Fieldnotes
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Tree & Butterfly
In late December, I came across this fine, puzzling tree with a thick bole and garly bark. Here’s what I posted on the bark. Several people were intrigued, so I put up some more photos. Now comes the reveal. Talk about sprung! Looks like Yoshino cherry (Prunus x yedoensis). And fluttering amongst the flowers while…
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Bombus griseocollis
One of the few flying insects seen at Morris Arboretum recently. The Brown-belted Bumble Bee. Probably a female, who has overwintered and is getting ready to start a new colony.The second most common Bombus species in the mid-Atlantic but scarcer further north. Note that the animal is using two of its legs to scrape across…
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Even More Evidence
Pictures from the last week here in Brooklyn and northwestern Philadelphia. As spring continues, so does the most corrupt administration in American history, doing deep and lasting damage to the country, our democracy, and the rule of law.
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How About Some Turtles
Recently seen: Some Spotted Turtles. The last pictured was tiny, perhaps 1.5″ down the shell (head to tail).Painted Turtles.At a whole other scale, a veteran Snapping Turtle krakening the shallows. *** The new abolitionism: a fascinating profile of Ruth Wilson Gilmore.
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More Spring Beauty
Timing is everything. Last Thursday, a cool spring day, in northwestern Philadelphia, things were just on the cusp. These Sanguinaria canadensis, bloodroot, were waiting for the sun.These Trilliums, too.Ah, but look carefully! Thalictrum thalictroides, rue anemone.Cardamine concatenata, the cutleaved toothwort, crow’s toes, pepper root or purple-flowered toothwort.The sun did come out in the afternoon… Stylophorum…
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Great Egret!
First I’ve seen this year.The word “preen” seems have been first used to describe bird behavior. *** Trump’s political hatchet Barr has kept the Mueller report from the eyes of democracy so far. But here are 50 points of the public record on Trump’s deals with, funding by, and working with, Russian oligarchs/autocrats who have…
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Spring Beauty
For many people this is, I realize, appealing. But let’s look beyond the lurid gaudiness to the more subtle spring ephemerals down on the forest floor. Like bloodroot.And spring beauties.And trout lilies. (Plus some mayapple.) All on the grounds of the Morris Arboretum or nearby Wissahickon Valley Park.
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Wright On Sparrows
The big book of little brown jobs is here at last. The enviably erudite Rick Wright has written a very readable reference guide to the LBJs, sparrow division. It’s not a field guide: the hardcover large format precludes that. (I presume a paperback will follow; there’s also an ebook version, but you know those are…
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Stink Cabbage
Some skunk cabbage, so called because of the smell, which attracts flies. Flies being some of the earliest pollinators in spring. The mottled curvilinear part is the spathe, a sheath-like bract that encloses the spadix. Unfortunately off the path, so couldn’t get closer. Through the magic of the internet, however, you can take a closer…
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Red-Spotted Newts
The Eastern Red-spotted Newt. A.K.A. Eastern Newt. Notophthalmus viridescens. This is the aquatic adult stage. When they’re younger, they have a terrestrial stage. On land, the “red efts” are startlingly orange-red colored, walking “don’t eat me!” signs (being toxic to most predators). These spotted newts can live more than a dozen years. This seems to…
Backyard and Beyond 