Prospect Park
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Some Brooklyn Mammals
Squirrel sunning. Raccoon snoozing. Chipmunk being very still.Woodchuck being elusive. Check out the ground-hogging here on this slope: a duplex! The animal was peeking out of the nearer, top, hole, but vanished into the burrow before I could turn on my cameraSquirrel eating a… wait a minute, that’s a green-dyed Easter egg, more than a…
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Young Snap
Four, count ’em four, Red-eared Sliders (Trachemys scripta) were basking in the tiny, northernmost pond on Pier One at Brooklyn Bridge Park the other day. Fools keep releasing these invasive, potentially disease-carrying pet-trade animals. Some do it for religious (!) reasons! The effects of all this can be seen in the water course in Prospect…
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Jane’s Walk: A Man, A Plan, Stranahan!
Top-hatted, I’ll be participating in the Jane’s Walk weekend, leading a walk through Prospect Park and into Green-Wood Cemetery on May 3rd. We’ll walk from the James S. T. Stranahan statue at Grand Army Plaza — who, what, where? PRECISELY! — to the Stranahan gravesite in Green-Wood in celebration of the forgotten man behind the…
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And poppin’: Yellow Trout-lily
The Trout-lilies (Erythronium americanum) are amongst us once again. These were in Prospect Park; a friend reports them out and about in the far north of the New York Botanical Garden as well.The flower’s tepals curve back like this on bright sunny days, leaving the anthers fully exposed for pollinators. (There’s still not all that…
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Airborne
A mass of gulls on Prospect Lake lift off in a cloud, swirling up high into the air.Most are Ring-billed, with the occasionally Herring and Greater Black-back, and sometimes something more exotic.
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Ruddy, Ruddy
Many ducks sport their breeding plumage over the winter, but the Ruddy Ducks don’t start turning until… about now. This male should have an astonishingly light, electric blue bill and much warmer cinnamon-brown plumage in a month or so.A female. She won’t get all peacocky. Ruddy ducks often have their stiff tails raised as here…
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The Diving Goose
Most of Prospect Lake is frozen and snow covered, so an open patch on the southwestern end is absolutely swarming with Ring-billed gulls and assorted waterfowl, bathing, dabbling, diving close to the shore. There was even a turtle the other day, perhaps popping up to look for spring before retreating back down into the muck.Amongst…
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The Goldfinch
A European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) was hanging around the feeders in Prospect Park yesterday, snacking at the thistle favored by American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). In the colder regions of their Old World range, the E.G. migrates to warmer climes. Here it is probably rather confused. This one is doubtlessly an escapee from some local cage.…
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Foxy
A couple of Fox Sparrows (Passerella iliaca) were out from under the usual undergrowth they like to kick up in. The species visits us in winter, but not in great numbers. Their russet red plumage is a nice contrast to other sparrow species, and quite tell-tale. This was an overcast day, and you really want…
Backyard and Beyond 