The silver-haired bat was the good news...

Silver-haired Bat -- Central Park April 7, 2010
photo by Ed Lam

Now for the bad news...


Unidentified Tick
photo by Ed Lam

On Ed Lam's Facebook page last Thursday, the noted artist, naturalist, odonate specialist and and former Central Park Regular wrote:

Spent late Wednesday afternoon in Central Park in NYC. A green island amid miles of concrete, the park is a magnet for migratory birds needing a place to rest and feed. However the best sighting wasn't avian but this Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) found roosting in the Ramble. Worst sighting was the tick I pulled off my leg later in the evening.

The next day a mutual friend, Bradley Klein, posted a comment :

I've never picked up a tick in Central Park. Biodiversity there is on the rise. Coyotes, ticks...

You can find the photos above and many others, on Ed's Facebook Album:

"Wall Photos" by Ed Lam

PS from Marie

Not sure what kind of tick it is, but it doesn't look like a Deer Tick, the kind that carry Lyme disease. Might be a Dog Tick. Those only carry Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever.. In any event, I've never encountered a tick in Central Park in all my years there, nor heard of anyone finding a tick before. Bad news indeed.