-
Flickerings
Northern Flickers, passing through on their south-bound migration, will often rocket off the ground well before your approach. A couple on the path ahead of me recently allowed me to stand still as they policed the edges for ants and, presumably, other delicacies. There certainly are a lot of components to this species’ plumage. And,…
-
Monarchs, Mostly
All the Monarch caterpillars I’ve seen this month in Green-Wood. Not overwhelmed by the numbers, unlike two years ago. Black Swallowtail for a change of pace. *** I thought this Judith Butler interview on gender was excellent. It was an exchange of emails, so much better than a conversation; the written word is still the…
-
-
Grosbeak, Beechnut
Red-breasted Grosbeak foraging for beech nuts. This is a female. The yellow underwings underline that. Males are pinkish-red under there. This one and several others are scarfing up dogwood fruits. *** New Yorkers have until October 9th to register to vote. Other states.
-
Day-flying Nighthawks
On Wednesday morning around a quarter to eleven, I happened to look outside and saw a small herd of Common Nighthawks passing by. There were nine of them! This was after I’d seen a Broad-winged Hawk overhead, the first time I’ve seen one of these long-distance migrants in Brooklyn. Good birds to see from the…
-
Some Wasps
Have you noticed all the parts of a wasp’s mouth? That’s the tongue in the center there, reaching into the nectar, but that’s not the half of it. This is Ammophila pictipennis, I think, one of the thread-waisted wasps. Here’s a European Hornet, hanging from at least one foot, devouring a Western Honey Bee. These…
-
Raptor Wednesday
An Osprey passes overhead, carrying a fish head-forward. Location: Green-Wood, approximately a mile from the bay. (I don’t think that’s a Sylvan Water fresh-water fish.) Some forty minutes later, I heard the mewling call of one of these fish-hawks. Going to investigate, I was surprised to find it perched up in a tree with a…
-
Waxwings in a Yew
Three or four young Cedar Waxwings gobbling up the cones of a yew.
-
Mushroom/Mammal Mashup Monday
Watched this one eat two small gilled mushrooms that it rooted out of the sward.Discarded the woodsy stems…
-
Shaken, in Black and White
The Republican cult is disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters and working to suppress voting and create chaos in battleground states. A familiar crew of corrupt fascist oligarchs are funding this assault. And now the Republican plan, forthrightly announced in the 1970s, to return the federal courts to their traditional role as reactionary redoubt of…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Backyard and Beyond 