Female and male American Kestrel. I think the female is a youngster. Meanwhile, nearby at the Neo-gothic gatehouse, another pair were chasing each other about.

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On Saturday, a large lime-colored butterfly was racing around Janet’s Meadow in Green-Wood. I spent about fifteen minutes watching it zoom back and forth, across, and over the plants. Just as I was about to give up on it ever alighting anywhere, it started briefly perching on Partridge Pea plants. A Cloudless Sulphur/Phoebis sennae, if…

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A trio of Monarch caterpillars, all about 5mm long so far, eating Common Milkweed.

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A Megachile leaf-cutter bee chomps her way through a section of rose leaf. She abandoned this cut when it was about 9/10s done. Her second cut was successful, but: The bee dropped down with the leaf section, presumably losing it. OK, now a third leaf. This time, a successful cut and carry. At least to…

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American Sand Wasp/Bembix americana I saw one of these attempt several spots in this sandy path before settling in on this one and digging in. She will cache flies in here with her eggs. Microbembex monodonta. A little smaller than the Bembix. This species is a scavenger, which is a little unusual (locally), since most…

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Three American Kestrel seen around the old Chapel area within a few minutes of each other. A female above. Male. Another male, but this one is still in juvenile plumage.

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I’m leading a couple of insect walks in Green-Wood next month, on the 14th and 15th. There’ll also be a bird walk in Green-Wood on Nov. 23; stay tuned for detail on that. (My Tours and Adventures page.) If you have Netflix, Backyard Wilderness is worth watching, especially with kids. (Their site shows other venues.)

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Two of the 11 eggs I spotted on Saturday on some young Common Milkweed plants. In the photo below, you can see one of the eggs on the leaf around 11:00. Eggs are typically deposited on the underside of the leaves, as above, but occasionally you’ll spot one on the top side: Monarch butterflies prefer…

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A Black-crowned Night Heron at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The binomial Nycticorax nycticorax basically means night raven night raven. Found throughout much of the world, eating everything. They’ll even dumpster/landfill dive, so maybe that reference to corax/corvids isn’t all that off.

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