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Welcome visitors to the virtual (and actual) Hudson River Park!
You have found the HRP Companion, a guide to Hudson River Park's other-than-human native and non-native residents and visitors. The park itself is linear, running four miles south-north along Manhattan's West Side from Battery Place to West 59th Street, beside the Hudson River. Of its 550 acres, 150 are upland, including the Greenwich Village sheltered coast biome composed of various microhabitats, containing vegetation from Asters to Zelkovas harboring creatures from Asian Lady Beetles to Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in season, and the Tribeca exposed coast biome with Bosnian pines to Witch Hazel and American Lady butterflies to Yellow Warblers . The remaining 400 acres, or 73 percent, comprise the Hudson River estuarine sanctuary, where salt water meets, mixes, and mingles with fresh water creating a zone of biodiversity filled with diving ducks, dabbling ducks, geese and gulls, eels and oysters, and many other forms of aquatic life.
Review the List of Wonders.
Take a HRP Companion (virtual) Walk to familiarize yourself with the Greenwich Village segment (or the Tribeca segment).
Consult the Profiles to acquaint yourself with the flora and fauna.
Finally take a real nature walk on your own.
OR
Join the Hudson River Nature Walks (formerly Hudson River Park WILD!) group
any Sunday at 9:00 am
from June through September
meeting at the Christopher Street fountain (at Christopher and West streets).
Take a HRP Companion (virtual) Walk to familiarize yourself with the Greenwich Village segment (or the Tribeca segment).
Consult the Profiles to acquaint yourself with the flora and fauna.
Finally take a real nature walk on your own.
OR
Join the Hudson River Nature Walks (formerly Hudson River Park WILD!) group
any Sunday at 9:00 am
from June through September
meeting at the Christopher Street fountain (at Christopher and West streets).
List of WONDERS
One person's list of other -than-human organisms encountered in HRP over a fifteen-year period, with taxonomic, geographic, and seasonal information.
WALKS
Take a (virtual) nature walk, first of a series through Hudson River Park.
PROFILES
Here you will find a species or so per page, for many of the species found in the park from 2005 to 2015, plus thematic pages such as pine needle or pine cone or leaf or acorn comparisons.
Protist Kingdom
Animal, plant, or fungus?
It is a Slime Mold! |
Fungi Kingdom
The smallest mushrooms in North America!
The largest mushrooms in the Park! And more . . . |
Floral Kingdom
Giant pods!
Tiny flowers! And lots more . . . |
Faunal Kingdom
The beautiful!
The ugly! And so much else . . . |
Come Meet Them in Season!
RESOURCES
Taxonomic Lists
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IndexesSpecies indexed alphabetically by common name and taxonomically by scientific name
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Floral GlossaryDefinitions and explanations of botanical terms
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FUTURE FEATURES
The
Urban
Naturalist
Is
In
When in Hudson River Park keep an eye out for the roving Urban Naturalist. He may be watching the sky, staring at a tree trunk, peering into the shrubbery, photographing butterflies, holding a caterpillar, or sitting with a goose.
Feel free to interrupt him with your questions, observations, comments, and suggestions.
Feel free to interrupt him with your questions, observations, comments, and suggestions.
Did You Know...Fantastic factoids
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Things to DoMake your own mushroom ink.
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Ask the Naturalist BlogIf you can't visit in person ask a question or leave a comment online here.
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This website is independently operated and is not affiliated with the Hudson River Park Trust or its constituent parts.
Walter Laufer is an independent contractor with the Education and Environment Department, co-leading nature walks in the park and offering his expertise.
All photographs, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Walter H. Laufer.
Walter Laufer is an independent contractor with the Education and Environment Department, co-leading nature walks in the park and offering his expertise.
All photographs, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Walter H. Laufer.