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Fake Bees
At first glance, you might think this was a small bumble bee. I did, and this isn’t my first bumble rodeo. But look at those eyes. In front of the face, not on the side like a bee. And the eyes are touching: this is a fly, a bumblebee-mimicking fly. Possible Merodon genus. Here’s another.…
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Raptor Wednesday
Another Brooklyn Bald Eagle sighting. The squawking of Canada Geese made me look as the eagle cruised over the Sylvan Water. A Northern Mockingbird was smacking into the raptor’s back. More recently, I saw a raptor in the distance chased by two small black birds, which turned out to be Fish Crows, identified by their…
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Apres Migration
There may still be some migrants moving through, but the great waves of north-ward birds are done for this year. Locally, the early birds are fledging. These Canada geese nested on the island in the middle of Sylvan Water. Eggs too big for Common Ravens perhaps? Just after seeing this House Finch feed one of…
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Spiders
Literally ran into this one’s silk and started carrying her along. Zebra Jumping Spider, fairly common, which may be because they are relatively easy to identify. Six-spotted Orbweaver, although I could only get pictures from the underside. About eye-level in a tree. Common Spitting Spider. A neighbor. Pholcus genus spider with something else alive. Actually,…
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The Central Park Effect
The Rio Grande Valley is one of the great birding places in the U.S. Think Roger Tory Peterson’s “South Texas Specialities” in the back of his Eastern/Central field guide. It’s also the fraught border between two intimately connected nations. A few years ago, before Trump’s even more white supremacist approach to anti-immigration politics than the…
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Crowing
Fish Crows, by the sound of them, harrying the male American Kestrel. They did not seem to be making much of an impression. In other media, I didn’t do one of my listening tours this year because of you know what, but I did talk to WNYC’s Amy Pearl about listening to nature.
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Plants & Things
American Sweetgum seed pods getting larger. European Beech nuts. While we’re on the beech, a mess of woolly aphids. Note, by the way, the downy hairiness on these leaves! Black cherry in bloom. Being farmed by a Nomada bee (I think). Peach leaf curl, caused by a fungus. Aromatic sumac. Feeding a Silver-spotted Skipper. And…
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A Bee-y Slope
Now, I know some people will freak out over a lot of bees flying around at ankle-height in the spring sun, but if you make sure you don’t step on any of these mounds, you’ll be fine. Not because they’re going to attack you, but because it’s quite rude to stomp on somebody’s nest. (More…
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Raptor Wednesday
In a London plane tree across the street, the American Kestrel male stashes prey. The nesting kestrels used this same spot two years ago, too. These last two pictures are from the same day, but different caches. Both, obviously, bird. Note that the kestrels will eat their prey’s feet, swallowing with the toes pointed outwards,…
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Some Insects
Convergent Lady Beetle (Hippodamia convergens), found inside, let outside. How delightful to observe a lady b. who isn’t the omnipresent Harmonia axyridis, which is larger, rounder, and far more varied in spot-count and even color than our native species. Two Rufus-chested Cellophane Bees (Colletes thoracicus). Most of our wild bees (a.k.a. not invasive honeybees) are…
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Backyard and Beyond 