Green-Wood
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A Better Way To Plant
This patch of native meadow in Green-Wood Cemetery was a revelation on a recent afternoon when it was absolutely pulsing with life as numerous species of butterflies, dragonflies, bees, wasps, and beetles gathered pollen and nectar and munched on plants and each other. I gather it’s an experiment. I hope it thrives, and that those…
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Spotted Cucumber Beetle
Diabrotica undecimpunctata on Liatris.
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Autumn Meadowhawk
An immature or teneral male Sympetrum vicinum in Green-Wood. When mature, this small dragonfly will be a beautiful shade of red, and a representative of one of the few dragonfly species to be seen locally into October. The yellow-legs will stay this color: an alternate common name is Yellow-legged Meadowhawk. Having recently emerged from its…
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Transition
This larval critter was snapping and bucking in the water. Because it clearly had places to go. Or something to become.
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Turtlenecks
The all too-common Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta). Note those neck line patterns. On the same day, close by, was this specimen. This one differs by having the yellow line go up past its eye.And by having an oval shape on the neck. Missing, too, is the red stripe behind the eyes which give Red-eareds their…
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The Birds Certainly Do It
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) throwing out some wood chips from a nest cavity. Both birds were working on the excavation, and defending it from cavity-stealing Starlings. One of a pair of tiny Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea) crafting a nest of spider webs and lichen. Yes, that’s right, spider webs and lichen.Meanwhile, having gotten the jump…
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Another Leucistic Robin
There was a leucistic American Robin (Turdus migratorius) seen in Prospect Park for at least five years, if I remember correctly. This one, spotted in Green-Wood last week, has much less pigmentation in the feathers. There’s enough of the bricky red in the breast to let you know that this is, in fact, a Robin.…
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Raptor Wednesday
A Red-tailed Hawk in Green-Wood. I was on a ridge, so the bird was only a little above eye-level.
Backyard and Beyond 