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Poison Ivy
The bright shiny new leaves of Toxicodendron radicans in its tree-climbing vine form.
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Newts!
One of several Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) in the high reservoir at Black Rock Forest recently. The red-spots are telling here, identifying the animal (another common name is Red-spotted Newt) and warning predators to lay off. This is the mature, aquatic stage of the animal’s life-cycle. They can live more than a dozen years. As…
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Wild Ginger
Now blooming: the ground-hugging flowers of Asarum canadense.
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Raptor Wednesday
A field trip to Great Swamp NWR was a field day for raptors. There were several road-side Red-tailed along the way as well as inside the NWR’s bounds. A pair of soaring birds turned out to be a Sharp-shinned and a Broad-winged. We saw a Merlin and a Kestrel. Two birds that were probably a…
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Hemlocks Past
The devastation caused by the aphid-like Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae) was on display on our visit to Black Rock Forest. It was grim: skeletal bones of dead trees towered above us, waiting to fall. The Adelgids, which are fairly benign in their native Japan, where their host trees evolved along with them, kill our…
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More Snakes in the Garden Please
A young Common Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis) riding over the duff of Black Rock Forest.This one was about 7″.At a stream, I saw four mature Garters drift by on the other side; these were over 2′ long. My friends called my attention to the one on my side of the stream. Perhaps a wintering ball of…
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Mighty Acorns
Remarkable things, acorns. They’re packed with proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, as well as vital minerals: this is why they make such great animal food. There are not many mast-eaters in Brooklyn Bridge Park, though, where I found these red-to-mahagony colored nuts breaking through the shells recently. After wintering under the big freeze — hibernating, basically…
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Snails on Saturday
The rain in the middle of the week bought the snails out in the Back 40. Half a dozen were visible from the door for the rest of the week. All are the big ones, Cepaea nemoralis, an introduced species. I’m sure there are others. These two were getting frisky. More snails: the surprising abundance…
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Backyard and Beyond 