Marine Park Fiddler

Sand Fiddler Crab (Uca pugilator) at Marine Park. Many little ones are eaten by Yellow-crowned Night Herons.

Handedness in crabs (from Copilot):

“In most fiddler crab species, males have one greatly enlarged claw (the major claw) and one smaller claw (the minor claw), and the side on which the major claw grows is called the crab’s “handedness.”

The myth that losing a major claw causes the crab to “switch” to the other side is false — the crab regenerates a new major claw on the same side, and the small claw stays small

In many species, males are evenly split between right- and left-handed (about 50:50) www.fiddlercrab.info.

The exception is the genus Gelasimus, where males are almost entirely right-handed (often >95%) www.fiddlercrab.info.”

Marine Park Heron

I enjoyed watching this Yellow-crowned Night Heron tossing small crabs into its beak like popcorn.

Marine Park Osprey

Osprey breed here every year. We saw one young one in this nest.

Marine Park Mix

Walking along the path by the inlet in Marine Park in June in Brooklyn NY.

Marine Park Birds

in June we went to Marine Park : NYC Parks in Brooklyn, New York. The marsh there is always rewarding.

Bayard Cutting Wildlife

Every year, an Osprey nests on the chimney at the mansion. I love the chickens at the small farm there.

Harriman SP

We typically visit Harriman State Park in New York about twice a year. This trip was in early June, when the mountain laurel was still blooming (laurel in prior post). The sphinx moth was a treat. Nature always offers rewards.

Mt Gulian

We had a lovely historical tour led by a historian at Mount Gulian Historic Site | Hudson Valley | Beacon NY. The flowers are from the garden there. After that, we drove to Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center – NYSDEC. I photographed a wet young red-tailed hawk there.