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An early bird
Archaeopteryx lithographica, a cast reproduction of a circa 150 million-year-old fossil of a crow sized proto-bird. This is one of the fossil sculptures on the downtown platform of the 81st Street-Museum of Natural History subway station. Did you know feathers came about before flight? They seem to have been developed for insulation. So Archy probably…
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Housemates
Changing some bulbs — I suppose they should be called tubes now — reveals some fellow apartment dwellers who went towards the light. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. — Dylan Thomas
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Remains of the night
Out Madaket way, a row of arbor vitae had been cut back recently because they were crowding the road. Underneath were dozens of bodies. Was it the work of a serial killer? No, some owls had been feeding. Pellets are what these regurgitated masses of prey vomited up by birds are called. A number of…
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Spider in the My Tub
Just think of all the animals that surround us, even in the city. Even in our homes. I usually have spiders, and I usually leave them alone. That inch-plus behemoth marching across the floor that one time I did put outside, but otherwise they’re free to do what they will in here. I used a…
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Fresh and organic
I thought that I might be posting less and less as fall turned into winter, spending more time as an armchair naturalist than as a field naturalist. But the inside of my apartment remains fecund and full of surprises. For instance: This lady beetle — I believe it’s a Multicolored Asian ladybug, Harmonia axyridis —…
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Soiled
“We overcrowd the world. The elements can hardly support us. Our wants increase and our demands are keener, while Nature cannot bear us.” Sound familiar? It sounds like it was stripped from today’s headlines, in the midst of a U.N. conference in Japan (where they’re eating dolphins, whales, and blue fin tuna to death) on…
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Strange Fish
Back in March, I found a perfectly preserved northern pipefish on the coast of Brooklyn. When I found it, I didn’t know what it was, but I thought it looked like a straightened seahorse. It turns out that seahorses and pipefish are related, in the Syngnathidae family along with the seadragons. I’ve never seen a…
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Architecture
Now that most of the leaves have fallen, it’s a good time to start looking for bald-faced hornet nests. These two samples are from Prospect Park. These nests are abandoned each year, so they are harmless in winter. Wasp queens are the only ones who survive the winter, and they do it underground, or deep…
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Walking Tour
“To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country or sea-side stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with fine art works, nine tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall. Teach him something of natural history, and you place in his hands a catalogue of those which are worth turning around.”…
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Audubon’s Mammals
While behind the locked doors of the American Museum of Natural History last week, I saw a hidden exhibition of John James Audubon’s mammals. It was an unexpected treat, but too brief. (The exhibit was open to the public between 2007-09 in the renovated Audubon Gallery, but I missed it then.) Nowhere near as famous…
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Backyard and Beyond 