-
Giving Thanks
May your home or home away-from-home be as snug as a Bald-faced Hornet nest in a Sweetgum tree.
-
Raptor Wednesday
Peregrines are pretty regularly spotted above Brooklyn Borough Hall and Columbus and Cadman Plaza parks to its north. There’s a long-time scape (nesting site) nearby in the Pokey, and I heard from a passerby that there has also been one at the federal court house north of the Centrol PO. First I’ve heard of that.…
-
Hickory Wind
Incoming! The hickory nuts were falling the other day. The big ones and the little ones. This is a Bitternut (Carya cordiformis), at least according to its label, and the nuts, the smallest below, certainly look right for the species. These ricocheted and caromed off branches as they fell, a subtle drumming (I mean, for…
-
A Tale of Two Kingfishers
A female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) in Green-Wood Cemetery recently. You almost always hear these birds before you see them. This one wasn’t rattling loudly, it was more of a whisper or grumble under her breath. Nonetheless, my ears crested, as it were, when I heard that dry sound. I find Kingfishers generally intolerant of…
-
On The Shoulders of Giants
You probably know Isaac Newton’s famed homage to his predecessors and rivals, especially the last line here, addressed to Robert Hooke: “What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen a little further it is…
-
Fall?
Well, they fell, but they were the wrong color. The long lasting warmth seems to have kept many of the leaves going. Then a cold snap came. Ginkgo leaves usually turn a gorgeous yellow in the fall. Sassafras leaves should range from yellow to bright red. Sure, plenty of leaves have turned, but boy, this…
-
This is just to say
I have eaten the persimmon that was on the ground and which you were probably saving for the opossum Forgive me it was delicious so sweet and so cold (with apologies to William Carlos Williams) Diospyros virginiana. Said in most accounts to only be palatable after the first frost. Well, it got cold. And, oh,…
-
-
Raptor Wednesday
Old faithful: Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). You will see these all over the city, as often perched upon a human edifice as in tree. The guard at Woodlawn Cemetery’s Jerome/Bainbridge Avenue gate said there’s frequently a Red-tail atop this chapel’s steeple. Further into the grounds, I heard a Common Raven making that distinctive knocking sound…
-
Franklinia BK
I discovered recently that Green-Wood Cemetery has a couple of Franklin Trees (Franklinia alatamaha). One may be the largest specimen in the country. But don’t get too carried away: this is not a giant species. This one might be all of 20 feet tall. It sure does have fine autumnal foliage, though. Windfall fruit and…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Backyard and Beyond 