Monday, September 13, 2021

Into the Wild(s...: of Brooklyn)


In Green-Wood Cemetery there was a hornet's nest in a Turkish hazelnut tree. It is exquisite. If it was Art, people would line up and wait.

Under a young oak tree nearby there was a young raccoon, foraging for acorns. 


In Prospect Park a downy woodpecker stood silent for a minute. Was she listening or resting? Or dreaming woodpeckerish dreams?

In a patch of jewelweed where storm-fallen trees have created a slash of sunlight, hummingbirds feasted and fought among the flowers. Then they rested. Tiny as moths, fierce as fundamentalists.

They perched on the roots of tilted trees, preening and scratching, itching and plotting.


And at home, on the small terrace, a monarch found the milkweed, at last.

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5 comments:

  1. Wonderful pictures! The monarch is especially beautiful. They do love milkweed, but also golden rod and New England asters we've discovered. A couple of days ago we saw literally scores of monarchs in the field below our house. They must have been moving through on their way to Mexico. We'll probably never see that again, I imagine.

    Nancy Mc

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    1. That sounds wonderful. How lucky to see this. Yes, the butterflies do feed on many flowers, although their larvae only feed on the Asclepiads.

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  2. Love all your descriptions! Hornets nest as art. Woodpeckerish dreams. Hummingbirds fierce as fundamentalists. You are a delight.

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  3. excellent critters, as always. Milkweed was not happy in my garden (I assume too much clay; too much water.) but the one year it did bloom, it bloomed in the spring! I did not realize that it was normally a fall bloomer. Maybe I should try again .... food for thought. Thanks.

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    1. Well, swamp milkweed (pictured) is a late bloomer. Common milkweed is lovely, but that's more early summer. There are lots, though! The hairy-balls one is blooming now!

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