Fieldnotes
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Kitten Tails
Spring sneaks up on us. Little feelers of the season are already present in the city, like American Woodcocks flying down Broadway, crocuses blooming, witchhazel tendrils gnarling out from branches. I just noticed these catkins hanging on State Street. A number of plant families have these pendent flower clusters, which usually depend on wind pollination…
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Lulled
The Lullwater looks calm this time of year. But submerged things are a-fin, and just on the other side of the Terrace Bridge, behind me, were three Hooded Mergansers, two Red-breasted Mergansers, a pair of Wood Duck, and several Ruddy Ducks, the males with electric blue bills. Titmouse, Cardinal, Nuthatch, Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Song Sparrow.…
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Checklist
Snowdrops: Check! Crocuses: Check! Witchhazel: Check! And half-a-dozen or so Red-winged Blackbirds, bringing the area around the Terrace Bridge to sudden, raucous life with their insistent “I am now here!” vocalizations: Check! It was interesting to observe these birds, all males. Two at the feeders presented variations in plumage, with one bird sill having some…
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Beading
Water beading on the feathers of a Ring-billed gull’s neck. Like ducks, gulls spend a fair amount of their time afloat, so their feathers need to be waterproof. (This particular bird was an ex-gull, allowing me the close-up.)
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Lepidopteramania
The American Museum of Natural History is thick with lepidoptera right now. Running through May, there is a live Butterfly Conservatory.Some of the butterflies in this steamy tube are enormous.Chances are very good that a butterfly or two will land on you, so this is a great place to bring the kids (the butterflies, after…
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Accidental Habitat
These pontoon-like things were flipped over between Piers 5 & 6 recently, revealing the:barnacles andblue mussels that have found them to be a worthy foundation.
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Winter Baby
They say that the long and winding road leads to your door.Or, should you be going the other way, which is generally the way to start a walk, walking out that door, say, on a fine evening between four and six, one step after another, the road goes ever on and on, across the river…
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Foxy
Six species of birds under the feeders in Prospect Park. The large sparrow here, second bird down from the top, is a Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca).This is one of the birds that visit us during the winter months from their breeding grounds in the boreal forests. We never get too many, but there should usually…
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Brood II is Nigh
The cicadas are coming, the cicadas are coming! Brood II of the 17-year genus Magicicada cicadas is due to emerge this spring. This is an East Coast brood. Depending on the temperature, this could happen anywhere from mid April to May, but with our warmer and warmer springs the breakout will probably begin on the…
Backyard and Beyond 