Archive for the ‘Winter’ Category
Bloomberg Bitten by Groundhog…and His Shadow
Posted in Mammals, Spring, Staten Island, Vertebrates, Winter, tagged bitten, bloomberg, environment, erik baard, groundhog, nature calendar, naturecalendar, new york city, urban ecology on February 2, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Biggest Full Moon of ‘09 Tonight!
Posted in Astronomy, Weather, Winter, tagged american museum of natural history, amnh, erik baard, full moon, hayden planterarium, moon, nature calendar, naturecalendar, perigee, tyson, urban astronomy, urban ecology, urban environment, village voice on January 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
by Erik Baard
What a Wolf Moon this will be! Tonight will be the biggest full moon of 2009, and the glory it borrows from the sun will be reflected from every snowy rooftop, branch, and field…if the clouds break.
The moon increases in apparent size for two reasons. Routinely we observe an apparent swelling in the moonrise. Because of a [...]
Eastern White Pine, the “Great Tree of Peace”
Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Birds, Bronx, Brooklyn, Edible Plants, Fungi, Insects, Invertebrates, Mammals, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Parks, Plants, Queens, Trees, Vertebrates, Winter, volunteer, tagged broad arrow, conifer, eastern white pine, ecology, environment, erik baard, fibonacci, fish and wildlife service, forest, friends of gateway, greater astoria historical society, haiku, haudenosaunee, inwood, iroquois, lic community boathouse, Million Trees NYC, native american, nature calendar, naturecalendar, new york city, parks and recreation, pelham, pilgrim, thoreau, tree planting, Trees, urban, white pine on December 29, 2008 | 1 Comment »
by Erik Baard
Far inland, a wind
lifts fine snow from ancient pines.
Shimmers like sea spray.
I wrote that haiku twenty years ago intending to show the sensual commonality of contrasting locales, pointing toward our shared experiences across superficial cultural divides. Only today, while poking around data piles about pines in this tanenbaum time of year, did I [...]
Heal the Seals! Turtles Too! (Riverhead Foundation Visit)
Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Brooklyn, Estuary, Long Island Sound, Mammals, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Parks, Queens, Staten Island, Vertebrates, Water, Weather, Winter, volunteer, wild eyed, tagged Atlantic Ocean, cold stun, dolphins, ecology, environment, erik baard, Estuary, gowanus canal, injury, Julika Wocial, long island, marine mammal, nature calendar, nature community, naturecalendar, naturecommunity, neena dhamoon, new york, new york city, rehabilitation, rescue, riverhead foundation, Robert DiGiovanni, seal pox, seals, Sofia Theologitis, turtle, urban, volunteer on December 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
by Erik Baard
If a seal falls ill in the Gowanus Canal, a turtle catches an autumnal chill in Montauk, and a dolphin gets marsh bound in the Great South Bay, there’s a good chance they’ll end up as roommates at the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation.
As New York State’s only authorized marine mammal [...]
Virtual Snowflakes: Closing in on Reality
Posted in Water, Weather, Winter on December 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
by Erik Baard
Some of the loveliest snowflakes you might see this winter glow warmly on a computer screen.
Lafayette College mathematics professor Cliff Reiter might share the joy of a kid making snowflakes with scissors and paper, but his computer simulations of crystal growth aim at deeper revelation. The sublimity of his creations attest to the [...]
Dec. 13: Sealing the Deal. Who Could Resist?
Posted in Amphibians, Estuary, Long Island Sound, Mammals, New York Harbor, Parks, Recreation, Reptiles, Winter, volunteer, wild eyed, tagged beach plums, erik baard, long island, Long Island Sound, Mammals, marine, nature calendar, naturecalendar, newtown pippins, ocean, otters, riverhead foundation, seals, turtles on December 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
To all those sitting on the fence about heading out to Riverhead, Long Island on a Newtown Pippin and beach plum quest (see below), Nature Calendar throws down a challenge: Can you resist this?
Our trip will now include a behind-the-scenes tour of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation. You’ll learn about their work [...]
Light, then Heat.
Posted in Astronomy, Atlantic Ocean, Bronx, Brooklyn, Estuary, Fall, Geology, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Queens, Spring, Staten Island, Summer, Water, Weather, Winter, clouds, tagged Astronomy, atmosphere, chaos theory, complexity theory, david grinspoon, denver museum, dog days, erik baard, funky science, heat, heat wave, isothermic, Joe Rao, nature, nature calendar, naturecalendar, new york city, new york times, science, solstice, Summer, sunlight, urban ecology, urban environment, urban heat, USA Today, venus on June 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
by Erik Baard
A kid waiting to kayak at the Clearwater Festival last Solstice weekend asked me, “If this is the longest day of the year, then why isn’t it the hottest?” It’s a logical question, and I guess a common one. The incomparable Joe Rao addressed it in his New York Times astronomy blurb last [...]
Nature Community: The “Miracle” of Street Trees
Posted in Birds, Bronx, Brooklyn, Fresh Water, Manhattan, Parks, Queens, Recreation, Spring, Staten Island, Summer, Trees, Water, Weather, Winter, tagged Asian Long Horn Beetle, blue jays, Callery Pear, cardinals, citizen pruner, drought, Ginkgo, Green Ash, Honey Locust, linden, Littleleaf Linden, London Plane, natalie schrape, Norway maple, nyc, pin oak, planyc, Red maple, Robert Moses, Silver Maples, sparrows, squirrels, starlings, street trees, Sycamore, tree census, turtle doves on April 25, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Editor’s Note:
For Arbor Day, below is the story of New Yorker Natalie “Nasha” Schrape’s intertwined loves, romantic and arboreal, and her reflections on the centrality of trees in her life. Such personal accounts of active involvement in stewarding the fellow species of our city will be featured on the fully realized www.NatureCalendar.com website in our [...]
NYC Nature Walks: Clay Pit Ponds
Posted in Amphibians, Birds, Edible Plants, Fall, Fish, Flowers, Fresh Water, Geology, Grasses, Insects, Invertebrates, Parks, Plants, Ponds, Reptiles, Spring, Staten Island, Summer, Trees, Vertebrates, Water, Winter, butterflies on April 3, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Editor’s introductory note: When the full website for Nature Calendar launches this summer, we will feature a special section, and hopefully a podcast, called “Nature Walks With Sheila Buff,” to take readers by the hand through some of the best green escapes in our metropolitan region. During our blog startup phase we will feature periodic [...]
Seals Retake New York Harbor
Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Brooklyn, Crustaceans, Estuary, Fish, Long Island Sound, Mammals, Manhattan, New York Harbor, Parks, Recreation, Staten Island, Water, Winter, tagged atlantic, Brooklyn, Estuary, Fish, gateway national recreation area, kayak, Manhattan, mercury, new york city department of parks and recreation, New York Harbor, nyc, organic chlorines, seals, Staten Island on April 1, 2008 | 2 Comments »
by Erik Baard
Three kayakers launched into the Hudson River estuary from the 56th Street annex of the Downtown Boathouse late Saturday afternoon for a leisurely outing. The paddle was fun but unremarkable. It was upon their return near sunset that things became quite unusual.
As one of the paddlers, Tim Gamble, shared with others [...]
