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.”

Flying Now

Papilio glaucusAnother black and yellow animal for the day. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). All over the place right now, but hard to get a lens on unless they are feeding. Mostly I see them moving. This is the largest regional butterfly, and pretty much unmistakable, although further north the slightly smaller P. canadensis is found, and there is some overlap between the two ranges. And in the southern Appalachians, PA to GA to AL, there is the even larger P. appalachiensis, which flies only in spring.

Leave a comment