Sep. 7th, 2006

urbpan: (Boston)


It's pretty accepted that red-tails are urban wildlife. The best pictures I've seen illustrating this show them perched on man-made objects. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the one flying over Fenway park, but this one is over one of the hospitals, 6 or 7 blocks from there.
urbpan: (wading)

Photos by [livejournal.com profile] cottonmanifesto.

We nearly stepped on this creature as it trundled along the path last night. We brought it in for photographs and questioning, then sent it back up the river.

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urbpan: (machete)
A couple people have asked "What will you do when the 365 days are over?"

Good question. I've given this quite a bit of thought, and haven't come up with a perfect answer yet. First off, a second 365 urban species simply isn't possible. In January, in Boston, there is so little life available, and I've done so many of the winter species already. If I started in May, no problem. I've skipped a few things I didn't mean to (white mulberry, for example) and there is so much in the summer that it's pretty easy. So unless I'm paid to search and research full time, or paid to move to a milder climate, it ain't gonna happen.

Then there's the whole idea of posting EVERY SINGLE DAY. On the one hand--it's great! Everyone knows that it's coming, and it's good for my discipline, and it's an effective way to build an audience, and so on and so forth. But it is driving me insane. I fantasize about NOT doing an entry sometimes, how delightful it would be to go a full day without touching a computer, or thinking about what species I'm going to do today. I'm thinking maybe I'll do something weekly, or several days a week maybe. At least give myself weekends off or something.

I also will not limit myself to the "species" concept. I've spent too much energy fretting about whether the crane fly or the ground beetle or the vetch or the fungus is precisely the species I've said it was. Sometimes species is important, usually not. But there's value to that arbitrary limit--it creates focus.

So I'll ask you, the readers (Wow, almost 600! Hey it was 600 yesterday; where'd you go?? Afraid of a little fungus, huh?)

What do you suggest I do when the 365 days are up?
urbpan: (Autumn)

Photo by [livejournal.com profile] urbpan. A fallen Norway maple leaf is marked with tar spot. Location: Olmsted Park, Brookline.

Urban species #250: Tar spot Rhytisma acerinum

Drops of tar or perhaps black paint seem to appear on the leaves of maple trees in late summer. The leaves become dry and may not turn the bright fall colors treasured by residents of New England, and our many seasonal tourists. The tar is in fact a fungus, this year an exceptionally common one, due to our very wet spring. Spores are produced by last years leaf litter, and infect the new spring leaves on the trees. Norway maple is especially succeptable to tar spot, and the fact that it is the most popular choice for new street tree plantings may be aggravating the spread of tar spot to our native maples. This year many of our maples are also infected with anthracnose fungi, which turn the leaves brown and burnt looking. Neither fungus usually causes the death of their host trees, but will cause premature leaf drop, and rob us of some of the dazzling display of autumn.

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