Green-Wood
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Nyssa Shine
These shiny red leaves are Nyssa sylvatica, Black Tupelo or Black Gum. One of the great fall color trees. Have you been bathing in fall colors?
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Butorides virescens
An inside source tells me that there was indeed a Green Heron nest in Green-Wood this season.Behold a juvenile; there are at least two. This one caught two fish as it walked around the edge of the pond towards me. These pics are from earlier this month. They will fly south any… minute now. After…
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Raptor Wednesday
On Saturday, two passes through Green-Wood Cemetery on either side of brunch came up zilch on the raptor count, so Sunday I went back in amidst the nuthatches, kinglets, and warblers. Within a ten-minute period, I’d spotted a Sharp-shinned Hawk, two Red-tailed Hawks, a Merlin, and then an American Kestrel: now, that’s more like it!…
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Variegated
A Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) yesterday in the Buddleia pollinator-magnet at Green-Wood. First time I’ve seen this species here in NYC, although I’d seen one before in Arizona. They’re a southern species, uncommon here, but have been known to get up to Canada.
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Monarch, Comma
Spotted two Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in Green-Wood today.Like perfect little kites of joy.Also saw some Cabbage Whites, Orange Sulphurs, and several skippers. Pretty good for a day with temps in the high 40s at sunrise. There was also this Comma (Polygonia comma).Soaking up the sun.
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Herons
This Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) had a bum left foot. It was holding the toes curled and not putting any pressure on it. In flight, which seemed fine, it looked as if a toe was sticking weirdly upright. Green Heron (Butorides virescens), also at Crescent Water. I think it’s standing on something under there,…
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Woodland Aster
There isn’t much of a concentration of trees in Green-Wood, as opposed to grand old specimen trees, but the tiny patch of woodland overlooking the Sylvan Water is host to these little asters, a burst of autumnal blooming. The reddish-orange parts have already been pollinated, the yellow not yet. Both bumblebees and flies were observed…
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Raptor Wednesday
On a recent afternoon, I had the pleasure of experiencing the Brooklyn falcon trifecta. It all started in Green-Wood: the distinctive shape of one of the small falcons tearing through the air in the distance, met by the rough chorus of outraged Monk Parakeets stirred up by its cousin. (Yes, falcons are more closely related…
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Autumn Meadows
Fat grasshoppers and noisy crickets. Bumblebees built for cooler weather. Darting moths stirred up by our presence. Palm Warblers absent the rufus polls of springtime, but their tails as derrick-like as ever. A falcon shoots by, too quick for us. We curse the god-damned helicopters, a constant curse over the island.And a few days later…
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Feasting
Late afternoon, under an elm and its satellite Redbuds, these little flies were thick in the air, and in the ear and eye, too. Many birds were feasting on the tiny things, including a Red-breasted Nuthatch, lots and lots of Palm Warblers, a noisy Black-throated Blue Warbler, several Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Downy Woodpecker,…
Backyard and Beyond 