Brooklyn
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This used to be a parking space
Now it’s all covered in flowers. (Tip of the hat to the Talking Heads for the misquote, and here’s D. Byrne doing it on his own for the last day of summer.)
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Blackpoll in BBP
From the air, or, as in this case, the great bridge, Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 is an island of green. We’re not the only species that sees and enjoys this. Recently a migrating Eastern Red Bat was noticed resting through the daylight. Yesterday, I saw three species of warblers in the park. They’ve dropped…
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Brooklyn Bridge Park
It’s the middle of September, but Brooklyn Bridge Park is still hopping. And flitting. And flirting. And… but see below. Noted yesterday, most often spotted first by my eagle, or should I say bug? -eyed companions:Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus, a small butterfly that looks like it could be going either way.Baby Gray Catbird, Dumetella carolinensis.…
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Skipper
One of the numerous small butterfly species called skippers in the family Hesperiidae. Many look quite similar to each other, so I gave this one to the Bugguide crew, and last I checked there was no response. I usually see them skipping about meadows and overgrown lawns; this one was on a butterfly bush in…
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Ailanthus Webworm
I was working my way up to taking a picture of the Ailanthus sapling that appeared this summer in a crack in the concrete in the Back 40. I was looking forward to a tree growing in Brooklyn, at least until the landlord saw it. But the Ailanthus Webworms got to it before I did.…
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Hedgehog Gall
Hedgehog gall, caused by a tiny cynipid wasp, Acraspis erinacei, on leaves of White Oak (Quercus alba) in Green-Wood Cemetery.There are three to five larval cells in each of these galls. Only female adults will emerge from these in the late fall, and lay eggs (without mating) on leaf buds. These eggs over-winter, hatching in…
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Life Cycles in Brooklyn Bridge Park
The rare Two-spotted lady beetles (Adalia bipunctata) I discovered in July are still active in Brooklyn Bridge Park. In fact:“Houston, we have coition.” Luckily, I didn’t learn about reproduction from Republicans, so I know that this kind of activity leads to:Lady beetle eggs. I assume Two-spotted, but don’t know for sure.A recently emerged adult, whose…
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Lady Parts
Painted Lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) are all over the city. Yesterday I counted a dozen at one flowery corner in Gowanus, and another dozen around a couple of butterfly bushes in Brooklyn Heights. This species is similar to the American Lady butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis), as you might expect for a genus-mate. Here’s an American Lady…
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Great Blue Skimmer
For your August weekend, Libellula virbrans, spotted today in Brooklyn Bridge Park. A male. At 2.2 inches, this is one of our larger dragonflies, and it’s a great percher: this one returned to the same cattail leaf half-a-dozen times as I watched and photographed. More common in the southeastern swamps, but reaching up to Mass.…
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Green-Wood
Walking through the unruly lawns of Green-Wood Cemetery this time of year stirs up grasshoppers, skippers, and moths, who scurry away from your feet in the grass. Sulphurs and Cabbage White butterflies flitter about, sometimes laddering up together in mating flights.An occasional giant butterfly, like this Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes), is seen.Something had nibbled on…
Backyard and Beyond 