Brooklyn Bridge Park
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Arthropods
Hey! a) I got close enough to this slender inch-long damselfly to capture some detail, notably the broken stripes on the thorax, and hence b) I declare this to be a male Fragile Forktail (Ishnura posita). The pollen pack on this bumblebee, foraging in cluster of sumac flowers, is going to make some baby bumblebees…
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Question Mark?
The question mark on a Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) looks a little more like a semi-colon. These and their cousins the Eastern Commas are also called Anglewings more generically because their wings don’t have the rounded shape of most of our butterflies. This one was slurping up Viburnum nectar in Brooklyn Bridge Park recently.…
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Forecast: Cottonwood Flurries
Eastern Cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) pods are peeling back and letting rip, launching kerjillions of seeds on the wind.This is why they call them “cottonwood.”And piled up like snow. Photos above from Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo below from Broad Channel:Stand down-wind of one.
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Below the bridge
This view is like a dream sometimes. Also spotted in Brooklyn Bridge Park:
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In Brooklyn Bridge Park
Honey-colored honey bee in beach rose.Sticky green fruits of Eastern cottonwood. These will eventually split open to release the cottony fluffs that carry the seeds far and wide.A bridge passes over it.
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Life Aquatic
The fresh water ponds at Brooklyn Bridge Park were jumping with life in yesterday’s June-like weather. Bathing and drinking birds included Barn Swallows, recently returned north, Common Grackles, American Robins, Northern Mockingbirds, European Starlings, and House Sparrows, lots of House Sparrows. Water is very important for birds, and it’s been a very dry spring, so…
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Prom Dresses
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Japanes Flowering Cherry (Prunus) on Pacific Street.
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Spring’s sprung
Spring officially started early this morning, but it’s been bursting out for more than a month now. These pictures are from last week in the Brooklyn Bridge Park.
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Western Lights
The sun sets over New York Harbor, New Jersey, and the great darkening mass of the Republic. Photo from Brooklyn Bridge Park.
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Three Heart-Shaped Leaves
Catalpa:The tree with the foot-long seed pods. Both the Northern Catalpa, C. speciosa, and the Southern Catalpa, C. bignonioides, grow in our region. The ones in Brooklyn Bridge Park may be some kind of cultivar or hybrid. Eastern cottonwoods, Populus deltoides, growing wild in the as yet uncompleted part of the park.Note here the flat…
Backyard and Beyond 