Walking from Washington Heights to the Conservatory Garden

An amazing August day, not the usual hot and humid, but perfect in the high 70s-low 80s, sunny and a slight breeze. Headed down Amsterdam Avenue and spotted a Cabbage White enjoying some nectar from a sedum planted in a tree pit. pretty much put away the camera from that point down to the Conservatory Garden on the east side of Central Park around 105th Street. It was a nice walk around the Meer lots of native bee action on the swamp milkweed around the Meer. They are so small and hard to ID from a photo that I did not pursue them too much.

The Conservatory Garden is one of my favorite places for observing insects. It is not as natural as the Meadow in the Ravine, but when you are traveling with friends, it is generally more enjoyable for them :) The North end of the garden is a "French" garden, fairly formal. It had been home to Cicada "Killer" Wasps in many previous years, but I did not notice any on this visit. Which is unfortunate they can add a bit of drama. There were many butterflies and native bees.

My favorite park of the garden is the southern end. There is a much higher diversity of of plants and many are great nectar producers, so lots of fun observing. There were many that I did not get good photos of to share, and there are some little wasps that I have no clue about their identification.

It was a beautiful day and I could have lingered all afternoon but had other destinations, so I had to move on.

Posted on August 12, 2013 12:57 AM by jholmes