Fieldnotes
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A Study in Sterna
*** “If the main pillar of the system is living a lie, then it is not surprising that the fundamental threat to it is living the truth.” — Vaclav Havel
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Juglans cinerea?
This tree, which was filled with squirrels going after its obviously delicious nuts a couple of weeks ago, puzzled me. At first I thought it was walnut, but the leaflets seemed too big and the fruits were ovoid as opposed to round and they didn’t have that distinctive smell of walnut fruits. Pecan? Too many…
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Raptor Wednesday
A family of Osprey at Marine Park about three weeks ago. Parents on the posts. One youngster trying out those great big wing things, which can stretch to nearly six feet. The middle one squirting a squiggle of poop into the marsh. A tree grows in Brooklyn, too, or at least a bush grows on…
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Busy as…
“Moral anger against oppression needed to be matched by an understanding of how economic systems create and sustain that oppression” Two interesting historical takes at Little Sis (vs. Big Brother) on the importance of connecting the dots. On the military-industrial system, which of course never went away. And at SNCC, on the front line of…
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Monarch Monday
With an Amberwing reflection. *** I guess millionaire heiress and TV performer Meghan McCain is scared that the socialists will eat her grandchildren. Ugh, no thanks! Worse than trans fats! But what is democratic socialism anyway?
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Swifts and All
The weather was heavy and low, pressing down on the city. The local Chimney Swifts — one two three four — came down from their usual empyrean heights to weave amongst the streets. They back-and-forthed right past the window, zooming and looping up and over the roof and/or down towards the street and over the…
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Sphex ichneumoneus
What a gorgeous wasp. Feeding on Monarda punctata, whose flowers are rather attractive, too. Great Golden Sand-digger. As the common name suggests, they nest in solitary holes in the ground. Adults feed on nectar. The female provisions her young in these sandy nest caves with paralyzed Orthoptera: crickets, katydids, grasshoppers.The back of the thorax is…
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Ardea Duo II
A week later on another of Green-Wood’s “waters.” Great Egret and juvenile Great Blue together again. The Great Blue did a lot of preening. So many feathers, after all. And such long ones! Great Blue primaries are 14″ (36cm) long.The Great E hunted right up its belly. The bird grabbed three small fry. The frogs,…
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Ardea Duo
Ardea herodias and Ardea alba. As a rule, the Great Blue Heron, on the left, is a larger bird than the Great Egret on the right. This GBH is a juvenile, so perhaps not up to full size, and, of course, the GE is closer. Speaking of closer. The Blue walked towards me. I was…
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Raptor Wednesday
Just a short distance from a new parking lot in the Bronx, young Red-tailed Hawks continue to raise a ruckus. *** Reading against fascism. Where I reacquainted myself with this quote from Hannah Arendt: “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction…
Backyard and Beyond 