Brooklyn
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Five Nests
A male House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, perches outside his tangled nest. The species typically nests in and under human-made structures, but in a pinch will weave a large ball like this. A male Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus, carving out a nest hole cavity. I saw a couple of other Red-bellied working on holes in Prospect…
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Night Sights, Night Sounds
Red-winged Blackbirds at magic hour. Loud. Last night we went to Floyd Bennett Field and looked to the wandering stars, which is what “planetes aster” meant in ancient Greek. Nate was trying out his brand new telescope. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were visible, even with the glow of the city, JFK, and the sports…
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Trees on the Street
With all the new trees planted around the city, there’s just a lot more eye-level detail to be seen. As the trees bud out into leaves and flowers, we can get a lot closer to these saplings than we can to many a tall, trimmed up, mature tree. These pictures were all taken along two…
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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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In Green-Wood
The great Victorian necropolis of Green-Wood Cemetery comes into its own in spring-time when the ornamental and specimen trees start their blooming into glory.A trio of turtles were sunning themselves around the Valley Water. In the pond itself, a thumb-sized bullfrog tadpole emerged from the murk and then quickly descended back into the obscurity. There…
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Weekend Update
On various errands this rainy weekend. Still, there was no stopping the sights to be seen as soon as I walked out the front door. The tulip, that bulb-bundle of joy, is one of the few store-bought flowers I actually appreciate.The Amelanchier is in bloom. Traditionally, this means the ground is thawed out enough to…
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Does This Komodo Make Me Look Fat?
There’s a giant monitor lizard on the loose at Atlantic Ave and Henry St. It’s about five feet long and looks hungry. I’ve called 911 and the ASPCA and the tabloids. Traffic snarled, people freaking out, dogs hiding. If you’re in the neighborhood, for God’s sake, stay indoors!
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The Darling Buds of… March?
The two crab apple trees on my block are now blooming. Title riff: “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May” ~ Shakespeare, Sonnet 18.
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Starling Excavation
The European Starling, rather vulgarly branded by the taxonomists as Sturnus vulgaris, was introduced to New York because some idiot wanted to see all of Shakespeare’s birds in the New World. Cf. “I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak/Nothing but ‘Mortimer,’ and give it him/To keep his anger still in motion.” ~ Hotspur,…
Backyard and Beyond 