Jamaica Bay
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Jamaica Bay Update
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.Through the blind at Big John’s Pond: Black-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax, a juvenile), Glosy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), and Green Heron (Butorides virescens). Three Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) were in there as well, but not visible here.…
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Diamondback Terrapins
Yesterday, I was walking along around the West Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge when I came across this diamondback terrapin just beginning to excavate her nest. I was alone, and she might have continued on her single-minded mission, but some other folks walked up and she took to the thickets. (They move faster than…
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JBWR 4th
I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Interdependence Day than going out to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. A warm, foggy morning developed into a hot sunny afternoon.There are three visible osprey platforms at JBWR. One is right on the highway. This one is the closest to the West Pond path. Two of these…
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Spring screen
Baby, we were born to fold. For a miniature Japanese-style screen: 1. Open up image by clicking on it. 2. Print (in color preferably). Carp should be printed horizontally. 3. Trim as necessary. 4. Z-fold into thirds. 5. Position (in appropriate place). 6. Feel the serenity. Or other emotional state (as appropriate).
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Look around
It is a truth universally acknowledged that I don’t have the camera & lenses for great bird photography. (You can find plenty of far better shots on the web). But one of the reasons I do this blog is to convey the message that everyone, anyone, can be an observer of wildness. Fancy gear is…
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Twilight JBWR
Yesterday was the first anniversary of this blog. It’s been a lot of fun and I hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves, too. I want to thank all my regular readers, first time visitors, random googlers and members of the Academy for coming along for the ride.The birds fly into the West Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife…
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East Pond in Winter
Gray birch, a.k.a. white birch, Betula populifolia. A closer look at that birch bark. Big John’s Pond. The Raunt. Towering common reed, or phragmites. American crow overhead.
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On The Raunt
Recently, we ran into a fellow birder at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond. He alerted us of a rare marbled godwit located at “the Raunt.” In late summer, the JBWR is the place to go birding if you’re in the city. Migrating shorebirds heading south stop by by the dozens, hundreds, and, for some…
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Bestiary
Found recently at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge: Fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea. A potential defoliator, known to munch on 400 species of woody plants. It’s also host to over 50 species of parasitic wasps and flies. Leopard slug, Limax maximus. Invasive, imported from Europe. Approximately 4” long. The main body of this web was over a…
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Clam clamor
Much of my project here is about looking at things in the natural world. Looking, and discovering, and sharing. This is just a fragment of clam shell that I picked up at JBWR last weekend, but I was delighted by the detail. Click on the image to open it up: you can see the animal’s…
Backyard and Beyond 