Brooklyn
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Mallards
Two families of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) were spotted at Brooklyn Bridge Park the other day. Here’s an attentive mommy and one of her half a dozen cautious-reckless youngsters.
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Gowanus Twilight
Yesterday afternoon, I walked over the canal and was surprised by a pair of Kestels cavorting in the air, then two more, flying about. I didn’t have my real camera, so for our post-prandial constitutional we walked down into the valley to see if we could catch the family again. I’d spotted the nest earlier,…
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Milkweeds
While I was away, the milkweeds of Brooklyn all came out. Some of them in Brooklyn Bridge Park are nearly as tall as I am. But here is my favorite, Butterfly Weed, which usually stays pretty close to the ground: Asclepias tuberosa.
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Strange Cries in the Night
The other day, I woke up at 4:44 a.m. to a weird sound in the backyard. It was just about time for the local Northern Cardinal to start up with his “what-cheers,” the regular crack-of-dawn soundtrack around here since way back in late winter, but this was nothing I’ve ever heard before and if it…
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Rodentia
There’s a debate around here about which of our rodent friends this young’un is. There were at least ten of them strung out along about thirty feet of paved path in Prospect Park recently, most of them with their eyes still closed, some not moving, others scurrying regardless of their eyelids. I don’t know what…
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New Robins
Out of the nest, still being fed by the parents. Fledged, but less a flier than a hopper and a climber at the moment. People often think birds need help at this stage — can’t fly, looks helpless, no sign of the parents — but they usually don’t. The parents are near, but keeping away…
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Butterflies Galore
Over the weekend, I lost count of the number of species of butterflies I saw, most of them for the first time this year. This included a Monarch (predictably scouting out Milkweeds), so that’s a good start. American Ladies (Vanessa virginiensis), like the one above in Green-Wood, and Red Admirals were all over.There were at…
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Monday Morning Preening
This is an extreme telephoto, but the bright yellow toes here are a give-away: Snowy Egret (Egretta thula). This bird is a little like a miniaturized version of the Great Egret (Ardea alba), but with black bill/yellow toes to the Great’s yellow bill/black toes. Both species were almost hunted to extinction for their breeding plumes,…
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Mighty Elm
An enormous American Elm (Ulmus americana) crowding a yard on 44th Street near 3rd Avenue in Sunset Park. The old giant took us by surprise: the neighborhood still suffers from the blight of highway above 3rd Avenue, a product of the 1940s and a wretched vision of a promised land of highways to segregated suburbs.…
Backyard and Beyond 