Rounded out the evening by stopping by Pelham Bay Park (NYCs largest park located in the eastern Bronx). Just southwest of the Orchard Beach parking lot, I heard a rousing chorus of Common True Katydids! Also heard an Oblong-winged, Greater-angled and the Fall field and Jumping bush crickets. I headed over to Rodman's Neck (by the NYPD shooting range) and heard my second Forktailed bush katydid with some of the more common species.
Finally I reached home on City Island --- just two species were heard as I entered my house -- the greater angle and the jumping bush.
Twas a great evening and my ears are now imprinted on the songs of these insects. I doubt the night will ever sound quite the same again!
Thanks to Sam and the other organizers and our team members: Alan, Graeme, Tenzing, Julianne (briefly!) and myself (Kevin).
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Last minute! Learning cricket calls!
Alright so, the Lesser Angelwing sounds like an egg shaker and the Greater sounds like someone annoyingly tapping pen (sometimes)... Getting there and getting ready to hit the Bronx in search of crickets!
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Matteson and Clark Expedition.
Due to Rain and Wind, the expedition will now take place Saturday, Sept. 12. We will meet in Dr. Clark's lab (Larkin Hall 370) at 7:15 to learn the cricket/katydid calls, then head across campus and to the zoo.
The Lewis and Clark expedition in the 1800's was famous for not only traversing the country from East to West, but of scientifically collecting and describing several new species (e.g., Clark's Nutcracker, Lewis Woodpecker). In a similar vein Kevin Matteson and J. Alan Clark will attempt to cross the Bronx and reach a suspected biodiversity hot spot known locally as The Bronx Zoo. Here they plan to rappel undergraduates down into what would appear to be from CIA satellite photos some sort of mini-African plains in the middle of the city! They suspect this could be a good place for crickets, but want undergraduates to go first to broaden their University experience. Inbetween the obligatory coffee stops to fortify their consitutions they will be seeking the Common True Katydid and its kin. Matteson and Clark have promised their patron, Fordham University, that they will, in exchange for tenure and a corner office, bring back new species and large NSF grants. At this point the M and C Expedition blogger is AWOL, but a blog has been created that once the blogger returns you can follow.
The Lewis and Clark expedition in the 1800's was famous for not only traversing the country from East to West, but of scientifically collecting and describing several new species (e.g., Clark's Nutcracker, Lewis Woodpecker). In a similar vein Kevin Matteson and J. Alan Clark will attempt to cross the Bronx and reach a suspected biodiversity hot spot known locally as The Bronx Zoo. Here they plan to rappel undergraduates down into what would appear to be from CIA satellite photos some sort of mini-African plains in the middle of the city! They suspect this could be a good place for crickets, but want undergraduates to go first to broaden their University experience. Inbetween the obligatory coffee stops to fortify their consitutions they will be seeking the Common True Katydid and its kin. Matteson and Clark have promised their patron, Fordham University, that they will, in exchange for tenure and a corner office, bring back new species and large NSF grants. At this point the M and C Expedition blogger is AWOL, but a blog has been created that once the blogger returns you can follow.
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