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.”

  • Superb Owl Monday Morning Quarterbacking

    January 24: finally, evidence of nesting. And January 31.

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  • Superb Owls

    December 24. I assumed that mostly shut eye was because of sun. But: January 10: the bird still has a problem with that left eye. I think this is the male, because this one looks the smaller of the two. Now, with their superior hearing, owls can indeed hunt with one eye not functioning. But

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    Superb Owls
  • Superb Owl Sunday

    First sighting of the season, December 7th. December 17. This photo from about 3x further away. I didn’t see the one on the left until looking at my pics later. December 21, another I didn’t see until examining the photo. December 28. Separate trees. Jan 4. Separate trees, one of them the nest tree, but

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    Superb Owl Sunday
  • Superb Owl Pre-show

    Where there’s smoke, there’s fire…. And where there are owl pellets….

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  • Ice Sentinels

    There were two Great Blue Heron’s on mostly frozen Sylvan Water a week ago. One a day later. And again, two days later.

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    Ice Sentinels
  • Winter Strategies

    Tuliptree samaras littering the snow. Being cracked open by this Northern cardinal’s big beak. Squirrel digging deep for an acorn. And not sharing.

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    Winter Strategies
  • Raptor Wednesday

    Peregrine in the snow. Kestrel in the snow. Coopers after the snow. Kestrel after the next snow.

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    Raptor Wednesday
  • Mammal Monday

    Plump with cat/rat food, a Raccoon runs across my path. And… Really? Yes, really does manage to fit between these slats.

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    Mammal Monday
  • Winter’s Ruins

    Just some comb left on this one. This one is still largely intact. This one came down in the storm. There was still some of the paper covering up in the tree. A closer look at the paper comb. Lost some larvae at the end of the season…. These nests are only used for one

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    Winter’s Ruins