Brooklyn
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18th Avenue Eye Candy
The D train line is one I rarely find myself on, but the elevated stations on its southern, Brooklyn end, have some intriguing glass art. Recently, I got off the train at the 18th Avenue station take a closer look. This is Bensonhurst Gardens, by Francesco Simeti. These are made of laminated glass.Stay tuned for…
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Glazed oysters
Water spilling off a tree stump had coated and frozen around these mushrooms, giving them a glaze. I believe they may be Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), or another Pleurotus species. The gills make a pleasing pattern:
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Bleech!
The American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana), a.k.a. American Waterbug, and, incorrectly, as the Palmetto bug. The “American” is also a misnomer; they originated in Africa and been here since the 17th century. They are FREAKIN’ HUGE. (Sorry, my entomological sympathies are strained by the Blattodea.) 4cm or 1.5″ long. Distinguished from the smaller house invader commonly…
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Preen on
Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) preening. Feather maintenance is of course vitally important to birds. One of the things they have to worry about is feather lice, which, without regular bathing and preening, could become a problem. Interestingly, feather lice species have evolved over time to associate only with “their” species of birds. There is an analogy…
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Lord of all it surveys
A familiar silhouette. This Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) was on a mound of dirt and rubble near Pier 3 in Brooklyn Bridge Park’s still under-construction section the other day. As with all things, the more you practice, the better you get, and in this context it is looking and identifying birds. The raptors can be…
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Against the grain
More of the old-is-new-again Longleaf Yellow Pine in Brooklyn Bridge Park. This time I was looking at the knots and the resulting eddies of tree rings formed around them.During the last year, you were probably a combination of a little bit nice and a little bit naughty. (Whew! I know I was, but we’ll pass…
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Grain of the universe
The Rings of Saturn? No, the benches and tables at newly opened Pier 5 at Brooklyn Bridge Park.Like elsewhere in the park, this is recycled Southern Longleaf Yellow Pine (Pinus palustris), which was salvaged from the former Cold Storage Building at Pier One. This species has the highest resin content of any pine, perhaps because…
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Counting Crows and Others
Today’s the start of the annual Christmas Bird Count. This tradition started 113 years ago as a protest against the then popular Christmas Hunts, in which pretty much everything that flew was targeted to be blown out of the sky. A change for the better, I think. The counts go on for the next few…
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Red Robins
Not all of our American Robins live up to their species name, Turdus migratorius. They will stick around through the winter as long as there is available food and water. Nearly a dozen were scouring berries from this tree the other day. They’ll eat hawthorne, dogwood, chokecherries, and sumac berries, among others, and are said…
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Gray, with red highlights
It was as gray a Ring-billed Gull yesterday.But in Brooklyn Bridge Park, if you looked closely, there were flashes of color.Subtle color, mostly.But in a few cases, as in these rose hips, vibrant, almost lurid in comparison.And speaking of lurid, these seem to have been devoured from within.
Backyard and Beyond 