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.”

  • Woodchucks, continued

    Continuing, genetically, that is. Groundhogs are usually solitary, but it takes two to make a generation, so they mate in the spring. She will den on her own and, in about 32 days, start raising a litter. The link to my Tours and Adventure pages link was incorrect the other day. This should work.

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    Woodchucks, continued
  • Mammal Monday

    They were grazing together. And apart. Then they came together again. (What are the whispered sweet-nothings of the Whistlepigs?)

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    Mammal Monday
  • Cormorant v. Large-mouth Bass

    Too much to swallow. UPDATE: My Tours and Adventures page has been updated. Register ASAP if you’re interested in any of these, as they tend to sell out.

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    Cormorant v. Large-mouth Bass
  • A Whale of a Koi

    “It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me.” Herman Melville, Moby-Dick.

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    A Whale of a Koi
  • Welcome Back, Warblers

    My first warblers of the year: a Palm above and male and female Myrtle (Yellow-rumped).

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    Welcome Back, Warblers
  • Raptor Wendesday

    Two over Valley Water at the same time. On the Kestrel perch atop the Old Chapel. Then, several minutes later, two were over Sylvan Water, eeping away.

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  • Double Crests

    The Double-creasted Cormorant/Nannopterum auritum‘s crests are breeding season finery.

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    Double Crests
  • Mammal Monday

    Dead edition, unfortunately. Mostly likely time to see them, though: White-footed Mouse/Peromyscus leucopus, probably. Striped Skunk/Mephitis mephtis, another crepuscular and nocturnal species.

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    Mammal Monday
  • Two New NYC Nature Books

    New York City is of course a fantastic place to see birds—and other lifeforms, as you readers know—through the year, a fact that plenty of people both here and elsewhere still aren’t savvy to. Urban nature, inevitably given the urbanization of the world, is getting a lot more attention than it used to, and our…

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