Hello and Goodbye    May 07
WAKE UP    and Smell the Clover.
      Wink an Eye, and it's Over.

WEEDS . . .? What R U Delerious?. These are Chrysanthemum leucanthemum! Born & bred right here in Queens county.

The record rainfall has brought a bumper crop of daisies, poking yellow heads out from under fences and lining the roadways. While there is still a lot of brown around, May's green and yellow hues are welcome signs of spring.

The daisy crop wont last long, in fact, this astounding intensity is gone by the second week of May. Some daisies (just some stragglers) will persist into the summer, but the yellow carpet is gone until next spring.

Many of the daisies seen here are already second generation - that is, the first generation has been mowed away and a new crop has sprang up. These have short stems, while the older crop is long stemmed. The distinction is evident in the photographs: beneath the trees and under fences, where the mowers don't go, the daisy carpet is much more lush; the open fields are sparse.

TOP PHOTO Park denizens sun themselves on Boathouse dock.
TOP LEFT PHOTO Redwinged Blackbird. The park's ubiquitous reed dweller.
TOP RIGHT PHOTO Our old friends the swans have been sighted in Meadow Lake. Something is amiss though; Why no cygnets?
LOWER LEFT & RIGHT PHOTOS Robin Redbreasts are in the park in large numbers this year. They usually hunt worms, but, perhaps they like the city's new grass seed?

A pair of white egrets has returned to fish in the Flushing River for several seasons. They don't stay long, maybe a week or two. PHOTO TOP LEFT shows the pair - one can be glimpsed between the tree and pole. The other is in the river just right of center. PHOTO LOWER LEFT Egret fishing. PHOTOS AT RIGHT Egret takes to wing and is quickly out of sight.