Welcome to the Wonderful World of the Wild Wingéd Ones

Hi, I'm Walter H. Laufer, the urban naturalist.

Urban naturalist? Isn’t that an oxymoron?

But wildness doesn’t require wilderness. Wildness is where you find it. It is the expected and the serendipitous, the commonplace and the ordinary out of place or time. It is the rainbow colored patches in an overcast sky, the half dozen waterfowl seen just once during migration, the daffodil blooming in the snow, the southern butterfly in northern climes, the spider vibrating its web.

So, come, join in a journey, not through space, for only occasionally do we leave the Greenwich Village sector of Hudson River Park, but through time, as seasons follow one upon another, some eagerly, some more reluctantly. Expect the unexpected as the jostling seasons occasionally overlap so that buds burst above snow covered ground; migratory songbirds arrive before winter resident waterfowl depart; and mirages distort the bridge of the upper bay while sundogs still color the clouds.

Come explore the World of Wonderful Wild Winged Ones: Butterflies like Sulphurs, Vanessas, Swallowtails, Anglewings, Blues, Skippers, and Monarchs; Dragonflies like Skimmers, Saddlebags, Pennants, Dashers, and Amberwings; and Birds like Peregrines, Terns, Swallows, and Geese.  Observe the flora and fauna that share the winged ones' domain and the environment itself.

Get your backpack, binoculars, camera, snacks, and water, and let’s go for a walk along the Hudson.

On the landward side, running between a bikeway along West Street and the Hudson River, are a series of lawns edged with flowers, shrubs, and trees, and paralleled by a walkway at the river’s edge.

A small display garden, containing flowers and shrubs, is situated near the landward ends of the piers. Butterfly Bushes (Buddleia davidii) are located in the garden and at intervals along the walkway.

On the river side, there are old pilings and newly built piers with grass, artificial and real, and groves of trees.