mthew
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Wasps as Pollinators
They are not as hairy as most bees, but wasps can also pick up and transport pollen when they’re feeding on nectar. This Northern Paper Wasp/Polistes fuscatus on goldenrods flowers is a case in point.
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Low Tide on the Gowanus
Mud Fiddler Crabs/Minuca pugnax in the toxic muck of the canal. From the 3rd St Bridge. Definitely not your dad’s canal; it’s seen massive development since I used to regularly walk across it in the 2010s. It’s now a hurricane away from one hell of a big mess, though.
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Feeling Gallish?
A gall is a plant growth induced by an alien species. In the case of oak galls, the majority are forced by tiny Cynipid wasps. This is one of my favorites: Kokkocynips rileyi, on Scarlet Oak/Q. coccinea. (This particular gall has a kapello or cap that attracts ants once the galls falls to the ground;…
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Two Plant Details
Fruit of the Paper Mulberry/Broussonetia papyrifera, which usually looks like a spoiled strawberry by the time it hits the ground. Seed of Japanese Hops/Humulus scandens.
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At 4th and 3rd
An apple tree at the end of the 4th Street Basin of the Gowanus Canal, right by 3rd Avenue. Hosting a juvenile Black-crowned Night-heron. And a Northern Parula.
Backyard and Beyond 