At least three American Kestrel babies in here. This represents a lot of lizards.

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Osprey do like to check out Valley Water in Green-Wood. American Kestrel update: this female had just flown something edible towards the nest but didn’t enter it. She returned from over the building, so I wondered if there was a fledgling up there somewhere. Soon afterwards, I saw the male with what might have been…

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Yum! Fledgling Common Grackle agrees. Elsewhere and about a week earlier: a fresh Northern Mockingbird about a foot from the nest. And another N. Mockingbird nest.

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Two Eastern Chipmunks/Tamias striatus in Prospect Park yesterday. Although only a few blocks separate Prospect and Green-Wood Cemetery, there are rarely any Chipmunk sightings in the latter. Not enough woods, if you ask me.

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I’ve finally seen it in action. (A day after almost getting it in focus!) This Megachile bee explored about three other leaves of this bramble/Rubus before beginning to cut into this one. By my photos’ timestamps, this took 18 seconds. No wonder it’s so elusive. And now it’s back to the nest hole… The complete…

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Last Saturday at the NCL, I almost caught a Megachile leafcutter bee in action. But the bee was too quick for me. Leafcutters cut out circles and ovals of leaves to line their nests. These were on a Redbud/Cercis. It’s thought the pieces of leaves help prevent desiccation of the larval food supply (nectar and…

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I hadn’t been to the Naval Cemetery Landscape since 2015. In anticipation of helping with a bug and bird tour last Saturday, I visited the day before. It’s quite a special place. Note the raised boardwalk: it was built to not disrupt the remains below. Some of the sights: Native lady beetles are uncommon locally.…

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Entylia carinata: I ran into one of these small, ornate treehoppers this past weekend. They are Hemiptera, true bugs, meaning they suck plant juices, instead of, say, chewing plants. (As it happens, they’re in the same infraorder as cicadas.) Also as it happens, I started to read Ed Yong’s An Immense World on Tuesday. The…

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As soon as this male American Kestrel landed atop the Church of the Falcons in Windsor Terrace, an Eastern Kingbird was on the case. To no avail.

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