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Underside and inside
European paper wasp, Polistes diminula. Through a window. It was a cold morning, the first of the nascent fall, and this individual was hardly moving, waiting to warm up with the sun. This European import, introduced to the U.S. only in the late 1960s and now wide-spread, has markings similar to some of the yellow…
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This used to be a parking space
Now it’s all covered in flowers. (Tip of the hat to the Talking Heads for the misquote, and here’s D. Byrne doing it on his own for the last day of summer.)
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Blackpoll in BBP
From the air, or, as in this case, the great bridge, Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 is an island of green. We’re not the only species that sees and enjoys this. Recently a migrating Eastern Red Bat was noticed resting through the daylight. Yesterday, I saw three species of warblers in the park. They’ve dropped…
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Spiderlings
Last month, I watched a spider feed heartily and then build a silken sac for her young. Two weeks ago, the young spiderlings emerged from the sac. And just sat there for several days. Then the mother spider disappeared. And a few days after that, all the little ones. In the outdoors, some young spiders…
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Brooklyn Bridge Park
It’s the middle of September, but Brooklyn Bridge Park is still hopping. And flitting. And flirting. And… but see below. Noted yesterday, most often spotted first by my eagle, or should I say bug? -eyed companions:Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus, a small butterfly that looks like it could be going either way.Baby Gray Catbird, Dumetella carolinensis.…
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Far Southern Queens
Yellow Queen Honey from Greenpoint. To the Honey Festival at Beach 96th and the Boardwalk on the Rockaway Peninsula yesterday, where the beach was swarming with Black Saddlebags dragonflies. Like Monarch butterflies, the Black Saddlebags are migratory. (Until fairly recently, I didn’t know that some dragonfly species migrated. Natural history is an arena of near-infinite…
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Pearl Crescent
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos), on path around Marvin’s Woods.
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Pulling “chestnuts” out of the etymological fire
The Chestnut Oaks, Quercus montana, are ripening in Prospect park. This species’ common name stems from the leaves, which are somewhat chestnut-like, although the acorn, over an inch long in this species, is all oak.The remains of a squirrel feast on what I believe is Yellow Buckeye, Aesculus flava, in the Vale. Included here because…
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Stamps
I’ve been away from my post here nearly two weeks, during which I barely had any time to get out and about. But I did find this handsome stamp. The tits of GB and Ireland are, ahem, equivalent to our chickadees. Birds do lend themselves to stamp designs. Here are some of the first class…
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Backyard and Beyond 