The Ancient Ritual of the Horseshoe Crabs

For more than 300 million years, horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) have left the ocean depths to crawl onshore to breed. In New York, these ancient animals — more related to scorpions and spiders than to crustaceans, and older than the dinosaurs — come to our many shores at full moons, new moons, and high tides beginning in May and continuing into June and early summer. On May 29, 2018, we went to Plumb Beach in Brooklyn close to high tide on a night with a full moon, and were rewarded as the female horseshoe crabs came onshore, with the males grasping onto them. The females dug a nest in the sand and laid their eggs, which the males then fertilized. 

Breeding horseshoe crabs, Plumb Beach, Brooklyn, May 29, 2018

The video showing the horseshoe crabs coming to shore was filmed on May 29 at Plumb Beach, using the soundtrack of the waves. Also in the video are some clips from other beaches throughout the city where I've seen the shells of dead horseshoe crabs, which are beautiful in their own right. Our trip to Plumb Beach was led by Keith Michael of New York City WILD!

Horseshoe crabs have 10 legs, which they use to walk along the ocean floor. They have hard exoskeletons, and nine eyes spread throughout their bodies, plus light receptors near their tails, or telsons. These long, pointed telsons are not used to sting or poison, but to help the horseshoe crabs right themselves if waves push them on their backs.

Horseshoe crab at Marine Park, Brooklyn, May 24, 2018

When the horseshoe crabs were on their backs, rocking back and forth and using their tails to turn themselves over, we watched until we were sure they could right themselves. There were some times when the male and female crabs were both shell down, their legs moving in the air and seemingly without the ability to turn back over. At that point I gently turned the two over and they were able to move again.

Horseshoe crab, Plumb Beach. May 29

A horseshoe crab attempts to right himself.

The horseshoe crab eggs, tens of thousands of them, are a food source for fish, reptiles, and birds. About two weeks after the eggs are laid and fertilized, those that survive hatch into larval horseshoe crabs, which are tiny versions of the adults but without tails. These youngsters settle on the sandy bottom of tidal flats, where they grow and molt, shedding their exoskeletons and growing larger ones, as they move farther into the ocean depths. Once they become adults, roughly 10 years old, they begin the breeding process.

Watching the horseshoe crabs on Plumb Beach, May 29, with the New York City WILD! group

Horseshoe crab shell on the beach, 2017

Orchids in Bloom

When I was growing up, my Dad loved to buy an orchid corsage, usually in a rich purple, for my Mom to wear on Eastern Sunday. She would look so beautiful wearing that corsage, while we proudly wore our corsages of pink baby rosebuds and carnations.

The Orchid Show, New York Botanical Garden, April 17, 2018

The Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden this year featured installations by Daniel Ost and thousands of orchids held in the garden's permanent collection. It ran from March 3 through April 22, and I filmed the show on April 17. My four-hour stroll through the orchids resulted in a half-hour video, which I accompanied with music by Gabriel Fauré, Erik Satie and Léo Delibes.

The Orchid Show, New York Botanical Garden, April 17, 2018

Some of the orchids are identified in the video when they were labeled in the show. But most were filmed in the context of the installation, which combined so many varieties. You will see several corsage orchids in the video. When I saw them at the show, I felt my Mom standing next to me.

The photos were are taken on April 17. You can see more photos on my New York Botanical Garden page. According to the New York Botanical Garden, Orchidaceae is "the largest plant family on Earth."

The Woody Narrative

Woody Wood Duck, Prince of the Pond at 59th Street in Central Park, is my favorite wild animal to watch. I try to see him as often as I can, and I make up stories about him. I stand on the shore and call out, "Woody! Woody! Woody!" in almost a song, and Woody will swim over to me, occasionally requesting peanuts and sunflower seeds.

Woody, April 4, at the Pond, Central Park

I tell people that Woody thinks he is a mallard because he swims around with a mallard pair and chases male mallards away from the female. I tell them that the female likes Woody because he keeps her from getting attacked by mallards other than her mate. And when her mate copulates with her, Woody bites his tail feathers.

Woody and the female mallard he swims around with, April 4, the Pond

When young male mallards come to the Pond, Uncle Woody teaches them about peanuts and standing up against the mallards and behaving like a Woody Wood Duck rather than just a "normal" wood duck. I call these young male wood duck students "Junior" or "Not Woody." J3 (Junior, power of 3) is a young wood duck that Woody has trained recently.

Woody, April 4, the Pond

J3, Woody's student, April 4, the Pond

Much as it is fun to make up stories about what Woody does and thinks, every now and then Woody behaves like a male duck. This happened on April 4, when Woody was seen force copulating with a female mallard, a sight that was a little disturbing to watch. I recorded the behavior, trying to refrain from judgment, and then tried to present it as a naturalist's observation.

Watching male mallards gang attack a female mallard is disturbing, because it is brutal and primal. As I female, I found it evoked my fear of rape. This kind of behavior is common in the world of waterfowl, and has been labeled as "rape" by some naturalist sources. But that is anthropomorphizing behavior that apparently has evolved to continue the different duck species. Waterfowl, especially mallards and wood ducks, tend to hybridize more than any other bird species, although many of the hybrid offspring are infertile.

The female mallard remained under the bush for a couple of minutes after the forced copulation.

I have watched five mallards almost drown a female mallard. To watch a duck I thought I understood participate in this behavior reminded me that Woody is indeed a wild animal and will behave as wild animals do.

Woody, April 4, the Pond

I decided to accept Woody for the wood duck that he is. I have continued to visit him at the Pond, although I couldn't find him last night when I looked. He has left the Pond in the past, only to return in June to molt. If he has gone, I wish him safe travels and hope that he returns soon.