorant…
Backyard and Beyond 