Fieldnotes

Wood Ducks. And Hooded Mergansers on the Sylvan Water, largest of water bodies in Green-Wood. The Hoodies, nobodies’ fools, were not approaching anyone on the shore, unlike the shameless Mallards. Mallards are, by the way, some of our largest wild ducks. Bonus freaks of nature… Actually, it’s the aeration devices that keep these very round…

There isn’t much meat on a maple samara, so this Eastern Grey was rootling and grubbing and chomping. Each picture above is a different samara. Then suddenly… She found a piece of paper bag. She stuffed one end into her mouth and crushed the rest of it to herself. And carried it across the street…

Next to a well-stocked bird-feeder, this Black-capped Chickadee goes for a black willow bud. *** I remember when the shutting down of the Gulf Stream was a wild hypothetical, the absolute worst-case scenario that would never happen in the lifetime of anyone alive today. But, as in a lot of the news about climate change,…

This heron was hanging out here on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Not vociferating; perhaps yawning or working up a pellet of nocturnal fish and who knows, maybe rats….

Get ready! This year’s big Magicicada 17-year cicada emergence covers a lot of the eastern U.S. It’s “among the largest (by geographic extent) broods.” Here’s a map of the last Brood X emergence in 2004. Maryland/Delaware and Indiana are the places to be (get your shovels, the remains will be piled high!). Long Island is…

When twenty Monk Parakeets are hooting and hollering, you know something’s up. Ah, yes. Atop the Neo-Gothic pile of an entrance gate designed by Richard Upjohn for Green-Wood Cemetery, there’s a large parakeet nest. And on this day, there was a Red-tailed Hawk. The bird did some stretching. And flexing. Note how the darker bands…

I started this blog on March 3, 2010 with a picture of a baby Painted Turtle. It was simple, a picture and quote by Stephen Jay Gould: “We must tackle and grasp the larger, encompassing themes of our universe, but we make our best approach through small curiosities that rivet our attention — all those…

Chomping at the bit here for some insect life after months of winter. Sure, I’ve seen a few flies all winter long. And I took this picture of this Polyphemus Moth cocoon in December, but saw it still going strong (i.e. just sitting there) the other day. This is the only one of these I’ve…

The Eastern Gray Squirrel comes in a handful of color forms. Gray is the predominate one. There were six squirrels in this silver maple the other day. Two were gray, the other four were a mix of very dark gray and black with reddish highlights. They were all eating the maple buds. Spring is cusping.

The loudest avian voices during winter here are the Blue Jays. They will often mob a raptor, shrieking stridently and even attacking. It’s as good a raptor-alert system as any: attend the noisy Jays and you may very well find a Red-tail or a Cooper’s in the tree or shrub with them. They aren’t just…