Fieldnotes
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Just Another Urban Great Horned Owl
Bubo virginianus trying to look like a branch, but also occasionally vocalizing in the middle of the day. This is the owl who makes the classic hop-hoo-hoo.
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Cloak and Dagger
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) in the flowers of an early blooming crab apple (Malus). Actually, on second viewing, this seems to be a cherry (Prunus). The butterfly’s long tongue, rather like an oil derrick, or a dagger, plunging into the heart of the nectar. Seems like a good year for Mourning Cloaks. Note that this…
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Scoter Revealed
Now here’s something you don’t see in Dead Horse Bay everyday. This is a drake Black Scoter (Melanitta americana), a not uncommon sea duck, yet I’ve never seen one in any part of Jamaica Bay before. I’ve also never seen one alone, so I wondered if it was ill or hurt; but he seemed to…
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Thickening
If you’re new to the neighborhood, I’ve been photographing this fine old American Elm with the swooping branches in Sunset Park since November. It is in flower now: the wind-pollinated flowers have no need to be attractive to pollinators. Happy spring!
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Leaves
Bud-break in the case of the Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is more of a peel. If you look closely here, you can see the first tiny leaves of the year. Also last year’s dried-out fruits, cone-like conglomerations of samaras with a central spike. Here’s another look at a bud with leaf:
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Feeder Birds
This White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) kept flaring its wings in an attempt to scare off an implacable Mourning Dove taking up under half of the feeder space. This is another one of those doves, Zenaida macroura.Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis): the woods were not full of these birds this winter without a winter. No need for…
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That’s Rough: The Stinkbug is a BMSB
Wednesday’s spike in temperature began the process of bringing the invertebrates back into action. Earlier in the day, I spotted my first butterfly. Later, back in the home office, I noticed this little armored critter on an inside window. I thought at first it was one of the rough stink bugs of the genus Brochymena.…
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Mourning Cloaks
The forest at NYBG was full of Mourning Cloaks over the weekend. Some were butterfly-flitting about and some were perched in the sun.
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Midtown Woodcock
Bryant Park, in the midst of Midtown, is not one of nature’s wonders. It does, however, tend to capture a surprisingly rich assortment of bird life. This is because it’s a trap, a vortex of bright lights and reflections that confuse, a glass cage that stuns those it doesn’t kill outright.One of the park’s typical…
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Springing All The Sudden
This is the time of year when spring rushes in and overwhelms: your blogger ends up with a full heart and full camera and not enough days in the week.Silhouettes of Cedar Waxwings amidst the blooming maple. More Acer.Amongst the many signs (and sighs) of spring, the Eastern Phoebe’s pumping tail surely ranks near the…
Backyard and Beyond 