Comments for Backyard and Beyond http://matthewwills.com starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world. "The place to observe nature is where you are."—John Burroughs Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:38:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ Comment on Sweetgum Fruit by Rebecca http://matthewwills.com/2012/02/23/sweetgum-fruit/#comment-2902 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:38:36 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=6654#comment-2902 Love these.

]]> Comment on Natural object: Sweetgum pod by Sweetgum Fruit « Backyard and Beyond http://matthewwills.com/2010/03/06/natural-object-sweetgum-pod/#comment-2901 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:33:40 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=62#comment-2901 [...] which are now long since emptied of their seeds. A native tree, and a regular on our sidewalks and parks, the species is more common in the South. Its star-shaped leaves are quite distinctive and can be [...]

]]> Comment on A Raft of Ducks by mthew http://matthewwills.com/2012/02/21/raft/#comment-2899 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:11:12 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=6703#comment-2899 They breed across the north of Canada & Eurasia, and Iceland.

]]> Comment on A Raft of Ducks by Mark Wilkinson http://matthewwills.com/2012/02/21/raft/#comment-2898 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:06:28 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=6703#comment-2898 Terrific spectacle. I had hoped for a similar gathering of Knots when I visited Snettisham recently, but the tides were wrong. Assume they are setting of north soon. Do you know where they spend the summer?

]]> Comment on A Raft of Ducks by mthew http://matthewwills.com/2012/02/21/raft/#comment-2895 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:15:41 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=6703#comment-2895 And just a subway and bus ride away.

]]> Comment on A Raft of Ducks by Rebecca http://matthewwills.com/2012/02/21/raft/#comment-2893 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:18:27 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=6703#comment-2893 What a sight!

]]> Comment on Springtime in November by Don’t Dump Your Turtle « Backyard and Beyond http://matthewwills.com/2011/11/09/springtime-in-november/#comment-2880 Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:59:59 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=5739#comment-2880 [...] considering that I counted over seventy Red-eared Sliders in the Lullwater in November, the practice certainly continues. The Japanese Pond in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is another [...]

]]> Comment on Coot by mthew http://matthewwills.com/2012/02/16/coot/#comment-2875 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:14:25 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=6616#comment-2875 It was more like they were asking me for food.

]]> Comment on Coot by Paul Lamb http://matthewwills.com/2012/02/16/coot/#comment-2873 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:23:19 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=6616#comment-2873 Did you ask the birds to pose for you like that?

]]> Comment on Coot by mthew http://matthewwills.com/2012/02/16/coot/#comment-2867 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:45:36 +0000 http://matthewwills.com/?p=6616#comment-2867 Thanks, Melissa.

Coots can also be surprisingly loud.

The Jesus Birds are the jacanas; there are some 80 species of them, tropical critters. The only one in the U.S. is the Northern Jacana, which sometimes gets into southern Texas. The very long toes of these birds give them the walking on water appearance, allowing them to walk on dense water vegetation, lily pads, etc.

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