Brooklyn
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Black-Crowned Night heron
Scene at the Lake in Prospect Park. Although the black-crowned night heron, Nycticorax nycticorax, will eat just about anything it can swallow, these red eared sliders look a tad too large. (Still, the tableau does give the impression of a vulture waiting for the cowpokes to die.) The most widely spread of the herons, N.…
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Great Egret
Ardea alba in the Valley Water, Green-Wood Cemetery. Once nearly exterminated for their feathers, which plumed ladies’ hats.
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Shhh…
Is there a color more beautiful than robin’s egg blue? This is the nest I posted a picture of last week. It was, after all, a brand new nest. So in the park now, you can see young fledged robins, hopping and flying about; you can see nestling robins, all mouth, gaping for food above…
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Horseshoe Crabs
I wrote about the Atlantic horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus last week, before I got a chance to head out to the city shore to look for some this year. So that was theory, this is practice, at Plumb Beach. And practice can be hands-on. If you should happen to see a horseshoe crab wrong-side up…
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Silk Moth
About 11:45 this morning, I noticed some activity at the pupa I found in Prospect Park and brought home to see if it would hatch out. It’s a giant silk moth of some kind, not sure which yet. Above you can see one of the feathery antennae, which has unfurled after being forced out of…
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In the Back 40
The first blossom of my grape tomatoes. Come pollinators! And some kind of leaf miner enjoying the sunflower. Meanwhile, the neighbor’s Japanese knotweed is now a good two feet higher than the fence. Machete time. (TimeOutNY, the consumption [consumptive?] guide to the city, recently pictured the next backyard over from knotweed central.) It’s an evil…
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In Praise of Prospect Park
Today is officially “It’s My Park Day.” But it isn’t mine, or yours; it’s not even ours. After all, we’re justing passing through this life, this borough. If we do our job, the park will long survive us. This is a reminder that Prospect Park, indeed, all our urban parks, are combinations of the natural…
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Field Notes: Tuliptrees bloom
The tuliptrees are blooming. Liriodendron tulipifera, also known as the yellow-popular, is one of the tallest tree in North America, and definitely in our area. These two blooms are from Elizabeth’s Tuliptree in Nelly’s Lawn in Prospect Park. I think this is the only named tree in the park. It’s been much battered, losing major…
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Field Notes: Snapping Turtle
I was looking at the new lily pads in the Lullwater in Prospect Park when: Ol’ Snap appeared. Not the kind of turtle to run when you approach. Chelydra serpentina has a fearsome reputation, but that’s probably just bad PR. (Duckling-centric PR, since they are in legend supposed to decimate baby ducks.) Still, you don’t…
Backyard and Beyond 