Nabokov's World

Urban nature: Cars whiz by on a road that bissects the Albany Pine Barrens.

No, the subject is not Lolita. It is the Albany Pine Barrens Preserve, an urban nature refuge centered in New York State's capital, Albany. This is a globally unique and rare ecosystem -- fire-dependent pine barrens -- that also hosts a critically endangered species, the Karner Blue Butterfly.

Vladimir Nabokov was a serious amateur lepidopterist who studied and even named the Karner Blue after the town where he first found it (now called Colonie, New York). The butterfly depends on a specific flower, the Blue Lupine, that grows in this sandy, semi-arid habitat. 

Blue Lupine flowers beginning to bloom. (Sorry for the poor photo.) The butterflies will be out in two or three weeks.

The Albany Pine Barrens Preserve comprises a designated Audubon Important Bird Area in New York State (I believe I mentioned previously that I had a hand in the development of the IBA program during my career with the National Audubon Society) as well as a Bird Conservation Area (a similar state designation). It is a highly significant breeding area for species such as Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor), Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla), and Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus).

IBA and BCA signage in the Albany Pine Barrens Preserve Discovery Center

The Discovery Center was built in 2007 from a former bank building and is LEED Certified as a "green" building. It has wonderful educational exhibits and programs that cover the history and management of the preserve, which includes controlled burns and fire management to help the habitat regenerate. 

Display of a pitch pine, a characteristic tree of the pine barrens.

In short, this is a special place to which I like to return as often as possible. Knowing this precious habitat is protected and within slightly more than an hour's reach from me gives me hope and solace.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OPENING DAY FOR GRANVILLE (NEW YORK) DAILY PHOTO

Image
 March 3, 2026 Welcome to Granville, New York, Daily Photo!  Quoting from Wikipedia: Granville is a town on the eastern border of Washington County, New York, United States, abutting Rutland County, Vermont. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 6,215 at the 2020 census. The town of Granville contains a village that also bears the name Granville. Granville is properly part of "upstate New York" and is on the Route 22 corridor that stretches east of the Hudson River from the Bronx all the way to the Canadian border. Granville is a historic center of the slate industry, producing colorful slate for roofs, walkways, and other uses. There are still active mines and slate producing factories. Some beautiful homes in the village of Granville attest to the area's former wealth. The region as a whole is agricultural. A major employer in the village is Telescope, a fabricator of patio furniture. I've lived in the town for a little...
Read more

Amazon

Image
Depending on your perspective, it's a modern convenience or the Devil's handiwork, or maybe both. I read that when Amazon converted a former lumber yard building in Granville into a warehouse/distribution center in 2023, they promised 200 jobs, but it's unclear whether there are currently more than 100 employees there. (I am going to call them to ask.) That's still a decent number for our small town. I am not out of the habit of using Amazon; there are products which are easier to order, and usually less expensive, than driving at least 45 minutes to an hour to a retail center to buy. I read a lot of books on my iPhone Kindle app. But I fully acknowledge Amazon's reputation for terrible, dangerous working conditions, its animosity toward unions, and the damage to our country and the world that Bezos and his ilk do.  Here I go getting political again. And I need prettier pictures. Coming up soon, I promise! Happy one-week Daily Photo bloggiversary to me!!
Read more

Gray Day, Gray House, Red State?

Image
It was another dreary day outdoors. I woke up to two inches more of slush and ice. Well, I chose to move north, so here I am. Spring will be a welcome relief this year. This is the front of the house I live in. My apartment is in the back. It's nice enough. My neighbors are good folks. One couple has an 11-year-old boy who was out shoveling and chopping ice at the same time I was. We had a nice chat, and I pulled him out of the snow when we got stuck. (You can see from the mound in front how much snow has been shoveled and plowed this winter!)  The landlord, who lives in Vermont, is nice enough, too. I assume it's his choice to fly the large American flag in front. I'm not a big fan, especially of what we're doing elsewhere in the world, but it's hardly an unusal choice on his part. These being rural parts, the town is pretty "dark red," as we say here (i.e., conservative and Republican-leaning). Our U.S. representative is a Trump lackey; she was slated to...
Read more