A hooded merganser paddling on Central Park's Turtle Pond. Peak leaf colors paint a bold reflection on the water. 🪶

Red tailed hawk leaving a fence by the ballfields in Central Park. 🪶

Took a good look at us before carrying on. #caroliawren 🪶

Nashville Warbler in a patch of Jimsonweed. Central Park. 10.26 🪶

Tomatoes growing wild in a city park? I guess so! 🍅 #riversideparknyc #naturenyc

Stumbled across a large number of Atlantic Sand Fiddler Crabs on the move at Stone Harbor Beach.

Gray tree frog. Cape May Meadows. I'm in Cape May all week & I'm having a blast. Hopefully I've got some good bird pics that I can share when I get back.

Whoa! No idea what species of mushroom this is but it's huge and amazing looking. Check out the guttation or sweating. #naturenyc

At first I thought a snapping turtle was killing someone but, as I got closer, I realized it was two snapping turtles in love. 🖤 So prehistoric looking. Claws were going everywhere! Today at the Central Park Pool.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly with a piece of wing missing. Seen at the Central Park Butterfly Garden today. #naturenyc

Good number of migrants showing in Riverside Park this morning. 103-116. Lots of redstarts, couple of black & whites, waterthrush & ovenbird. Get out today there if you can. Seems birdy.

A petunia (?) growing in the cracks of the sidewalk. #NatureNYC

Hello July! #RiversideParkNYC #NatureNYC

A White Admiral

Not sure who to vote for today? Check out Voters for Animal Rights endorsements. vfar.org/voterguide/

Happy #NationalPollinatorWeek this #WildFlowerWednesday!

Looking forward to all the butterflies that will visit this pretty Japanese Spirea plant. Every year the blooms are so vibrant & cheerful. So needed these days. #WildflowerWednesday

Daisy Fleabane Aster #WildflowerWednesday #TinyFlower #BloomScrolling 🌱

Recommending this short doc, Seaweed Stories. Loved this! youtu.be/zpHzvE_HLGY?...

A delicate herbaceous plant, Honewort, with a spray of pretty white flowers and a terrible name. So many "worts" which makes remembering them a challenge. #WildflowerWednesday

The first plant for #WildflowerWednesday is Japanese Mazus (Mazus pumilus) which is often seen growing in soil that has collected in sidewalk fissures. #NatureNYC

With so much rain recently, I've been looking closely for mushrooms & to my delight, I spotted a giant puffball! Never fails to impress me. You might mistake them for actual balls. If you see a large white blob, do take a closer look. Love these! #WildflowerWednesday

A few more I saw blooming today. #WildflowerWednesday

Whoa! Those are amazing, both pics & plants! Bryophytes are new to me.

While you're looking for wildflowers, you might come across these really cool Royal Ferns. The rusty-colored spore producing (reproductive) part, at the top, looks like a crown thus the common name Royal Ferns. #WildflowerWednesday

It’s officially #summer in #NYC only when Chicory begins to bloom. #NatureNYC

Wandering on the Beautiful Path: I love bug & flower season. ~ Behr’s Hairstreak (Satyrium behrii) Snowbrush Ceanothus (Ceanothus velutinus) 🌿

My fave milkweed! So elegant! And yes, I do think of this as a high summer bloomer. Love this photo!

A glistening cluster of ink caps emerged after a recent rainstorm. There is a deceased tree stump nearby & I bet these are coming from the decaying wood from that tree's roots. Looks like wood aster growing alongside them. #WildflowerWednesday

Milkweed has entered the chat.

Recommending the Hilma af Klint exhibition, "What Stands Behind the Flowers," at MoMa. Pick up the tote too! #WildflowerWednesday

This is beautiful! What a path!

A few I saw blooming this week. #WildflowerWednesday

I'm starting to see Fleabane blooming. I think I prefer this slightly purple variety but any Fleabane is adorable. Are you seeing these cute, daisy-like flowers near you? #WildflowerWednesday

Do the stamen hairs of Spiderwort change when exposed to low levels of radiation? In cultivated plants, yes, according to studies by Dr. Sadao Ichikawa. 🤔 #WildflowerWednesday

TONIGHT: Join us for a live chat from 8-9 EST where we will be talking wildflowers, weeds, trees & more! Share your observations using the hashtag #WildFlowerWednesday or tag our feed #NatureNYC to be featured.

I made a trip to Shawangunk Grasslands NWR and got nice looks at the singing Grasshopper Sparrows 🪶

It’s always a celebration when a Black Throated Green descends from the treetops #birds

Another capture of the green heron fishing at the 2nd cutout today. Moved quite a bit but didn't get any fish while I was observing. I'm always surprised by how small these herons are. 🪶

Baby was at the Pool this morning. I feel like this is the same juvie black crowned night heron that has been around this area for a long while. It's nice to take a pic of a large, very still bird 😄.

Noticed this at the Central Park Boardwalk. 🤔 Anyone know what this could be? #NatureNYC

What a fantastic #WildflowerWednesday this week!! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed. All the posts were excellent!

🐧 #WildflowerWednesday Formerly a flower—Partridgeberry on the forest floor.

Speaking of pea family plants & their flowers, here's what I think is Hairy Vetch, Vicia cracca. Taken from a distance since this clump wasn't easily accessible, but you can find the species growing occasionally even in tree pits. #WildflowerWednesday #NatureNYC

The prettiest pinks, Carolina Rose, will steal your heart. 🩷 The sweet baby buds 🩷 The delicate rose scent 🩷 The deep green foliage 🩷 The lovely soft blooms Bonus: they are natives in NY. Please plant them. You won't regret it. #WildflowerWednesday

📯 #WildflowerWednesday Bugles in a ditch.

Time is flying by. Wrinkle Leaved Goldenrod is showing. The weather has not been very warm but these individuals know summer is coming soon. It's time to send up those hairy stems with their toothy leaves. #WildflowerWednesday

For #WildflowerWednesday flowers of Juncus gerardi, Saltmarsh Rush aka “Black Grass”. Marine Park Salt Marsh, Brooklyn. #NatureNYC

Look at this fantastic Pennsylvania Pellitory plant, thriving in a crack in Central Park's perimeter wall. This plant is in the nettle family, but doesn't have stinging hairs, and is actually known for growing out of wall cracks so there you go. #WildflowerWednesday