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Question Marks
Polygonia interrogationis , the Question Mark butterfly. The wings need to be closed to see the mark in question. I think it’s more of a semi-colon. The similar Comma (Polygonia comma) has the “comma” mark but not the dot. Mud-puddling. Everyone does it, but butterflies are so conspicuous they get noticed doing it. Insects need…
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Beach Patrol
An old map I once saw named this section of Staten Island’s southwestern shore “Red Bank”. Herring Gull. One of the Raritan Bay channel markers (“red-right-return” to the sailors) had an even bigger gull on it. Indeed, the world’s biggest: a Greater Black-backed Gull, who made a sortie after a fish-laden Osprey. The Osprey held…
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Various Insects
Polished Lady Beetle. The gloss on these things! You can see the trees overhead reflected in the elytra*.Red-banded Leafhopper. You must get close to this little one to see this wild pattern.Invasive European Wool Carder Bee. They hover very much like flies and are quite territorial. All over now, they were first detected in New…
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Raptor Wednesday
I’d hoped to be able to report some exciting falcon-reveal news about the local American Kestrels. The parents have been here and there, but as of this, written late yesterday afternoon, we’ve got nada to say about fledglings.Meanwhile, can I offer you this dicey situation as a substitute for your Wednesday raptor needs? A perched…
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Sinister Snails
Little freshwater mollusks in the Physa genus, according to the iNaturalist community. The aperture is on the left side, hence sinistral. In the Sylvan Water. How did they get here? Did they arrive via muddy duck feet, a noted transportation system for plants and animals?Less than a centimeter long, with some smaller. To the nearly…
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Mocking the Class of ’19
A fledgling Mockingbird in a tree. These things give themselves away with their “feed me” chipping.Another, even smaller, next to the neighboring bush. I think they were siblings (seemed to be fed by the same pair of adults).Looks helpless, but easily managed to hop-skip-flap up into the heart of the bush. People often mistakenly “rescue”…
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If you build it, they will come… sometimes
But not always. This wannabe Purple Martin colony waits patiently at the Narrows Botanical Garden. The half dozen bird-shapes are decoys It’s thought that the birds like to see that someone has done some recon. The so-called “scout” phenomenon of martins who arrive weeks in advance of others at a colony is, in explained by…
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No Pretty Picture Today
Reports are that Trump’s terror-police ICE will begin their round-ups of up to a “million” people in this country starting tomorrow. The lawless Rapist-in-Chief likes hyperbole, so his obscenity of a number may be more of his bullshit, but there is nothing rhetorical about the brutal monstrosity of his uniformed goons and his for-profit concentration…
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Hedgehog Galls
Why, they’re miniature Tribbles! This white oak has been hosting these structures for years now on its leaves. But this is the first time I’ve seen them so fresh. They’ll brown up over the summer.A tiny wasp, Acraspis erinacei, known as the Hedgehog Gall Wasp, creates these in conspiracy with the tree. Essentially the wasp…
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Pollinator Week: The Wrong Bee
For National Pollinator Week, let’s talk about the wrong bee, the Honeybee, Apis mellifera. This one is entangled with milkweed pollinia. A pollinium is a mass or packet of pollen; in this case, there’s one on each end of these wing-like U-shapes. Orchids and milkweeds flowers are where you’ll find these curious pollen-delivery systems. Unlike…
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