Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

  • Leps

    Very big Polyphemus Moth caterpillar. A very small Saturniidae caterpillar. Should get a lot bigger and more identifiable, but will I find it again on this oak? Filbertworm. Topiary Grass-Veneer. Ipsilon Dart. Reddish Ephestiodes. The Joe-Pye Weed is so popular now that my pictures of this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail captured some bees.

    See more

    Leps

  • Raptor Wednesday

    Reconnecting with the American Kestrel family from the north end of Green-Wood. The Chapel Gang: two young males, one young female, and the father of them all (well…?) hanging around the Old Chapel recently.

    See more

    Raptor Wednesday

  • All the Fine Young Mimids

    Brown Thrasher Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird. Our Mimidae family birds.

    See more

    All the Fine Young Mimids

  • Shore Birds

    See more

    Shore Birds

  • Birds

    I never spotted the nest, but some strange calls alerted me to young Warbling Vireos in the Quaking Aspen. Another brood for this American Robin? Nearby. The local Ravens abandoned their nest at the beginning of the breeding season, likely due to assholes with fireworks, and I haven’t seen many this summer. But they seemed…

    See more

    Birds

  • PSA

    A Peach Service Announcement: this Cooks Illustrated recipe for peach ice-cream is fantastic. It’s a good bit of work, but the effect is worth it. Wow! Note that I did not use the peaches pictured above, which I found growing on 36th Street.

    See more

  • Night Heron II

    Juvenile Yellow-crowned at Plum(b) Beach. With parent.

    See more

    Night Heron II

  • Night Heron I

    Juvenile Black-crowned at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Scarfed up a giant water bug, genus Belostoma. Licked lips. While an adult hung out overhead.

    See more

    Night Heron I

  • Raptor Wednesday

    A photo from my fellow Kestrel watcher M. This is the third of the Chinatown nestlings to fledge, and for a day he livened up the bar scene here. A male on the antenna at 4th Avenue and 45th (Brooklyn). First time I’ve seen a Kestel up here. And I don’t recognize this one. Starting…

    See more

  • Pipevine Swallowtails

    A couple of the big, fat caterpillars on Pipevine at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Huge leaves of Pipevine nom nom nom. A feeding adult at Narrows Botanical Garden.

    See more