Brooklyn
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Aphids
A fine crop of aphids are raising themselves in the Back 40. These tiny sapsuckers are a photographer’s challenge, a gardener’s nightmare. There are more and 1,300 species in North America, according to Garden Insects of North America. They generally reproduce asexually, with a sexual phase once a year (which produce over-wintering eggs). We may…
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Marsh Walk
Salt marshes are some of the most productive ecosystems we know of, but they have traditionally been treated as wastelands and dumping-grounds. On Sunday morning, I’ll be leading a tour of Four Sparrow Marsh, one of the last salt marshes remaining in New York City, for NYC Wildflower Week. If you’d like to come you…
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Welcome wasps!
I first noticed this mud-dauber wasp nest in my backyard in January. It’s the work of a female black and yellow mud dauber, Sceliphron caementarium. The mud-pellet nest is right outside my back door, on one of the mini I-beams that support the balcony. The nest had probably been built late last summer, or even…
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American Chestnut Check
With the trees in Prospect Park fully and lushly leafed, providing blessed shade, I thought I would check in on the American chestnuts there. When last we looked, the little leaves had only just emerged. This is what they look like now, 7-8″ long. The chestnut’s species name is dentata, which makes sense when you…
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In Prospect Park
A walk in Prospect Park never fails to turn up something exciting in the animal/vegetable/mineral kingdoms, even if I’m paying more attention to the conversation. When the conversation is with NYC Wildflower Week’s Mariellé Anzelone, there’s plenty to learn. For instance, I think I can now actually name the two flowers pictured here. That’s one…
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Sapling?
I’m not the only half-assed gardener in the Back Forty (inches), my little plot of backyard concrete. The wind, the birds, and the squirrels have been known to plant things as well. In a weeding mind, I over-zealously pulled this out of a pot: Oops, hello, sapling! The seed here looks like a hazelnut or…
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Painted Turtles
This is why they’re called painted turtles: We found this one on the road right outside the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary last week. I hopped out of the car to get it off the road. The turtle immediately pulled in all its extremities, tucking its tail along the side, which was nice since the claws…
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Meanwhile, in the Back 40
The seam or gutter between the concrete out back ripened with all sorts of things while I was away. Beneath the plants are ant colonies.There are at least a half dozen species rooted in this little trough of dirt and BQE dust. Or, ah, were, until I weeded them. Meanwhile, behind the fences are two…
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Painted
A painted turtle on a rock in the Upper Pool in Prospect Park stands out from its red-eared slider companions.
Backyard and Beyond 