Fieldnotes
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Sheltering-in-Place
Tucked in. Doorman. Deep embedding. That’s a squirrel snout visible in this floor-through. Two hours later, this Great Blue Heron was still there.
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Midge
Non-biting midge bigger than your average fly, characteristically holding his forelimbs out in front. The feathery antennae are reminiscent of some moths. Probably cold, letting me get the phone camera close up.
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You’ve Heard of Moonrise
Well, this is Cardinal rise… The Cardinals in Green-Wood are going full throttle. There’s is also a local one who likes to sit in a tree in the backyard across the street. He’s a small red speck to the eye, but his cheer-cheer-cheer voice travels. And boy, is that clarion welcome right now! Spring arrived…
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Blooming Now
Red maple. Wych elm. Apple. Cherry. Star magnolia. Ginkgo. Henbit deadnettle. (These are tiny, you’ll need to get down on your knees to see the detail.)
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Raptor Wednesday
If you crossed Rear Window and The Birds… The local American Kestrels making more little falcons. Copulation lasts about ten seconds. Frequency seems to be key. They’ll do it multiple times a day, totaling hundreds of times over the pre-brooding period.
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Sturnus vulgaris
It’s damned invasives for the beginning of the week here at B & B. Starlings.
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Passer
House Sparrows love these stop light support structures. Love them! There’s often a pair nesting in each end. The male is keeping a very sharp eye on me. A species hardly ever noticed. This is another male near the nest shown above. Here is another: They’re awful sociable.
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Eristalis tenax
An early flying Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax). An introduced species. A bee mimic. Their flight season is long, from mid-March to mid-November, but this was the only one seen this day a week ago. *** Spring’s solace is dependent upon the winter, the bright awakening from cold and dormancy, the “green fuse” lit amidst…
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Witches’ Broom
A hackberry tree, Celtis occidentalis. Notice the clumpiness in the canopy? A slightly closer view of one fo the clumps. (They were all out of hand’s reach.) This is witches’ broom, a gall-like growth of branches sprouting in multiples. Hackberry is particularly susceptible. In this case, it seems to be caused by a combination of…
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Leaves of Invertebrates
American Robin in the leaves. Because that’s where the good stuff is. Now, if this bird could turn over logs: *** I can’t stomach watching the Orange Troll in action, but I forced myself to look at his sniffly Gollum-in-a-fright-wig performance last night. What a squandered opportunity, but who expected more after three years of…
Backyard and Beyond 