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.”

mthew

  • Amends

    The last American Woodcock we saw here was being eaten. This one, one of three spotted on November 15, was presumably hoping not be eaten. By being very still on the ground.

    Amends
  • We Interrupt This Broadcast

    For some local bus shelter interventions. I was just decrying the paltry state of graphic public protest, for I miss the likes of Robbie Conal’s Art Attack. Turns out he is still at work: “Dick Tater,” “Supreme Injustices,” etc. I don’t know who did these B63 line posters, but they’re inside the frames. An inside…

    We Interrupt This Broadcast
  • Moss Gardens

    Moss on moss. Lichen on moss.

    Moss Gardens
  • Falcon Friday

    Young Peregrine over Sunset Park. Adult Peregrine atop the butcher’s block, eating the last of what was probably a Feral Pigeon. Note how distended the falcon’s crop is: good bit of meat on a squab. Merlin. Two Merlin contesting spruce perch, older above/younger below by plumage. American Kestrel female. American Kestrel male.

    Falcon Friday
  • Poop Mold

    Dew-dappled mold on Canada Goose (probably) dropping. Look closer still and you will see these tiny clear or yellow stalked orbs of pin molds. (Impossible to photograph.)

  • Raptor Wednesday

    Sub-adult Bald Eagle. Adult Red-shouldered Hawk. Was circling with three Great Blue Herons. The next day, a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was going around and around. Adult Cooper’s Hawk. Red-tailed Hawk after a bath. All within a mile of home here in Brooklyn.

    Raptor Wednesday
  • November Insects

    This stinkbug was in the tub.

  • Melee

  • Fall Colors

    Fall Colors
  • Scaup

    This is the first Greater Scaup I’ve seen so close-up. Usually, they’re off-shore and you’re battling the sea wind to see them. This one was on Sylvan Water, a freshwater pond, in Green-Wood Cemetery the other day.

    Scaup