-
What the wha…?
A building at Floyd Bennett Field has this Snowy Owl stuffed animal in the window. I mean, I think it’s a stuffed animal.
-
The Catskills ~ Luna Moths
Originally posted on Backyard and Beyond: Checking out of our fog-bound Catskills hotel, we were greeted with a luna moth on the veranda. One of the giant silk moths, Actias luna is large, startling, and spectacular. (See the comments for the status of these show-stoppers here in the city.) Wingspan ranges from 3-4″ in length.…
-
Wash Your Rocks
One of the earliest disillusionments is the transformation of the beautiful seashell or river rock into something rather dull once it has dried out. Whence the magic of the beach-combing discovery, the footloose, and probably bare-footed, sojourn along the edges of the ocean/pond/lake/stream/river, where the gleaming thing captured our eye? I understand that shell collectors…
-
Signs and Meanings
“‘You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.’” ~ A.C. Doyle.
-
Raptor Wednesday
A rumor of an American Kestrel being heard and seen on Montague Street had my falcon-senses tingling Saturday. Exploring one of the alleys south of Montague, I faintly heard one of the birds, almost subliminally, just enough to make me look up: the little jet sliced the sky in half. Around the corner — voilà!…
-
Crows
There are two species of crows here and along the East Coast: the American and Fish. It is hard to tell them apart by sight, but their voices are distinctive. Since this one wasn’t vocalizing, I can’t be sure which one it was. Fish Crows (Corvus ossifragus), as their name suggests, are usually associated with…
-
Longleaf
I’m becoming obsessed with Pinus palustris, the longleaf pine that once covered 92 million acres of the southeast from Maryland to Texas, but now exists in only a handful of preserves. I’ve not seen it in its natural state, only as old lumber repurposed. That’s a piece of it above, one of the benches at…
-
Misc.
Long-time readers may know of my interest in the Two-spotted Ladybugs of Brooklyn Bridge Park. I wrote about them for Humans and Nature this week. I hope you’ll visit and read this and other interesting takes on the intersection of humans and nature. Some of my recent JSTOR Daily work may be of interest to…
-
Fly
I found this dead fly inside the convoluted head of an organically-raised cauliflower from Salinas, CA, with its brain-like flowerets. Brassica! Diptera! The first day of spring!
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Backyard and Beyond 