Lafayette Park Blog
ZIPPED
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD [Thanks to Lafayette Square residents Jim and Carolyn Willmore for reporting a brown creeper sighting near the Cook Pavilion of Lafayette Park.] On frosty mornings, Mercury is uncharacteristically slow to leave that snug thermometer bulb... and...
RUNNER-UP
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD I don’t know what American grade school kids are being taught these days—my days at Oakville Elementary ended a couple of decades ago (okay, fine—several decades ago) so I don’t have direct access to 21st century homework assignments. But I’ll...
MYSTERY CHEF
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD [FYI... Feathered Feature is switching to a winter schedule of every-other-week posts. There are still plenty of birds in the park during the colder months but with everyone (that includes me) extra busy over the holidays, it seems like a...
TELEPHONE
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD [In honor of Halloween, a species dressed for the occasion!] Even though our cultural sings the praises of summer, it's not my favorite season. I always welcome the crisp air, deeper blue (and, admittedly sometimes flat gray) skies, and...
BRITISH INVASION
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD It seems to happen once each century. In 1775 the Redcoats showed up in Boston, the Beatles made a big splash about 200 years later in 1964, and in the sweet-spot in-between the House Sparrows (Passer domestics) arrived. It’s difficult to...
BORDER BATTLES
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Last Sunday morning I unexpectedly found myself sitting ringside for a brief but furious brawl. Two male red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) were having a boundary dispute that started with an argument over some shrubbery, then...
MEOW MIX-UP
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD I was rather surprised to hear a soft, kittenish mewing as I walked through the park. Sure, I see free-roaming cats around the neighborhood from time to time but I can't think of a single instance when I've spotted one in the park during...
GRASSROOTS
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence, especially if your yard-care ethic is benign neglect, and your neighbor is a wannabe greenskeeper. Generally speaking, though, the sentiment behind that familiar grassy idiom...
HEADBANGER
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Rushing out the door, I went over the list in my head: Shorts and a breathable tee—check. Running shoes—check. Baseball cap, sunglasses, and sunblock—check. Keys and ID—check. Workout playlist queued up on the smartphone in my...
BROKEN RECORD
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Arrrggghhh! I can NOT get that song out of my head!! I don't know where I heard it, maybe on the grocery store's Music to Inspire Endcap Impulse Purchases station. It's familiar but definitely not a favorite. I have eclectic musical tastes...
VICE SQUAD
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD I was just trying to help, I swear. In fact, the primary directive in wildlife rehabilitation is: First, do no harm. But the indignant male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) I had just lifted out of a shoe box clearly...
THE HAWK WHO MISTOOK HER MATE FOR A MEAL
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Seriously, it could happen to anyone. Well, any working mom operating on instinct and snap-judgements who needs to snag some groceries before she flies back home to those perpetually ravenous kiddos. Okay… maybe it couldn’t happen to anyone. But...
FLIGHT SCHOOL
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD This year's class of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) naval aviators have started flight school! I’ve been watching these youngsters on daily dog-walks in the park since early May. When they first showed up I noticed their resemblance, in size...
BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Walking with my terrier-boy in Lafayette Park, I often happen upon the beginning of a late-afternoon performance by the American Robin Ballet Company. The dancers scatter across the lawn, their dark charcoal cloaks and garnet waistcoats vivid...
NOCTURNE
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD The melody seeped into my REM cycle, making me just lucid enough to believe someone was singing a cappella outside my window. But my sleep-clouded brain couldn’t make out the words and I didn’t recognize the voice either. Besides, who would want...
THE JET SET
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Everyone has their own personal markers of summer—the flash of a firefly, the pulsing hum of cicadas, the aroma of freshly cut grass... I'm sure you have a favorite. To my mind, nothing says summer quite as definitively as the sight of chimney...
HELICOPTER PARENT
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD As the most literal of helicopter parents, a ruby-throated hummingbird mom (RTH, Archilochus colubris) takes hovering to a whole new competitive level. In the case of this feathered sprite (2.8 – 3.5″ long, including bill, and just over 1/10 of...
SUNSPOTS
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD There’s been a marked decline in the number of sunspots over the past decade or so. That’s what NASA scientists say, and I have no reason to doubt their research findings. Luckily, I haven’t observed any reduction in the terrestrial version of...
LONESOME DOVES
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD It's a fine world, though rich in hardships at times. ~ Larry McMurtry There's a sweetness in the lament of a Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) that makes the sorrow bearable, and believable. Theirs isn't an pop tune about a hookup with a...
SENTRY DUTY
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD JAY! JAY! JAY! Uh oh... I’ve been spotted! The Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) on guard have ratted me out. Halt! Who goes there? Thought you could just slip past, did you? Not on my watch. Hey everybody—look! Look! Over there!” Now every...