We drove to Floyd Bennett field for me to have a practice session driving the car on the almost empty old runways. We had a picnic lunch by the community gardens there.
We have a new car, a 2019 VW Jetta. I named it James in honor of my mother (her maiden name). We plan to look for a less expensive place to live in a more rural area, or find a summer place, and need a car to do so.
Meanwhile, we are having fun going to places we have trouble visiting. This trip was to Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, NY.
The first set is from the Ravine and Butterfly Gardens in Central Park (map). A few of these gave me a bit of trouble to identify.
The second set of flowers are in the Conservatory Garden. I am stuck on the last two. Does anyone know what they are called?
A friend, Fritz, from the Butterfly Club in NYC helped me identify the red daisy like flower. It is Great Masterwort (Astrantia major ‘Rubra’).
The highlight of the day was the Pileated Woodpecker deep in the woods on the FH trail by Fox Hill. It was very far away. I was lucky to get a blurry couple of photos at 600mm. We saw about 26 species of birds, but not many butterflies. Tiger Swalllowtails, Cabage Whites, Silver-spotted Skipper, and a Mourning Cloak.
The second gallery is landscapes and plants. I would like to know the names of all the insects. I sent some of the pictures to bugguide.net.
Tomorrow I’ll show part two of the trip – Jamaica Bay.
We rented a car to free our wings for a bit. Doodletown is an hour out of New York City by the Hudson River. It is a steep walk on dirt paths past old foundations of a hamlet.
The first set is flora and landscapes and the second is avian. The highlight of the day was the nesting Redstart. The indigo bunting was one quick shot from the back.
