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Fleabane
Erigeron philadelphicus, if I’m not mistaken, which has more common names than you can shake a stem at, including Common, Philadelphia, and Daisy Fleabane, although the latter is generally E. annuus.
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Some Prospect Birds
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) fledgling. American Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) female and young.Same gloomy day. But the hovering gave away this American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) over Lookout Hill, just before it made a pass at some warblers.There were three species of sandpiper along the Lake edge: Spotted, Least, and, pictured: Semipalmated (Calidris pusilla).
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Horseshoe Moon
Horseshoe Crabs (Limulus polyphemus) mating on the shores of Jamaica Bay. It was the day after the full Moon, when the high tide lets them get farther up the beach, where they deposit their eggs.I have written much about these amazing non-crabs and how important they are to our health. I saw a headline the…
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Baltimore O
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) males don’t get their full, distinctive black and orange plumage until the fall of their second year of life. Which explains why this guy is only half way there. It’s too early, after all, for this year’s crop. According to Cornell’s All About Birds, this not-quite-dapper plumage doesn’t necessarily prevent them…
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The Red Hook Ks
Last year, I noticed an American Kestrel nest in a building on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. I learned from locals that it had been there for a few years. Last week, I got some really nice views of the pair in the late afternoon. This is the colorful male.And this is the…
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The Genius of Birds
Birds can see more of the light spectrum than we can; they can re-generate their hearing while we lose ours as we age; some of them have acute senses of smell that helps them find food, and home. Jennifer Ackerman’s new book is a synopsis of recent scientific discoveries about birds. If you are not…
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Buckeyes in Bloom
Common Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), a species originally from SE Europe/Asia, now widely cultivated. Note that some are yellow inside, some pinkish-red; the latter have already been pollinated. Red Horsechestnut, a hybrid of Horsechestnut and Red Buckeye, Aesculus X carnea. (Unless it’s a hybrid of Red Buckeye and Yellow Buckeye, Aesculus X hybrida.) The above two…
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Tuliptree Flowers
Liriodendron tulipifera: these are usually so far up these tall trees that they’re hard to see.But not all of them. Blooming now. They smell like some childhood candy I can never place…
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Blighted! But…
One of the American Chestnuts (Castanea dentata) planted in Prospect Park a dozen years ago has succumbed to the pathogenic fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, the dreaded Chestnut Blight. This is in stark contrast to the tree right next to it, which is long with leaf now. But the death was inevitable: these were non-resistant trees. There…
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Mystery With Distraction
So I’m trying to figure what this little warbler is hopping along the side of the road near the grave of Peter Cooper and family in Green-Wood. Female something, right? It flies out of my binocular vision, so I glance away from the glasses and see:A Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) just hanging out on a…
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Backyard and Beyond 