fish
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Raptor Wednesday
Every once and a while, an Osprey scouts out Green-Wood’s Sylvan Water, the largest body of water in the cemetery. Just in case. There certainly are fish in there. This one is entirely too small for an Osprey, but intriguing nonetheless. What is it? Of course, that fish is perfect for a Kingfisher. This one…
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Skates
A skate egg case. From a Little Skate, Leucoraja erinacea, according to iNaturalist. Found at Jones Beach recently. The species is under assault from the fishing industry, a victim of bait-hunters (for lobstering) and by-catch. Same day, same beach. This is a skate’s tail. Folks on iNaturalist have identified this as belonging to the Rough…
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What Colors!
I can’t believe there are still fish in the Dell and Crescent Waters, since this male Belted Kingfisher has been around all winter dipping into the stock here. Here he has a goldfish. Usually they just scarf their prey down PDQ, flipping it so it’s head first and then sluuuurrrppppp! This bird, however, just chortled…
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Eel
Last Saturday, there was a fish survey around the archipelago of NYC and further up the Hudson River. I was too lazy to go to any of the events, but that morning I did run across an interesting sample. On Bush Terminal Park’s pier was this half-an-eel. American Eel Anguilla rostrata, the adult stage of…
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On Plumb Beach
Plumb Beach is off the Belt Parkway between Sheepshead Bay and Flatbush Avenue. The Parks Dept.’s website calls it Plumb; Parks Dept. signs on site call it Plum; it is supposed to be named after Beach Plums (Prunus maritima). It has a unexpected history, although perhaps not for Brooklyn’s wild edges, capped more recently by…
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Ruins
In the Henry Street Basin next to the old Port of New York Authority Grain Terminal* colossus, there were a pair or Mallards, a Gadwall, and a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers. And then there was this: Some kind of carp. Usually, the members of the Cyprinidae are freshwater fish. Here, next to the Gowanus Bay…
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Oyster Toadfish
Last night as I watched the sun tuck behind the embankment of New Jersey, a fisherman beside me on the end of Pier 5 reeled this fish out of the dark water. He thought it was a Sea Robin, but I didn’t. It wasn’t that weird. Some research reveals it to be an Oyster Toadfish…
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Freshwater
I was enjoying the life above the Duckweed (Lemnaceae) recently, marveling that I’ve never seen so many Eastern Amberwings (Perithemis tenera).There were also a few Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis), making more Blue Dashers.A damselfly of unknown provenance was depositing eggs. And then, along the edge of the lake, some disturbance from below. There was an…
Backyard and Beyond 