Category Archives: Nature by the Seasons

Nature Minute episodes grouped for quick reference to what’s happening outside your window.

A Falcon Perches in Soho

Think there’s no wildlife on the city streets? Look up! This Peregrine Falcon hung out in Soho for an entire afternoon last week, taking in the sights (of pigeons? of starlings perhaps?) along Broadway. New York City is home to more »

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Posted in Animals, Birds, Habitats of City Wildlife, Nature by the Seasons, News, Photos, Predators and Prey, Winter | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Take the Spider Web Challenge

I wasn’t kidding when I filmed this spider episode. Go out there, find a spider web and see if you can find out which silk fibers are sticky and which are not. (Adults, I’m talking to you too. Why should more »

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Posted in Animals, Fall, News, Photos, Spiders and Insects, Spring, Summer | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

How to Build a Web Site – Nature Minute style

One lucky Autumn morning, I awoke to find this Argiope spider gracefully spinning the sticky part of her web. In the process, she might thrust her legs on that sticky silk more than 1000 times…. So why don’t spiders stick more »

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Posted in Animals, Fall, Nature by the Seasons, Predators and Prey, Spiders and Insects, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

9/11 Tribute in Light Attracts Many Eyes…and Birds

The “stars” in this photo are actually migrating birds circling around the 9/11 Tribute in Light memorial. The lights appear to draw the birds off their course, but thankfully the Municipal Art Society, which produces the memorial, is cooperating with more »

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Posted in Animal Behavior, Animals, Articles, Birds, Fall, Nature by the Seasons, News, People and Nature, Spring, Wildlife Conservation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Video: Cicadas – Tiny Tymbals, Big Sound

Have you ever wanted to ask Cicadas why they’re so loud, but thought it would be Brood 2 ask? Biologist Kelly Rypkema ventures into the thick of the 2013 appearance of Periodical Cicadas to answer the questions of why, who, more »

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Posted in Communication, Mating and Courtship, Spiders and Insects, Summer, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

When Wildlife Moves In – a Modern Parable

by Michele Dudas, PSQ Naturalist Interpreter I awoke to the faintest scritching sound (you know, not quite a scratching sound…something much more quiet and tentative), in my bedroom one night. When I was fully awake, I stayed very still in more »

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Posted in Animal Behavior, Articles, Habitats of City Wildlife, Mating and Courtship, News, People and Nature, Spiders and Insects, Summer | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Living Fossils Go to Town on NYC Beaches

New Yorkers, if you go to the beach tonight, you might witness some hanky-panky involving a lot of grabbing and intertwined…carapaces? Of course you know I mean spawning horseshoe crabs. Every May and June, during high tide around the new more »

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Posted in Animal Behavior, Animals, Articles, Birds, Mating and Courtship, News, Spiders and Insects, Spring, Story Bites | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Nature Minute video: The Sordid Lives of the White-throated Sparrow

Biologist Kelly Rypkema introduces us to a secret benefit to birdwatching – dating advice. Trouble viewing? Watch on YouTube instead.

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Posted in Animal Behavior, Birds, Habitats of City Wildlife, Mating and Courtship, Spring, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Whazzat Bird?

While photographing the first flush of spring, I was surprised to find this bird in my viewfinder. I think of them more as a woodland bird, but here he was smushed in the confines of my tiny city park. Maybe more »

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Posted in Animal Behavior, Animals, Birds, Habitats of City Wildlife, Mating and Courtship, Nature by the Seasons, News, Photos, Spring | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Confessions of a First-time Amphibian Wrangler

I remember the first time I saw a tadpole in mid-metamorphosis. It still had that small fishy mouth, and swimming tail…and then these strange little legs sticking out. I had studied all that in books, but to see it happening more »

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Posted in Animal Behavior, Animals, Articles, Mating and Courtship, Nature by the Seasons, News, People and Nature, Reptiles and Amphibians, Spring, Wildlife Conservation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments