Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on January 10 2013, by Matt Newman
It’s seldom we get to show off the other raptor residents of the NYBG, but with the Great Horned Owls and the Red-tailed Hawks so ready to snap up the spotlight, it’s not too surprising. Thankfully, Pat Gonzalez has her eye out when everyone else is preoccupied; this Cooper’s Hawk seems all too willing to strike a regal pose for her lens.
Photo by Patricia Gonzalez
Posted in Around the Garden on September 28 2012, by Matt Newman
If you’re moping around your desk on this gray Friday with daydreams of dry shoes in your head, rest assured you’ve got a kindred spirit here at the NYBG. But if there’s any kind of karmic balance in the universe, this weekend should be the payoff, because forecasts are promising a mostly sunny Saturday and Sunday in the city with temperatures to make you think spring is throwing an encore.
In the Perennial and Rose Gardens, that spring sentiment has never been stronger. These spots are home to some of the Garden’s most vibrant fall blooms, as well as many of the last outdoor flowers you’ll see before winter sets in. You’ll want to shuffle your schedule book around to make room for our tours and demonstrations, where expert Tour Guides and Garden horticulturists–Sonia Uyterhoeven included–dish out tips and info on rose gardening, autumn chrysanthemums, and everything in between.
Posted in Adult Education on September 24 2012, by Matt Newman
The New York Botanical Garden is, first and foremost, a world-renowned collection of flora. But you’d be hard-pressed to spend more than a few minutes walking under the boughs without recognizing the sing-song notes of our most gregarious residents. The birds of the Garden represent some of the most varied fauna in New York City, and not only are we a haven for passersby making the trip to cozier climates, but we’re further home to a menagerie of year-round species in all shapes and sizes.
It so happens that we get the best of both worlds in the fall. Migrating species gather up for the flight south while the locals buckle down for the coming winter, and Debbie Becker, binoculars in hand, is always there to see it; join her for our in-depth NYBG birdwatching course beginning in October and you’re sure to walk away with a new skill.
While the herons and egrets are soon to take flight for the season, and the hummingbirds already have their eyes on the clock, few realize how abundant the wildlife is here in the autumn. Thankfully, Becker has the roll call down pat. She’s been leading Saturday Bird Walks at the NYBG for over 25 years, making her one of the area’s foremost experts on NYC’s winged things. And while newcomers are always welcome to glean what they can from her weekend walks, motivated beginners won’t want to pass up Becker’s primer on birdwatching fundamentals.
Posted in Around the Garden on September 21 2012, by Matt Newman
As much as hearing the phrase rattled off might tap dance on your last nerve, good things really do come to those who wait. And that’s especially true for gardeners. During the first balmy weeks of summer the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden buzzed with activity as Mario Batali‘s top chefs planted nostalgia left and right, each seedling and young tomato plant a piece of their culinary history–a vegetable that inspired a recipe, or a memorable fruit from childhood. Their potential was nurtured and encouraged through months of careful tending, and now, with fall upon us, the Edible Garden‘s harvest is ready to take the spotlight.
The fanfare begins this Sunday in Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens, where gourmands–young and old alike–can pick up a few new recipes while exploring the bounty planted by each of Mario’s chefs. Decorate a harvest bag, make your own chef’s hat, or sample your way through organic goodies. Whatever makes you and your kids happy! The Edible Garden Festival is set to continue into the afternoon with cooking demonstrations by NYBG staff, capped off by a master lesson from none other than Mario Batali himself. Afterwards, he’ll set to stunning tastebuds with his four-course, garden-to-table dinner event in the famed Garden Stone Mill.
Posted in Around the Garden on September 7 2012, by Matt Newman
It’s a bittersweet end of season for most home gardeners. There’s that brief interim of cool pre-autumn nights to look forward to, but the vegetable garden will probably start looking a little less like a bountiful Eden, and more like a bedraggled salad. Not that it has to be that way!
Join us this weekend for En Fin de Saison, Sonia Uyterhoeven‘s in-depth demonstration of how you can draw out your harvest just a little bit longer. As the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education, Sonia will offer insights into keeping your kitchen table stacked with hardy, late-season fare you might not have considered before. Even better, there’s no registration necessary, and the demonstration will run at 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday also highlights our latest lyric exploration in the Salon Series, delving into the oeuvre of Paul Verlaine through the interpretive recitations of three of New York’s most respected poets. Consider it a prelude to the next transition in Monet’s Garden, as we look toward moving from summer palettes to the colors of fall.
