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Once More, With Feeling
Arbor Day draws to a close. This evening’s sunset lit up this backyard Magnolia out beyond the Back 40. It’s a late bloomer, shaded from much of the afternoon sun. Two fences away, snagged with a big plastic bag, and evidently uncared for, it beckons like a dream.
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Arbor Day Redux
This magnificent specimen at the northern end of Nellie’s Lawn is at its peak right now, maybe even slightly past. A few of the petals were blowing off in the breeze, snowflake-like, perfectly encapsulating the briefness of beauty. (As much as we strive for the epic, life is a haiku, my friends.)This is in the…
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Dinosaur Jr. Feathered Out
A little less than two weeks ago, I snapped a picture of a brand new Rock Pigeon. This was the bird yesterday (on the right):They grow up fast, the kids. Still a bit smaller than the adult (both parents were around), but this youngster was furiously flapping its wings, getting used to them, preparing for…
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Young Greens
The Tuliptree’s leaf is quite distinctive, although it looks a tad maplish here in its youthful stage. Liriodendron tulipifera is also known as Tulip poplar, Yellow-poplar, White-poplar, and Fiddle-wood. It is one of the largest hardwoods in North America, and is generally marked by a tall straight trunk. One of the grandest examples in Prospect…
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Two Yellow Flowers
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris), also known as Cowslip, at Brooklyn Bridge Park, where this perennial was planted along the freshwater gardens and continues to thrive, having survived the salty inundation of Sandy. Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria), growing all over the place, in this case in Prospect Park, where it wasn’t planted but spreads like wildfire…
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Mayapple
Also known as May apple, hog apple, mayflower, Indian apple, umbrella plant, American mandrake, among other names. It is Podophyllum peltatum to the botanists. Each of these plants will produce a single flower, which blossoms underneath the umbrella of leaves. The plant also reproduces asexually, via rhizomes underground, which is why it is often found…
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Ablutions
This Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) was bathing in Brooklyn Bridge Park the other day.Then it preened, in those hard-to-get-to corners.Most of the passerines, of the order Passeriformes — who make up more than half of all bird species — have twelve tail feathers.This bird looks black from a distance, but blues, browns, purples, and greens…
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Cicada Preview
People are getting hopped-up about Brood II of the 17 year cicadas, emerging soon near you here on the East Coast. I can tell, because I’ve gotten a lot of search hits on the subject of cicadas. But most of my cicada posts are about the annual cicadas and their predators. I’ve never seen a…
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Backyard and Beyond 