Brooklyn
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Wren Nest
A nest of a Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris). About the size of a softball, made of woven reeds, with a side-entrance usually facing south. Males may build up to half a dozen partially completed nests in a courting area of territory before females arrive in the spring. A female who choses a particular mate/nest will…
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After merely a summer dies the hornet
Unless she’s a queen. A Bald-faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata), caste unknown, unexpectedly by the front door buzzer. I rarely see this species, but I know they are neighbors. A local nest was revealed by the fall of leaves a couple of seasons ago. The wood-pulp paper nests are abandoned in the fall and not reused,…
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Ode to the American Chestnut
These non-blight-resistant trees were transplanted 9 years ago. Read more about them in my earlier post.
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Softshell Mystery
I spotted a snouty silhouette in the Lake the other day.It was a turtle of a type I’ve never seen before. The snout suggests some kind of softshell, although the shell doesn’t look so typical for those turtles. I queried Twitter and there were suggestions it’s in the Apolone genus, creatures that live in our…
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The Morning Rush
Not exactly going anywhere at the moment.
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Migration
A time fraught with hazards. This warbler didn’t make it. Perhaps it was taken by one of the Merlins scouring the air over the park lately, for raptors are on the move, too.But also a time of new life, as a Common Yellowthroat in his first year makes his way south, towards the Southeast, Florida,…
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Wood Duck
A male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) in fresh breeding plumage, which he will sport until early next summer.
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Late Summer, Early Fall
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) pods bursting.
Backyard and Beyond 