Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Wildlife
Posted in Programs and Events on February 15 2013, by Matt Newman
Whether you’re binocular-savvy or just looking to lock down your birdwatching game, this is your weekend! And thanks to President’s Day, it’s the perfect opportunity to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, if only because you’ll have three straight days to join us at the NYBG. Winter is undeniably the best time of year to see our feathered friends on the wing, owing to the barren branches and annual mating habits of the raptors, songbirds, and waterfowl that call our neck of the Bronx home. So get off your couch, strap on some boots, and join up!
Even if you’re not quite an expert on all things avian, it’s never too late to learn; Debbie Becker will be on hand for her weekly Saturday birdwalk, where she’ll be more than happy to give lay birders a crash course in spotting and identification. And because the GBBC is so important to helping ornithologists and environmentalists understand the state of the nation’s bird populations, we even have a few pairs of binoculars to loan out at the Visitor’s Center for those who don’t have their own.
Over in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, we continue our yearly winter tradition of Tropical Paradise with guided tours, photography contests, camera workshops, and all the warmth of a South American rain forest. So if you’re sick of wrestling with the cold, this is an opportunity to at least pretend you’re a few thousand miles south, trading your parka for a t-shirt.
We know it’s chilly out, but we have more than a few cures for your winter woes. We’ll even be open on Monday, so come visit!
Read More
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on February 13 2013, by Matt Newman
Pat Gonzalez, out on one of her patented NYBG nature walks, came upon this curious chickadee the other day. We can only assume it was anxious to make a call.
Photo by Pat Gonzalez
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on February 2 2013, by Matt Newman
“Hello? Yes, hi! I can’t help but notice that you’re not food. So, yeeeeeeah, you’re gonna have to relocate. I can appreciate that you’re a photographer–it’s a very nice camera–but if you’re not edible, we’re not interested. Thanks for your understanding.”
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
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, Photography on December 30 2012, by Matt Newman
“I see you, but do you see me?”
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on August 15 2012, by Patricia Gonzalez
Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG volunteer and avid wildlife photographer. She can often be found taking photographs around the Garden.
It was a little after noon on February 26 of 2009 that I enjoyed one of the most amazing experiences of my life. By that time, I had already been shooting photographs at The New York Botanical Garden for a year, and it seemed like every creature living in the Garden had cooperated with my camera except for one species: the Red-tailed Hawks which often hunt throughout the NYBG. I had been able to get a few shots, but always from a distance and far overhead.
Other times, I couldn’t ready my camera fast enough and my subject matter would disappear into the sky.
Read More
Posted in Around the Garden on August 8 2012, by Matt Newman
When you’re home to more than 250 acres of flora, you don’t have to stray far to uncover a virtual menagerie of fauna within it. Cormorants and wood ducks draw zig-zags in the duckweed of Twin Lakes, while Red-tailed Hawks hunt skinks and black squirrels from far overhead. There’s even a cranky snapping turtle or two. But for every rabbit or warbler out to make itself seen in the NYBG, there’s another species living out its life away from our cameras! As Director of the Forest, Jessica A. Schuler has turned some of her focus toward the elusive creatures living in our woodland.
Through a collaboration with Jason Munshi-South of CUNY Baruch College and Mark Weckel of Mianus River Gorge Preserve, Jessica is doing her part to help the pair document the many animals living throughout the city and Westchester county, as well as the effects of the urban environment on evolutionary biology. In the case of the NYBG, this is done by arranging four motion-activated, all-weather cameras in locations throughout the Garden’s 50-acre Forest, ready to capture the movements of any and all woodland wanderers that might amble by. And after only a month on site, capture they did! Calibrated to go off at even the slightest hint of a passing animal, these cameras accurately snapped shots of several familiar species lurking in our woods.
Read More
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography, Wildlife on August 5 2012, by Matt Newman
The smallest prince presides over his domain. But aren’t all frogs a little snooty with their noses in the air like that?
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography, Wildlife on July 12 2012, by Matt Newman
Peahen sighted! The subdued colors of the female aren’t so easily recognizable as the flamboyant frill of the male peacock, but the slight tinges of blue-green color (not to mention those Dr. Seuss-esque head feathers) should give her away.
What few realize is that these birds really can fly, though they’re often kept in open-air aviaries–it’s just easier to stay put than leave a reliable food source. Another fact, somewhat more hilarious: peacocks are used as “guard dogs” by some, as they have a tendency to let out deafening squawks at the approach of strangers. Just don’t expect them to tackle an intruder with any efficacy.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 6 2012, by Matt Newman
Finally Friday. If you couldn’t find the time to get outside on the Fourth, be sure to prepare for this weekend: sunglasses, sunscreen, a few bottles of water. And do they still make parasols? Maybe one of those, too. Not everyone has the benefit of built-in shades, butterflies excluded.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Whether you’re binocular-savvy or just looking to lock down your birdwatching game, this is your weekend! And thanks to President’s Day, it’s the perfect opportunity to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, if only because you’ll have three straight days to join us at the NYBG. Winter is undeniably the best time of year to see our feathered friends on the wing, owing to the barren branches and annual mating habits of the raptors, songbirds, and waterfowl that call our neck of the Bronx home. So get off your couch, strap on some boots, and join up!
