Fieldnotes
-
Raptor Wednesday
This glorious smokestack is the throne of Peregrines. I’ve seen them up here often during the past couple of winters. Not so much during spring and summer, however, when, presumably, breeding keeps them busy. I can see this ‘stack from the home front, but these shots are from much closer, the playground next to Sunset…
-
Shore Dinner
I watched as this Herring Gull dropped this Hardshell Clam (quahog) one two three times before the shell broke apart. The meaty deliciousness within went down the hatch pretty quickly. Note the flecks in the eye. The shelly remains. Nearby was this half-eaten fish. Possibly Atlantic Menhaden. When I returned about 45 minutes later, the…
-
Holly Month
These two tads, both at the base of the same massive beech, seem to have survived the demonic weed-whackers. They are located about 200 feet in a straight line from this very spectacular American holly (Ilex opaca). This damage may come from the larvae of a fly in the Phytomyza genus. The big boy pictured…
-
Viny Attachments
Red tendrils are hairy, so scary. Well, perhaps not as memorable as “leaves of three, leave it be” as a mnemonic for identifying poison ivy, but there you go. The climbing form of Toxicodendron radicans loves a good tree. *** The USDA’s animal-killing division, named Wildlife Services in a touch of the Orwellian, wants to…
-
It was a dry and rustling day
I let my ears do the walking. Rowdy Blue Jays lead me to a Cooper’s Hawk moving from branch to branch within the thick confines of a yew. The tapping of Downy Woodpeckers and the clucking of Red-bellied Woodpeckers rang through the leaf-stirring wind. A dry susurration, a crinkly crunch. (The annual up-to-the-calves-in-leaves self-portrait.)
-
Raptor Wednesday
A pair of Red-tailed Hawks, half of the foursome then in the sky over Green-Wood. The feet-down flying thing is romance. Another day, another Red-tailed. Yet another day, another Red-tailed….It is actually the day without a Red-tailed sighting is worth noting. Not easy to see, but look at that profile: this one has a very…
-
End of An Era
I’ve been blessed with a few years of red and swamp white oaks as street tree neighbors on my way to the subway. A plethora of life forms sucking, chewing, reproducing, and dying on these trees has been visible at eye-level. Argh, but the contractors recently came through to limb all these up. Now the…
-
-
Ecological Services Be Damned
The Case for Saving Species: We Don’t Need Them, But They need Us. I hope you’ll read this short essay by Carl Safina, linked above. Some thoughts sparked by it: He makes the argument for our moral obligation to preserve species, habitat, and the ecological complexity of this, the only living planet we know. (Sure,…
-
Osprey
Alan F. Poole’s Ospreys: The Revival of a Global Raptor In my half century life, there has been a great recovery of Osprey populations after ruthless persecution and even more ruthless chemical warfare. Luckily, this long-distant migratory bird is highly adaptable. They readily take to artificial nesting spots: 3 of 5 pairs in North America…
Backyard and Beyond 