Happy Parents' Day

National Parents' Day is the fourth Sunday in July -- that's today!  Here's an American robin feeding its hungry chick for the occasion. Click on the photo to enlarge. 

Some New Urban Wildlife

When I went outside yesterday to look for some urban wildlife around Brooklyn Heights, I was overwhelmed by an apparent irruption of wild Pokemon creatures like the Doduo pictured above. Click to enlarge for a better look. 

This Clefairy was just hanging out on a street corner. Looking at me. 

And I saw this Polliwag who looked like he might be up to no good. 

This Zubat flapped at me. 

A Staryu was hanging out at Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza. 

This little wild Eevee was frolicking in the Metro Tech gardens. 

In the same garden -- a Rattata in the grass. 

There were lots more of these things in the neighborhood -- dragons, snakes, rhinos, cats, monkeys, octopus and other fabulous forms. If you go out to hunt for them, which I and apparently thousands of other New Yorkers think is fun, try Pier One at Brooklyn Bridge Park where there are often active lures. On Saturday night it was like Times Square down there. For now at least, the Pokemons seem to be everywhere. Like this guy, below, (or is it these guys, below) in my local supermarket.

Goats at Work

Four goats are at work eating weeds in Brooklyn Bridge Park. It's a big improvement over lawn mowers of the more common sort. This guy is on the job right now. The name on his collar says Hector. Click to enlarge. 

Here's another one. His collar (from a different photo) says Horatio. They are nubian goats. The park hired them for their eco-friendly ways and their climbing skills to trim the steep slopes of the noise-attenuating berm at the Pier 3 uplands. 

I've seen them a few times from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade when they are on the east side of the berm. Can you see them in this photo? Follow the line of the crane down to the crest of the hill. Goats are a big surprise in this setting for people who are not expecting them. 

Here is a more magnified shot from the same vantage. The other two goats are called Minnie and Eyebrows. They all spend their nights in a shed and they are on the job every day, munching away inside a fenced enclosure. 

Go take a look at them if you are near. But don't feed them or they won't do their job as well and don't disturb them -- just look. They are way cool! 

Mmmm... tasty weeds. 

Happy July Fourth!

It's sunny and warm outside. Butterflies like this pearl crescent, Phyciodes tharos, love that. Me too! Have a great holiday! Click on the photo to enlarge.