Brooklyn Bridge Park
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Brantlings
I was crouching down at Brant-height when the whole company of them were spooked by something. Their runway was in my direction. They took off not far above my head. One of the last to pass above dropped a very compact and intensely green turd, which bounced off my hat and landed in the grass.…
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B.B. Cuckoo
The Black-billed Cuckoo is relatively elusive, which is surprising for such a long-tailed creature. “Sluggish and secretive” says Cornell’s All About Birds about Coccyzus erythropthalmus. I was surprised on Friday when a popped into eye-level view at Brooklyn Bridge Park. I see the Yellow-billed (C. americanus) more often — and that isn’t that often. Both…
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Yesterday, there were half a dozen mantids in the asters on Pier 6. It was short-sleeve weather, but Honeybees were the only obvious prey. There were, however, a pair of Monarch wings tucked away in the folds of the flower stems, suggesting someone snagged a butterfly. (Sighted about ten living Monarchs yesterday fluttering and gliding…
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Look No Further For Groundcover
Where have all the flowers of spring gone? Long time passing…. Pier 1 at Brooklyn Bridge Park has a rather spectacular understory layer in its seventh year. From the top left: Celandine-poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), and wild ginger (Asarum canadense). And hiding their lights under their bushel of leaves: Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum). * I like…
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Heather’s Birds
My friend Heather Wolf’s Birding At The Bridge has just been published. This handsome volume detail’s Heather’s adventures watching and photographing birds in Brooklyn Bridge Park over the course of a couple of years. BBP is where I first ran into Heather. She was carrying her long lens, which is what you really need to…
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In The Rain
Aster-family something. Spiderwort (Tradescantia). Juneberries (Amelanchier)
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Wild Thing: You Make My Heart Sing
The woodland floor, even in a microscopic sample, is a wonderland. The little bit of wonderland at Pier 1 at Brooklyn Bridge Park is currently aflutter with wildflowers, spring’s advance guard, taking advantage of the sun before the trees shade the ground. Some are already abloom, others are readying to bloom, yet others are just…
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Balcony Perch
I saw a pair of Pigeons, but my companion saw something else in their general vicinity. We were down below the rise of the Heights in Brooklyn Bridge Park, looking up to where the swells live. The hawk was perched on the top balcony, facing in, but with that wonderfully flexible neck glance backwards and sideways and…
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