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

  • Piping Plover I

    Preen. Yawn. Itch. Itch again.

    Piping Plover I
  • Spot Quiz

    Answer tomorrow.

    Spot Quiz
  • Butterflies

    Mourning cloaks must have been sumptuous to have inspired the common name of this butterfly. These overwinter locally, tucking themselves into bark crevices and the like. Ubiquitous Cabbage Whites making more Cabbage Whites. American Ladies were fluttering ashore along the Rockaway Peninsula on Monday, the warmest day of the year so far. They move up…

    Butterflies
  • Laughing Gulls

    The crazy sound of summer: Laughing Gulls overhead along the city’s edges. And sometimes a bit further inland, as here where some rat-fancier has dumped a huge amount of old bread on a traffic island on Avenue U.

    Laughing Gulls
  • Raptor Wednesday

    My third Osprey sighting of the year, flying above the eclipse crowd at Green-Wood. The best place to see these fish-eating birds in Brooklyn is at Marine Park, where two nest platforms are occupied again this year. The one pictured above has been occupied for many breeding years. This one has been unoccupied for years,…

    Raptor Wednesday
  • Sapsucker On Yew

    Sapsucker On Yew
  • Mammal Monday

    Mammal Monday
  • Some New Species

    New to me, that its. These first three are all introduced to the region from elsewhere. I found them all on the Wild West Side of Marine Park, amid the ATV tracks, cat/rat feeding stations, trash, and high tide wrack line right at the bordering road. What the what? Those eyes are all Hymenoptera, but…

    Some New Species
  • Ibises

    Sixteen sacred, or profane, Glossy Ibises flying overhead at Marine Park Saltmarsh Nature Center.

    Ibises
  • The Robber Bridegroom

    The Robber Bridegroom