Fieldnotes
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Fallout
The lighthouse keeper on Machias Seal Island — kept there by the Canadian Coast Guard to make sure the little island, claimed by both Canada and the US, stays Canadian, O Canada… but I digress — the lighthouse keeper took this sequence of photos on the night of May 24 this year. Bad weather caused…
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Marsh Walk
Salt marshes are some of the most productive ecosystems we know of, but they have traditionally been treated as wastelands and dumping-grounds. On Sunday morning, I’ll be leading a tour of Four Sparrow Marsh, one of the last salt marshes remaining in New York City, for NYC Wildflower Week. If you’d like to come you…
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A Very Bad Acid Trip
“…we have underestimated the overall risks and that the whole of marine degradation is greater than the sum of its parts, and that degradation is now happening at a faster rate than predicted.” State of the Ocean Report, 6.20.11Some of the excess carbon dioxide we so heedlessly pump into the atmosphere is absorbed by the…
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Harriman State Park
(Or, Catskills Day 2, Part II) On the way back we stopped off at Silvermine Lake in Harriman State Park. The mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, was in bloom. Barn swallows were swooshing all around, and nesting on one of the park structures.We walked along a trail on the south side of the lake. A snake…
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The Catskills ~ Day 2
We started the morning in the thickest fog any of us had ever seen. It lifted as we descended down towards Hunter, NY.We couldn’t resist stopping in this former drive-in on Route 296 south of Windham, now claimed by a meadow. The gate proudly claims “we will be back,” but that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, this…
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The Catskills ~ Luna Moths
Checking out of our fog-bound Catskills hotel, we were greeted with a luna moth on the veranda. One of the giant silk moths, Actias luna is large, startling, and spectacular. (See the comments for the status of these show-stoppers here in the city.) Wingspan ranges from 3-4″ in length. Each of the four wings has…
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The Catskills ~ Day I
Four of us journeyed up to the Catskills this past weekend, daring the iffy, drippy weather. (Considering it was close to 100 degrees in NYC last week, we enjoyed a 50-degree drop going up there.) On the way up, we stopped at the RamsHorn-Livingstone Sanctuary in the town of Catskill. At this Scienic Hudson/NYAudubon administered…
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Stomach-foot
Snails are members of the class Gastropoda, a term derived from Greek words for stomach and foot, based on the mistaken belief that their foot is also their stomach. In fact their guts are usually located in that part of the snail that stays inside its shell. Here’s what it looks like from the earth’s…
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American Chestnut Check
With the trees in Prospect Park fully and lushly leafed, providing blessed shade, I thought I would check in on the American chestnuts there. When last we looked, the little leaves had only just emerged. This is what they look like now, 7-8″ long. The chestnut’s species name is dentata, which makes sense when you…
Backyard and Beyond 