Green-Wood
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Lichens
This is the first printed image of a lichen. 1542: Leonhart Fuchs’s De historia stirpium commentarii insignes… (and the title keeps going, as they were wont to). This copy is from the special collections department at the LuEster T. Mertz Library at the NYBG. This book and several others were on display during a recent…
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Hooded Merganser
A female Hoodie hanging out on the Sylvan Water with some Mallards and Canada Geese. She was not nearly as tame as the other waterfowl. One of the Mallards was hollering. The Hoodie made some horse grumbly-grunty noise as well. It may have been because of the Red-tailed Hawk perched high up on the southeastern…
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Lingering Phoebe
Last winter, an Eastern Phoebe was a regular around the Dell Water. This year one has been reported there as well. (Ok, I guess it’s still technically fall.) This one was at the Sylvan Water, Green-Wood’s largest waterbody, last week. Same bird? Another? Clearly finding something to eat, although the pickings must be slim indeed.…
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Parakeet
Monk Parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus. What is a “parakeet” but a little parrot? As far as I can tell, the members of the family Psittacidae get called parakeet or parrot based on size and tradition, not biology.
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Galls Again
Yes, it’s time for a Fall Gall edition. These are the structures created by the tree, in this case, in response to insects (in these cases) who lay their eggs on the tree. This one is, I think, a Hedgehog Gall. Not sure on this species. Nor this. This one was much smaller and looked…
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Raptor Wednesday
A pair of Red-tailed Hawks, half of the foursome then in the sky over Green-Wood. The feet-down flying thing is romance. Another day, another Red-tailed. Yet another day, another Red-tailed….It is actually the day without a Red-tailed sighting is worth noting. Not easy to see, but look at that profile: this one has a very…
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11th Month Insecta
There are still a few insects in the cold. On Friday, this wasp, bumble bee, and fly were active. There were other flies about, and other impossible-to-photograph diptera, and a lovely leaf-hopper or two. Some kind of gall on a crab apple. Exit hole visible. Remember last January when I found a large cocoon that…
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The Faces of Lichen
It wasn’t so long ago that I thought these memorials were just dirty, worn away with time and the elements, including acid rain. But I’ve been looking closer. At the lichens. Tireless, long- and slow-growing lichens, lovers of stone. Well, at least these species. Others favor wood. Some grow on both wood and stone. Some…
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Old Hickory
This was actually yellower to my eyes than this orange-ish reproduction via the camera, but either way it sure jumped out at me — from outside the cemetery, actually. Carya species native here include mockernut, bitternut, pignut, and shagbark, but of course Green-Wood is an arboretum originally planted with specimen trees. I think this might…
Backyard and Beyond 