New York Botanical Garden
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Pokemon Go This
If I understand it correctly, the children (of all ages, horrifyingly enough) playing this game are “capturing” virtual cartoons in “real life.” I can’t say I see the appeal. There is entirely too much life to explore in this life, on this world, in this neighborhood. You can’t see the detail in the picture here,…
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American Kestrel
Falco sparverius male. The blue wings sex the bird.Hunting amidst the strollers at the NYBG. Came up empty-taloned from a pass into the stubble, just some wisps of grass. With his head turned here, you can see the two black patches on the back of his head. These are ocelli, or false eyes. The standard…
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Mourning Cloaks
The forest at NYBG was full of Mourning Cloaks over the weekend. Some were butterfly-flitting about and some were perched in the sun.
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Flower Power
A trip to the NYBG on October 30th gleaned these still-bloomers, which I have hoarded until this cold winter day. Now, isn’t a living flower so much better than a dead one? And look, they’re not covered with poisons, as most of the roses people are buying today will be. Also, these free-growing plants are…
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Mushroom Monday
All found on the same uprooted tree. This is possibly a Sandy fatality, meaning three years later, this supposedly “dead” thing is swarming with life.
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Habit
Tulip Trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) are some of the largest trees here in the East. In the woods, they tend to grow up very straight, as in the NYBG example below, shooting up quickly to get the light and not bothering with broadly branching. There are some wonderful examples in the Midwood in Prospect Park and…
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Buteo
The broad-winged hawks of the genus Buteo are named after the Latin name of the Common Buzzard. If that sentence doesn’t open up a can of Annelida, I don’t know what will. Buteo simply means “hawk.” There is a North American species called the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus). Here in the U.S. “buzzard” is another…
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Sympetrum
Insects are becoming fewer and far between now that autumn is upon us. One of the last dragonfly species to be seen are the Sympetrum Meadowhawks, red-bodied and small.There were a few active at midday on Friday at the NYBG.
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Not At All Sour
This fall, my favorite tree is Nyssa sylvatica, the Blackgum or Black Tupelo. The colors are amazing. This was a giant specimen at NYBG on Friday, from a distance and then underneath. N. sylvatica is also known as Sourgum. Sourwood, on the other hand, is another species entirely. Oxydendrum arboreum also makes for some spectacular…
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Lizards
New York State has three native species of lizard: Northern Fence, Five-lined Skink, and Coal Skink. And one introduced species: the Italian Fence Lizard (Podarcis sicula). P. sicula evidently spread out from a release in Hempstead in 1967. The first time I ever became aware of them was when a photo of a Kestrel taking…
Backyard and Beyond 