Prospect Park
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Ranger Robin Says
Irrepressible Ranger Robin — either just out of hibernation or on a work-release program, she’s vague about details — stopped by after a visit to Prospect Park this week: “The signs have been up since Sunday warning about the take-over of the heart of the park by something called Googa Mugger. The Neathermead and surroundings…
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Cardinal Chicks
Looking somewhat like Muppets, two Northern Cardinal chicks realize there is no food forthcoming from the camera. Normally at this stage in their careers, they are all about open mouths — wide, wide mouths, like so:These birds will quickly get bigger, feather out, and fledge, or fly out from the nest. (This site gives details…
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In the mud
“Mr. Holmes, they were the prints of a gigantic hound!” Or at least a raccoon.
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Woodpecker Sign
This pine is dead, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t provide a home for fungi, many an invertebrate, and an active red-tailed hawk nest. These holes attest to the various boring insects that have been pecked out by woodpeckers up and down the trunk. Wing of a woodpecker that met an untimely end. Looks too…
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Spot: A Contemporary Retelling
See Spot running around the Ravine without a leash. All dogs are supposed to be on a leash in the Ravine. Where is Spot’s leash? Can anybody find Spot’s leash? The three people in charge of Spot didn’t seem to have a leash among them. Oh, well. Spot has found a way through the fence.…
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Cardinal Nest
Female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) on her eggs. Cardinals are year-around residents of the city, and one of our very vocal species, so we will definitely be hearing them on this morning’s Listening Tour. This female, however, will not be making much noise because she’s trying to be inconspicuous. Good luck! The nest is much…
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Oculus II
It’s unusual to see the Long Meadow empty in the middle of the day. Do you feel drawn into the green? The Endale Arch is designed to do that, leaving the horse-shoe clattering, horse-dropping piled city behind you.
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Now Blooming, Now Flying
In Prospect Park this morning:Wild Geranium, a.k.a. Spotted Cranesbill (Geranium maculatum).Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis), as punctual a name as the very, very similar Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma): (picture from my archives)– so named because of small silvery marks on their underside of their hindwings, unseen while wings are spread.Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). Red Admiral…
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The Weekend in Blooms
Bursting out all over the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, azaleas (genus Rhododendron). Meanwhile, the hawthorns (genus Crataegus) in Prospect Park. Also in Prospect, some other kind of azalea. Butterflies, ladybugs, flies, and bees were happy to see these blossoms, too.
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Five Nests
A male House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, perches outside his tangled nest. The species typically nests in and under human-made structures, but in a pinch will weave a large ball like this. A male Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus, carving out a nest hole cavity. I saw a couple of other Red-bellied working on holes in Prospect…
Backyard and Beyond 