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Hooded Merganser
A female Hoodie hanging out on the Sylvan Water with some Mallards and Canada Geese. She was not nearly as tame as the other waterfowl. One of the Mallards was hollering. The Hoodie made some horse grumbly-grunty noise as well. It may have been because of the Red-tailed Hawk perched high up on the southeastern…
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Amber Jelly
Under two mature oaks, one red and one willow. Windfall branches from the canopies after a recent rain-snow storm. (Over-exposed coin just over an inch across for scale.) Both trees’ branches were sporting this jelly raisin-like stuff. It seems to be Amber Jelly Fungus (Exidia ricsa). I’ve never see this at eye-level or below, only…
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Raptor Wednesday
At Floyd Bennett Field, a male Northern Harrier, a bird known as the Grey Ghost for obvious reasons, surprised me by rising out of the grasslands. I almost always see females or juveniles, who look quite different. Not that I see them very often. Last year, I spotted one in a migratory raptor wave rolling…
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Lingering Phoebe
Last winter, an Eastern Phoebe was a regular around the Dell Water. This year one has been reported there as well. (Ok, I guess it’s still technically fall.) This one was at the Sylvan Water, Green-Wood’s largest waterbody, last week. Same bird? Another? Clearly finding something to eat, although the pickings must be slim indeed.…
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Parakeet
Monk Parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus. What is a “parakeet” but a little parrot? As far as I can tell, the members of the family Psittacidae get called parakeet or parrot based on size and tradition, not biology.
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Migratory Restlessness
Of course the Germans have a word for it: Zugunruhe. Migratory restlessness is best known in birds, but other animals have it as well. In spring and fall, these animals feel the need to get a move on. Hormones trigger it. Here’s Melville making an analogy in Pierre, or, The Ambiguities, published in 1852: “So…
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12th Month Insect
Diptera are the only things out and about now, and just barely. This fly was on the Dead Horse Bay beach the other day. A gnat landed on my nose yesterday as I walked down the street. Flies are hard to ID when they are not in hand. Out of a total of 80 iNaturalist…
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Mud Waves
Corrugated tidal flats, a rippled landscape. Some water is still trapped yards from the lowtide front. Somebody’s in there. These sandy spaghetti-like strands are casings, thrown out of wormholes in the sand. While we’re on the subject of worms, these are another kind of worm that build tunnels on shells (in this case a big…
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Raptor Wednesday
This glorious smokestack is the throne of Peregrines. I’ve seen them up here often during the past couple of winters. Not so much during spring and summer, however, when, presumably, breeding keeps them busy. I can see this ‘stack from the home front, but these shots are from much closer, the playground next to Sunset…
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Backyard and Beyond 