Green-Wood
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Raptor Wednesday
A yew: evergreen, dense, low to the ground. Accipiters in Green-Wood love these trees the year-around. A bird I could not identify was making a very odd noise at the top of one of these yews recently. This is often a sign of warning or distress. I saw a squirrel shock-still under the neighboring tree,…
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It’s That Time of Year Again
Generally, American Woodcock see you before you see them. And then they bolt. They are so well-blended in with the leaf litter that their noisy take-offs, sometimes from quite close by, are very startling. Flushed four on Saturday, three on Sunday. Two of Sunday’s, pictured here, took shelter under beechwood, all crowded with shadow, leaves,…
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Recent Birds
Palm Warblers are most commonly on the ground, but this one has snagged something insect-y on a tree limb. Kinglets to the right of me, kinglets to the left. The Ruby-crowned rarely shows his flaring ruby crown, but I guess he was put out by the other RCKs here. No “confusing fall warbler” garb for…
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Raptor Wednesday
Keep watching the skies! Two Sundays ago was overcast and ready for rain. A distant passing bird, which I thought would be a gull, turned out to be a Bald Eagle heading SSW. This was, mind you, after spotting: A Cooper’s Hawk. A Merlin. And a Sharp-shinned Hawk. This one was in the Merlin Bowl…
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Oaken Sights
Yesterday’s log was at the base of a big old oak. The near-horizontal limbs were host to mosses and algae, which in turn host tiny invertebrates. This hole, too, looks like it has potential. Higher up, still another hole has become an airborne garden. Nearby, amidst the roots, a woodchuck den.
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Acorn Drillers
As is my wont, I pocketed a red oak acorn recently. Almost a week later I noticed this: a little wormy something was cutting it’s way out! Note the frass pile. Perhaps a Curculio nut and acorn weevil. More here. Not pictured, but this also happened with a shingle oak acorn, which has a much…
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Two Epic Mushrooms
Dyer’s Polypore, as its name suggests, has been used for dyes. Phaeolus schweinitzii is also known as velvet-top fungus. It is, indeed, rather velvety on top. This parasitic fungus is associated with conifers. Berkeley’s Polypore, Bondarzewia berkeleyi on 9/14, with my size 9 boot (8 in Australia) for scale. It was a whole continent of…
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Raptor Wednesday
Merlins above Green-Wood. Two sightings on one day well separated in space: one or two birds? The lush meadow rising above the chapel has attracted sparrows and warblers, which means the bird-hunting falcons, too. Bother Merlins and American Kestrels having been perching on this scaffolding and on surrounding trees. Not at the same time: they…
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Bald-Faced Washing
Bald-faced Hornet licking the stonework. Getting salts and minerals? Also, licking forelegs to groom antennae. Like a cat! The grooming wasp was spotted Saturday in the sun. This nest was seen Sunday, with at least one wasp hanging around still.
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WW
The first Winter Wren I’ve seen since the spring. The unmistakable sawed-off silhouette.
Backyard and Beyond 