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Persimmon Attractants
Insect life is winding down. But on a brisk Saturday morning, I spotted some activity around fallen persimmon fruit. Blue Blowflies and Vespula yellowjackets… Downy Yellowjacket. (First one for me, and my fourth Vespula species in Brooklyn.) German Yellowjacket. Green-Wood’s tiny grove of American persimmon took a hit in the big storm, losing some substantial…
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Raptor Wednesday
This is, approximately, what the chapel looks like from the road. The point here is that the female American Kestrel up there saw a two-inch long grasshopper on the road and swept down to pluck it right up. She flew back up to the chapel top to dispatch it. Same bird, nearby. Further afield in…
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Finches
American Goldfinch. Purple Finch. Check out that touch of pink in the throat. Not seen in this one. (That’s a sunflower seed-still-in-shell, not a tongue.) Pine Siskins, and more sunflower seeds. Bit of a challenge for these fine bills, but the Siskins are swarming around the feeders in Dell Water. It’s an extraordinary year for…
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Fall Galls
You may be-galled out, but I’m certainly not. All of the above were gleaned from under a great white oak, the mother (?) of galls, on October 10. Five species of gall wasps are represented here. Pea Gall (Acraspis pezomachoides). Philonix nigra. Round Bullet Gall Wasp (Disholcaspis quercusglobulus). Andricus wendi. Clustered Midrib Gall Wasp (Andricus…
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RBN
At least two Red-breasted Nuthatches were in the magic wych elm with all of yesterday’s birds. Usually whacking away at nuts, these birds weren’t about to let an invertebrate hatch-out go to waste.
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Feeding Frenzy
A wych elm, a lot of tiny gnats (or something Diptera-y), and a mess of birds. To be continued tomorrow….
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So Many Birds
Song Sparrow. Purple Finch. Blue-headed Vireo. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Golden-crowned Kinglet. Solitary Sandpiper. Solar-and-fish-powered Belted Kingfisher. Dark-eyed Junco. White-crowned Sparrow. White-throated Sparrow. White-breasted Nuthatch. Red-breasted Nuthatch.
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Bathing Spot
The area flanking a weeping Bald Cypress that reaches over the water is a great place to get a drink and bathe if you’re a bird. Here’s a trio of sparrows, Field, White-throated, and a Song in the background if I’m not mistaken. The baldy provides quick cover. Catbird shakin’ it. Two Blue Jays. Three…
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Raptor Wednesday
Back in August of 2019, what seems like a hundred years ago, I saw a male American Kestrel fly into the Monk Parakeet nest atop Green-Wood’s Neogothic gate. On October 4th of this year, I saw the same thing. The pictures were slightly better a year ago because the bird actually perched up there. Flying,…
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Backyard and Beyond 