-
American Kestrel
Falco sparverius male. The blue wings sex the bird.Hunting amidst the strollers at the NYBG. Came up empty-taloned from a pass into the stubble, just some wisps of grass. With his head turned here, you can see the two black patches on the back of his head. These are ocelli, or false eyes. The standard…
-
Patriotic Oystercatchers
American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) are starting to appear on the coast. Here’s a pair from the weekend.Local nesters, they make nests on beaches and dunes, which isn’t so good, considering beach crowds, unleashed dogs, four-wheeled vehicles (not at DHB, tho’) and other slings and arrows.
-
Just Another Urban Great Horned Owl
Bubo virginianus trying to look like a branch, but also occasionally vocalizing in the middle of the day. This is the owl who makes the classic hop-hoo-hoo.
-
Cloak and Dagger
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) in the flowers of an early blooming crab apple (Malus). Actually, on second viewing, this seems to be a cherry (Prunus). The butterfly’s long tongue, rather like an oil derrick, or a dagger, plunging into the heart of the nectar. Seems like a good year for Mourning Cloaks. Note that this…
-
Scoter Revealed
Now here’s something you don’t see in Dead Horse Bay everyday. This is a drake Black Scoter (Melanitta americana), a not uncommon sea duck, yet I’ve never seen one in any part of Jamaica Bay before. I’ve also never seen one alone, so I wondered if it was ill or hurt; but he seemed to…
-
Thickening
If you’re new to the neighborhood, I’ve been photographing this fine old American Elm with the swooping branches in Sunset Park since November. It is in flower now: the wind-pollinated flowers have no need to be attractive to pollinators. Happy spring!
-
Many Forests Gone
Eric Rutkow’s American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation is a history of America’s woodlands. It is therefore a history of loss: the great forests that once stretched from the Atlantic to beyond the Mississippi were certainly touched in part by native Americans, who burned for deer parks and plots for seasonal…
-
Leaves
Bud-break in the case of the Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is more of a peel. If you look closely here, you can see the first tiny leaves of the year. Also last year’s dried-out fruits, cone-like conglomerations of samaras with a central spike. Here’s another look at a bud with leaf:
-
Feeder Birds
This White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) kept flaring its wings in an attempt to scare off an implacable Mourning Dove taking up under half of the feeder space. This is another one of those doves, Zenaida macroura.Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis): the woods were not full of these birds this winter without a winter. No need for…
-
Calling Elk Home
And after a long struggle, I finally found a home up here on the Harbor Hill Moraine, which meant I finally found a home for Wendy Klemperer’s plasma-cut steel sculpture of a calling elk. [The rich plum, or, as I like to think of it, the wine dark sea, of this wall does not reproduce…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Backyard and Beyond 