Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Wildlife on June 23 2015, by Patricia Gonzalez
Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG Visitor Services Attendant and avid wildlife photographer.
A robin grooms itself after a bath in the Home Gardening Center‘s Country Garden pool.
An American Robin (Turdus migratorius) in the Home Gardening Center – Photo by Patricia Gonzalez
Posted in Photography, Wildlife on June 16 2015, by Patricia Gonzalez
Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG Visitor Services Attendant and avid wildlife photographer.
Red admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) in Seasonal Walk – Photo by Patricia Gonzalez
Posted in Wildlife on June 9 2015, by Patricia Gonzalez
Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG Visitor Services Attendant and avid wildlife photographer.
Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) in the Perennial Garden – Photo by Patricia Gonzalez
Posted in Wildlife on May 26 2015, by Patricia Gonzalez
Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG Visitor Services Attendant and avid wildlife photographer.
This Red-tailed Hawk was found lurking in the Wetlands during my lunch break on April 26 of this year. I noticed him while walking along the Wetlands trail—he was staring intently at some nearby squirrels. A number of visitors caught sight of him as well and we all began snapping away with our cameras.
At that point I had to leave him to get back to my post; whether or not he made one of those squirrels his snack, I don’t know.
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) – Photo by Patricia Gonzalez
Posted in Photography, Wildlife on March 16 2015, by Patricia Gonzalez
Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG Visitor Services Attendant and avid wildlife photographer.
This year marks the eighth year that I’ll be photographing wildlife here at the New York Botanical Garden. I first began visiting the Garden grounds in 2008. I was so impressed with all the different types of wildlife that I soon became a Member. In 2012, I signed on as a Volunteer Greeter with Visitor Services. Later that same year, I was asked to join them as staff. The rest, as they say, is history.
During all this time, I’ve never stopped shooting. I bring my camera to work every day and try to do some shooting before and after my shift. I also visit the Garden on my days off to get in some extra daylight. Naturally, I have an advantage working at the Garden as I can get in before we open to the public. This leaves entire swaths of the Garden all to myself. Through the years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some amazing members of the animal kingdom. Here are a few of them.
Posted in Wildlife on September 8 2014, by Debbie Becker
Debbie Becker has been The New York Botanical Garden’s resident bird expert for over 25 years, and continues to lead her popular Bird Walks on Saturday mornings throughout much of the year.
The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is the best place to bird during the fall migration. With its diverse habitats it offers birders unique and spectacular views of migrating birds.
The great fall migration begins with the movement of shore birds in late July. The shores of the Bronx River and Twin Lakes often become a good stopover point for spotted and solitary sandpipers. They bob along the shoreline grabbing small insects and crustaceans. In the wetlands, Wilson’s Snipes stop to search for food and temporary shelter.
Warblers, ruby-throated hummingbirds, tanagers, and grosbeaks begin to arrive in late August and remain through early October.
The warblers are headed south with their immature offspring and many are no longer in breeding colors. Some are brown or olive green with one or two wing bars. This gives credence to the phrase “confusing fall warblers.” It is often a challenge to identify some warblers which adds a bit of mystery to birding.
Posted in Wildlife on May 27 2014, by Patricia Gonzalez
Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG Visitor Services Attendant and avid wildlife photographer.
I have had the pleasure of taking thousands of photos of wildlife at The New York Botanical Garden since my first treks here in 2008. Among the birds of prey that I enjoy photographing are the Great-horned Owls. My first encounter with these winged hunters was back in March of 2009.
It was a little after 4:00 p.m. as I was walking down Azalea Way that I heard hooting coming from the Forest. I looked through the trees only to be surprised by the outline of an owl. Back then, I was shooting with a small point-and-shoot that had nowhere near the zoom range of my current camera. But it didn’t matter. What was important was that I got to see an amazing member of the animal kingdom for the first time, and I got a photo!
Later that month I spotted the female owl and one of her two hatchlings in the nest, which was located in a snag overlooking a trail near the edge of the Forest. I’ll never forget the day when a fluffy little head popped up and looked right into my camera. It’s still one of my all-time favorite photographs.
Posted in Wildlife on March 5 2014, by Joyce Newman
Joyce H. Newman holds a Certificate in Horticulture from The New York Botanical Garden and has been a Tour Guide for more than 8 years. She is the former editor of Consumer Reports GreenerChoices.org.
As we wait for the weather to warm and some of our most stunning visitors to return to our outdoor collections, we are reminded of the increasing importance of conservation as a consideration in garden planning. Case in point: A new report finds the number of monarch butterflies wintering in the mountains of central Mexico much lower than ever recorded, largely due to the destruction of their habitat, extreme weather, and loss of food supply, the milkweed plant, up north.
These findings mean that cultivating and conserving the monarchs’ sole source of food in our area is more important to their survival than ever. In the Native Plant Garden, there are several species of milkweed, all of which attract monarchs, one of the most highly visible and numerous insects to see throughout the summer months.
Posted in Wildlife on November 14 2013, by Matt Newman
Our Fall Forest Weekends may have passed for another year, but we can still show some appreciation for the Forest denizens that make homes and hunting grounds among our many trees. This past Saturday and Sunday, Visitor Services Attendant Pat Gonzalez was again on hand during our Live Birds of Prey demonstration to soak up some knowledge and snap a few pictures. The results went straight into this slideshow of owls, hawks, falcons, and other raptors found in our neck of the woods.
The birds were brought in for a visit by the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary & Audubon Center, where many of them live as rehabilitated rescues that are no longer capable of surviving in the wild. But that hasn’t cramped their regal style any, as you’ll see below.
Posted in Wildlife on September 11 2013, by NYBG Science
Not every research program that takes place in the Thain Family Forest is geared explicitly toward the trees, though the work done there does tend to knit together at the end of the day. Think of it as a domino effect; an influence on one organism can herald a drastic fallout for others in the web of an individual biome. And, in some cases, certain varieties of plants or animals are relied on as indicator species—”canaries in the coal mine” that speak to the overall health of a given area, signifying changes for better or worse that might otherwise be too subtle to recognize. Salamanders, wherever they’re found, are often a flagship example.
In recent years, a handful of studies here have focused on the small salamander species that call our Forest home: the northern two-lined salamander (Eurycea bislineata), a water-reliant species native to the U.S. and Canada, and the terrestrial redback or woodland salamander (Plethodon cinereus), a species that has evolved to live away from water. Considering how delicate these quick, slippery little amphibians are on average, it’s quite the feat to strike off and make a living under rocks and leaf litter. Of course, even a particular resilience among their own kind doesn’t excuse them from the effects of climate, urbanization, and other challenges.