Found two of these on Oakwood Beach on Staten Island recently. Unusually bulky and flat, comparatively, they turn out to be the main claw of Flat-clawed Hermit Crabs (Pagurus pollicaris), a species I wasn’t aware of. Looking at potential homes for them (different sizes/ages of Northern Moon, Shark Eye, Channeled Welks), you can see how…

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Perch. Soar. Perch again. Chase after Red-tail in your patch. ~ News: Ten (10) days after screwing up the front page of the Sunday print edition, the New York Times publishes a correction. (They want your email to read their corrections if you don’t subscribe.) Originally, they incorrectly credited my photograph to another iNaturalist user…

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Winter solstice is around sunset tonight (EST).

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Various stages of Velvet Foot (Flammulina velutipes) on a toppled big tree. Ceramic Parchment (Xylobolus frustulatus): aptly named, these were very hard. Lion’s-mane (Hericium erinaceus) on a street tree Pin Oak.

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American Hoverfly, Complex Eupeodes americanus, all lit up with pollen. Impressive for December 9th. About the only thing I’m aware of with yellow pollen this month is Dandelion (Taraxacum). Same day. Schroederella iners, perhaps. Nearby, another type of dung fly. This was a sunny day, temps in the mid 40s, no wind. Dec 8. Unknown fly,…

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American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) is sometimes confused for its genetically crossed sibling, London Plane (Platanus × hispanica), which is all over the city, on streets and in parks. In fact, finding an American Sycamore is a good challenge. London Plane in typical habitat, a park, for comparison. The bark situation stands out. Am Syc are…

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Always a little disconcerting to photograph these mistimed blooms with my gloves on.

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There’s usually a flotilla of Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) on Prospect Park Lake this time of year. This female was hanging out solo on Sylvan Water in Green-Wood for at least five days when I took these pictures. (Beaten gold effect via reflection of nearby Norway Maples.)

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Or, the bud of a Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera). Another good, that is, readily legible, tree species for leaf scar study

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Coopers. Avian excretion explained. The view from the Brooklyn Raptor Observatory yesterday as a fire in a police warehouse in Red Hook billowed up into an airborne toxic event. The evil-smelling smoke and big pieces of ash flitting through the air did not deter four raptors. 1) a passing Coopers Hawk raised up all the…

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