Brooklyn
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Raptor Wednesday
I’m going to bet this isn’t the only American Kestrel nest above a New York City bus stop. Falco sparverius love these old decaying wooden cornices, one of the reasons they have taken so well to the city. Falcons are spartan: the nest is pretty sparse inside, evidently, with little or no nesting material used.…
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Bipunctata in Sunset Park
Two-spotted Ladybug (Adalia bipunctata). Back in 2012, I reported to the Lost Ladybug Project that I found some of these critters in catalpa trees in Brooklyn Bridge Park. From the LLP, I learned that mine was the third New York State record for this species, and the only one in NYC. There was much rejoicing.Yesterday,…
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Not Just The Legs
It’s a long stretch from the edge to the water.Yet this Green Heron (Butorides virescens) not only got this frog but dipped it back into the water over and over again until a car flushed the heron and it flew off with its hominid-looking prey. That’s a long neck. And the dipping? Making lunch easier…
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Kingsland Wildflower Roof
When last we visited this Greenpoint wildflower garden, it was right after its opening.Now the first generation of wildflowers sprouting here have emerged, with more blooms to come.Currently, the garden is only open for events. Eric W. Sanderson was talking about Newtown Creek’s history, in the context of the Welikia Project. This is an elaboration of the…
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Raptor Wednesday
A new Red-tailed Hawk nest on a Park Slope church. The nest got some media attention. Evidently the church fathers thought it would be fitting that there be a contest to name the birds, encapsulating Christianity’s misguided view of nature. I haven’t see any sign of hawks yet. My last pass by was Monday. The…
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Beginnings
Oh, spring, spring, you are so fast! Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans).One of the lindens (Tilia). Some galls are already planted on these. As with the leaves immediately below, these were windfalls. Pin oak (Quercus palustris).Beech (Fagus) about to blow.Mockernut hickory (Carya tomentosa) already blown. * Share the pre-existing condition of being human? Then the GOP…
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Naturalist Notes
Viola canadensis, a native violet.It was cool, so this Robin (Turdus migratorius) was hunkered down on those blue blue eggs.A Red Velvet Mite of the family Trombidiidae. Predators of the leaf-litter zone, as large as a blood-gorged tick and, being mite-y, rather looking like one.So many vocal White-Throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) in the Ramble!And a…
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Raptor Wednesday
The all-Merlin (Falco columbarius) edition. In Green-Wood. This falcon, seen here on two different perches, was one of two by the Crescent Water at the same time. The other flew into a nearby tree — but the photography possibilities were not worth posting home about. The second bird took off, followed by the first.…
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Bush Terminal Park
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) on the fence.Female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus).Carpet of little Brassicas.American Wigeon (Anas americana) and Eurasian Wideon (Anas penelope) drakes lined up for comparison’s sake. If only they’d been a little closer! Eurasian, as name suggest, is out of range; but we get a few in local waters most winters.
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Avenue U
On the Q Line. Jason Middlebrook, “Brooklyn Seeds,” 2011. Did you catch the results of Kansas’s special election on Tuesday? In a heavily Republican district, the Democratic candidate did quite well. Not enough to win, but damn close. In dozens of GOP-held Congressional districts, a similar swing would simply drown the rats. And this guy…
Backyard and Beyond 