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.”

  • Kestrels Fledglings

    All things falcon continues. On June 10th, I found oodles of American Kestrels at the corner of Green-Wood nearest their nest. This is the third year in a row for this nest. There were at least three males and one female fledgling, but I could not get a good photo of the female(s). Here’s the…

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    Kestrels Fledglings

  • Borough Hall Peregrines III

    June 13th, 8:46 am: my first photos of the fledgling! (And it looks like there is only one.) After a 40 minute or so… nap? The bird picked up again, this time vocalizing loudly as the two parents perched nearby on the same building.

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    Borough Hall Peregrines III

  • Borough Hall Peregrines II

    June 7th: first glimpse of a nestling in the scrape. Actually, I didn’t notice this until later because we were chatting with another Peregrine Papparazzo as I absently aimed up there. June 9th. June 11th. June 12th, 6:56 am. June 12th, 7:15 am To be continued…

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    Borough Hall Peregrines II

  • Borough Hall Peregrines I

    The parents, on the Municipal Building and at the scrape.

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    Borough Hall Peregrines I

  • Hummer Update

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    Hummer Update

  • Raptor Wednesday

    American Kestrel and Common Grackle harrying a red-tailed Hawk, with a Chimney Swift in between here and there. Location suggest this was one of the Nest 2 Kestrels. American Osprey over Valley Water in a light rain. Borough Hall Peregrine.

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    Raptor Wednesday

  • Leaf-cutter

    Leaf-cutter bee at entrance to her nest in a stone wall. She is holding a piece of leaf here, but we cant see it because of the angle. Also, that leaf segment wasn’t as large as this piece, brought in 3.5 minutes earlier. Megachile bees line their nests with half circle pieces of leaf that…

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    Leaf-cutter

  • Monarch Monday

    Not the first adult or imago Monarch Butterfly I’ve seen this spring, but the first I’ve photographed. June 7th.

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  • Nesting

    Cedar Waxwing with one of several shards of plastic bag, presumably for nesting material, gathered over a couple of minutes. But the stuff is so insubstantial it didn’t stay in the thickly-leaved branches of this Beech. Several pieces floated down as I watched. Northern Mockingbird nest at eye-level. I discovered one egg in here the…

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  • Kestrels in the Ruins

    Two nestlings at what I call “Nest 1”. June 7. Same day, less than a mile away at Nest 2, the female checks in to her nest. Presumably, there are nestlings in there. The male was perched nearby.

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