Fieldnotes
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Mushroom Monday
My boot, at bottom of image, is almost exactly one foot long. An enormous example of Berkeley’s Polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi). Another large polypore, Black-staining (Meripilus sumstinei). Details of the Black-staining.
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Whistlepigs
dewy grass wet-bellied woodchuck good morning I come across woodchuck/groundhog holes in Green-Wood with some frequency. (Good to keep at least one eye on the ground there, lest you miss a grass-clutching moth or a one-way trip into the underworld…) But I hadn’t seen an actual Marmota monax for some time until last weekend. A…
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Some New (To Me) Species
Someone has been chewing on this elm sapling… Elm Leaf Beetle (Xanthogaleruca luteola). White-crossed Seed Bug (Neacoryphus bicrucis). Oecanthus genus common tree cricket; species can only be told apart by examining their antennae bases. Trepobates subnitidus water striders Clustered Midrib Gall Wasp (Andricus dimorphus) on white oak. Black-bordered Lemon Moth (Marimatha nigrofimbria). Had seen before,…
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Raptor Wednesday
Spotted belly and thick black band on the outer edge of the tail. Blue wings, strong black band again. Male American Kestrels. Streaky belly, only a thin black band on the edge of the tail: female American Kestrels. The topside of her wings are also reddish, but we can’t see this from below.
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Even More Galls!
Andricus incertus on swamp white oak (Q. bicolor) acorn. (All the below are on various swamp white oaks as well.) A cluster of Oak Rough Bulletgall Wasp galls (Disholcaspis quercusmamma). Note the ants and bee. Bald-faced Hornet and Asian Lady Beetle, too. In fact, I found several with lady beetles on them. Are the galls…
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Mammal Monday
Dirty squirrel digging up an old nutty something or other. And CRONCHING it!
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More Galls
This is Andricus capillatus, a Cynipidae gall wasp like all these specimens today, on a white oak. Round Bullet Gall (Disholcaspis quercusglobulus), on the same white oak. This magnificent specimen of a tree is on a slope, with one branch sweeping down below eye-level, which is essential when searching for these things. Here’s another Round…
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Exuviae
The shed exoskeleton of a nymph dragonfly. I suspect this is Common Green Darner. Nearly 50% smaller, and more commonly found by your correspondent, this could be Amberwing or Blue Dasher, our two most common dragonflies. Both damselflies and dragonflies begin their lives in the water before emerging into the air and breaking out of…
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Back to the Galls
The hickories and their Caryomia genus midges continue to catch my eye. I’ve now spotted eleven species in Green-Wood, mostly on pignut (Carya glabra). Here’s my first report on this phenomenon. Above is Hickory Peach-haired Gall Midge (Caryomyia persicoides) according to my gall sensei on iNaturalist. Some species are obvious, others like this one need…
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Raptor Wednesday
Male and female American Kestrels calling, hovering, and diving towards a tree in the distance. Worth a detour. Sure enough, they had reason to be upset. This Cooper’s Hawk is the first I’ve seen in months. While a regular sighting during the off-breeding months, not many Cooper’s nest here in the city. (For the last…
Backyard and Beyond 