Posted in Around the Garden on August 31 2012, by Matt Newman
A couple of big announcements for the next few days! First off: it’s Labor Day weekend. For those of you who, like me, mentally zonk out and forget the calendar by Friday, this is a timely reminder that there’s a good chance you won’t have to listen to your alarm clock on Monday morning. So, after you’ve gotten your extra winks, know that The New York Botanical Garden will be open (we’re usually not on Mondays) for any and all visitors looking to make the most of their day off. The forecast for Monday is suggesting highs in the 70s, so I’m thinking there’s no excuse to keep yourself cooped up indoors.
Also on the schedule for this weekend–something we’ve been pretty anxious about–is the return of the Saturday Bird Walk. The Red-tailed Hawks are getting back to their center stage antics just in time for the end of Debbie Becker’s summer hiatus, so pack along a pair of binoculars and join us at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning for a trek around the Garden with one of New York’s most experienced bird watchers. Seeing as Debbie’s been doing this long enough to name our feathered guests with her eyes closed, trust me when I say that you’re in good hands.
Posted in Around the Garden, Wildlife on May 31 2012, by Debbie Becker
Debbie Becker has been leading weekly Bird Walks at the NYBG for over 25 years. You can often find her on Saturday mornings, guiding new and veteran “birders” alike through the Garden’s 250 acres with binoculars in tow.
While leading my weekly Bird Walk at The New York Botanical Garden I observed a large woodpecker flying by me. I was able to see its wings with their black feathers and white markings. My first and only thought was that I had just seen a Pileated Woodpecker.
After leading birdwatching tours at NYBG for 27 years, the one bird that has always remained elusive is the Pileated Woopecker. Although they are common just miles north of the Garden, not many of these birds have ever been spotted south of Westchester County. But after careful research, I discovered that males wander during the month of April, presumably seeking new territory. It was on May 5 that I had what I hoped was a Pileated–the first for NYBG in decades.
Posted in Around the Garden, People, Photography, Wildlife on May 31 2012, by Matt Newman
What’s a forest without the chatter of songbirds, or a pond without a curmudgeonly duck or two? Tom Andres, an Honorary Research Associate at the NYBG, won’t even consider the possibility. He’s too busy snapping pictures of our avian population.
It’s no great secret that The New York Botanical Garden is a northern birder’s paradise, home to owls, hawks, herons, and woodpeckers. Debbie Becker’s Saturday Bird Walks remain a staple at the Garden, now over 25 years since she began guiding groups of amateur and veteran birdwatchers alike through our 250-acre landscape. Even so, populations change with the seasons–migrants flood the Garden with song and color one week, only to disappear the next.
Tom doesn’t let the fickle nature of the birder’s obsession hamper his photography, much less his fascination. “The Garden plays an important role for feathered visitors,” he writes, “especially as a refueling point during migration season.” The Bronx River Corridor–winding through the Garden–is a major draw for neotropical birds migrating toward northern breeding grounds, or heading south for warmer climates. This explains the sudden influx of loud and bright warblers arriving early in spring, making a much-needed pit stop before they move on.
Posted in Around the Garden, Wildlife on April 11 2012, by Matt Newman
From here to Pelham Bay Park, and straight on down to Central Park, the kinship of bird watchers is peaking. April and May are something of a pilgrimage holiday for the truly dedicated ornithological set, though few in New York hoof it far from home; they set out with their binoculars, their pens, and their dog-eared notebooks, taking time off from work to travel a scant few miles to the nearest stand of trees.
These dyed-in-the-wool avian aficionados don’t come to the NYBG in spring specifically for the Red-tailed Hawks, or for the Great Horned Owls. Their prize is far smaller. And as prizes go, these birds seem more of an indulgence than the rare and elusive species recorded with fingers scribbling furiously between the lines of a “life list.” Many New York birders–seasoned or green–instead come to see the little puffs of color and song known as warblers.
Posted in Around the Garden on December 1 2011, by Debbie Becker
Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every saturday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., beginning at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center.
Winter brings many different things to New York City, but for a birder, the one special gift winter delivers is the owl. With the leaves off the trees, these cryptic, wise, and almost magical birds become easier to locate and observe. The New York Botanical Garden hosted a number of species this past year, including the Barred, two Saw-whet, two Long-eared and two Great Horned Owls. As a matter of fact, there were more owls in the Garden than in Pelham Bay Park, which has always been considered the area’s owl hub.
Birders on the NYBG’s Saturday morning bird walks are now hopeful these mystical creatures will return and grace us with their alluring presence.