Prospect Park
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A Folly
A folly, in the architectural sense, is a structure built as decoration to advertise the owner’s extravagance. A castle, say, to spruce up the grounds, or even, for the historically-bent, a “ruined” castle. For months now, the lawn between the Vale of Cashmere and Nellie’s Lawn, with its lovely fruit trees and native plantings, has…
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kingbird
An Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) between insecticidal sorties over the Upper Pool. What a binomial to saddled with, eh? Called “king” because of their aggressively territorial characteristics. Often return to the same perching place overlooking meadows or water bodies. King of all it surveys, at least according to us. Just barely seen here, the white…
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Swamp Darner
A female Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros), one of the largest dragonflies in the east. A migratory species, averaging 3.4″ long. This is my first sighting. I watched her deposit eggs into pieces of lumber that edged a portion of the Vale of Cashmere. All the other species of dragonflies I’ve seen deposit their eggs in…
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Flying Now
Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) are out and about now, moving fast. One of the large “dark swallowtails,” which I find impossible to identify in motion. That’s the point. Both the Spicebush and the Black Swallowtail (P. polyxenes) mimic the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), which evidently tastes disgusting after loading up on Pipevine toxins. Predators learn…
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Pondhawk
Common or Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicollis). This is an immature male; his thorax will turn completely blue as he reaches maturity. Superficially like the common Blue Dasher, but larger, with clear wings, and white appendage. These Pondhawks are known as great predators, and capture and eat dragonflies their own size, including others of their own…
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Your Morning Chipmunk
Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) in the Vale of Cashmere. Cute as the dickens, but you know, without any predators they can become quite a problem, being predators themselves.
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Chipmunk
No mean forager and predator, the Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) will eat just about anything, from acorns and nuts to baby birds, from slugs to insects to carrion. Our local ones are missing out on the bonanza of the 17-year cicadas, which are concentrated in Staten Island. Central Park has seen a rapid rise of…
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Swallow Nesting
That mud-daubed Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) nest is occupied.
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Swarm
At first they rise like little puffs of smoke from their ground nest. Then more and more of them emerge, small and unwieldy fliers, swarming into the humid air. They are termite reproductives, and a swarm of them brings birds to gobble them from the air. Stand there and watch as barn and tree swallows…
Backyard and Beyond 