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Longleaf Again
I’ve written about the Longleaf Pine several times, including in this essay for Humans and Nature, but I’ve never seen a living example of the tree until recently. Alas, it’s just a stripling of 25 years or so of age at NYBG, perhaps 25 feet high.But look at those needles!
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On The Rocks
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). This one-footed stance is common among shore birds. Did somebody say vociferus? This quintet was silent, but in breeding season Killdeer can be loud! It’s Thanksgiving, time to remember what we have to be thankful for and stand on both our feet in defense of it. Let me convey my solidarity with…
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Raptor Wednesday
A Peregrine (Falco peregrinus) was perched atop the head of the statue of Justice atop Brooklyn’s Borough Hall when I emerged from the R train.The bird remained there as I made some copies, went to the Post Office, and returned to swing around to the chignon-side.Not all Justice is blind. We can see the neo-confederate…
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Bigleaf Maple
Acer macrophyllum is one big-leafed maple. Also known as Oregon Maple, these trees of the moist, shady canyons of the Coast Range can have leaves 9″ or more long. The leafstalk can be up to a foot long. Just wow! And, speaking of wow, check out this intersection of the great naturalist David George Haskell…
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For the love of moth snowstorms
A public service announcement: I wrote about Michael McCarthy’s necessary book The Moth Snowstorm for Humans and Nature. I hope you’ll pop over and read it. Biophilia must be political.
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Persistence
Harmonia axyridis on 5th Avenue. At this rate, why even bother taking shelter for the winter?On the contrary, let’s stay out all day and night… * In case you missed it in the hullabaloo over Hamilton, on Friday, the President Elect of the United States of American settled the fraud suit against him for his…
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The Chat of the Town
For more than two weeks now, a Yellow-breasted Chat has been haunting the northern side of Trinity Church graveyard in lower Manhattan, the side opposite musical-comedy star Alexander Hamilton’s grave. Chats are small, distinctive songbirds, their creamy yellow breasts contrasting sharply with their olive green tops. Bold white spectacle-like markings about the eyes jump out…
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Leaves Under Water
And heads above water. It’s precisely because we can’t “give him a chance” to implement his assault on the nation that we protest.
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Well, Hello Autumn!
A trio of female Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata), the first I’ve seen this season, were on the never-more-appropriately named Sylvan Water. The water is all agleam with the late afternoon gold of the season. No filter, just the usual “Auto” setting on my camera. * A gold so much lovelier than the smears of gilt favored…
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Still Skipping
What a late, endless fall. This picture of a skipper was from last Friday, and there was at least one other of these quirky butterflies still working these amazingly productive ground-hugging buddleia. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m going full Thoreau in these posts. The inspiration for this blog was both a naturalist and a…
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Backyard and Beyond 