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Right Now
Redbud Cercis canadensis.Hawthorn (Crataegus)Dogwood (Cornus)Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), after flowering.Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora).
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What a Great Swamp!
I missed the emergence of Skunk Cabbage this year. Here’s some of the mature, cabbagy leaves as they look now. The time-travelling internet, however, can take us back to a previous year’s sprouting. It seems as if everything happens at once during spring. At Great Swamp NWR recently, we saw and heard so much it…
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Hashtag This
WNYC is running a #wildnyc project, urging listeners to submit photos or audio of wild animals and plants discovered in the city. The basic idea is that folks send in images and our panel of experts help them identify the thing. Some submitters already know they’ve got, of course. I’ve been deputized to help out…
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3 Turtle Species
Spotted (Clemmys guttata).Painted (Chrysemys picta).Snapping (Chelydra serpentina). All on the same day at Great Swamp. There were two Snappers, the pictured one being enormous; a dozen Painted; and half-a-dozen Spotted. I am most enamored of the Spotted. Here’s another:
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Odds & Ends
A Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) was in Prospect Park for a while last week. This was an unusual sighting for the Lake; usually these birds are seen off-shore. This may be explained by the bird not being in good shape: lots of people only ever saw it sleeping like this, with bill tucked into wing.…
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Bugs At Last!
You’ve been waiting patiently all winter long for some serious insect life to liven things up. This was the week! Two color variations of the Spotted Lady Beetle (Coleomegilla maculata).These are in the Coccinellidae family of ladybugs, but clearly not the usual rounded shape of the classic VW. Sure are spotty, though: another common name…
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Wood Ducks, Heron Fisher
I found a trio of Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) in the Dell Water on Saturday. These birds nest in tree cavities or nest boxes, rather atypically for our ducks. And they have nested in Brooklyn before.The Dell Water was busy with three species of warbler, woodpeckers, and jays hooting and hollering in the distance, and…
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Azures and Beauties of Spring
A tiny butterfly with lovely blue wings — on the inside, anyway, meaning you only see the color when they fly.Here’s a pair making more. Quite a complicated taxonomy, evidently. So that was last week. This week I saw only a few of the Azures flitting about. That precious blue! But this week, there were…
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Join, Or Die
Some of the Water Snakes (Nerodia sipedon) seen recently soaking up the sun at Great Swamp NWR. Relax, it’s harmless — it’s just yawning.My title is a reference is to Ben Franklin’s 1754 cartoon of the colonies in the shape of a dismembered snake, for today is primary day here in New York. Normally, the…
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Malus Aforethought
The ornamental crab apples are luxurious right now. These were all found on the byways of Green-Wood.
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Backyard and Beyond 