Backyard
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Community Gardens Need Your Help
The operating authority for community gardens not held in trust is ending in September. New rules have been proposed by both Parks & Recreation and Housing Preservation & Development, the two city departments that control the land under the gardens. Many gardeners and community members feel the proposed new rules just aren’t strong enough. The…
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Shy spiders
In the excitement over our recent trip to Iceland, I have been neglecting home in the fairest of all boroughs. So here’s a little taste of Brooklyn to remind you where I spend most of my time. Yeah. Spiders in my back yard, the Back 40 (inches), are a constant. Jumping spiders, crab spiders, orb-web…
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Ant swarm
Last night about 3:30 I was informed that the Back 40 (inches), my little piece of Brooklyn backyard, was swarming with ants. Last week, I missed a twig-shaped caterpillar eating one of my plants around 4 a.m. I regretted not getting out of bed to see that. So last night I did get out of…
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Blue Jays
Cyanocitta cristata, the blue jay, one of the most common, most colorful, most aggressive, and loudest birds found east of the Rockies. And, evidently, they’ll eat just about anything. This one is going for the cat kibble. It doesn’t like me lounging on the porch, but it sneaks in anyway. This one, meanwhile, has cached…
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Poppy pollen
Another look at the California poppy now flowering out back. I became enamored of the wild versions of these north of the SF Bay several years ago. It’s the state flower out there.
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In the Back 40 Now
If you are new to this blog, the Back 40 (inches) is my small concrete backyard. From the top, left to right, we have California poppy, which came from seed; one of several ant condos, which came on their own; sunflower, self-seeded from last year; a volunteer aster of some kind, perhaps bushy; and marigold,…
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Red Squirrel
This red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, was chasing, or being chased — in a circle it’s hard to tell who’s on first — by a gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, on a big ash tree in Bradford, MA. Meanwhile, a neighborhood cat was patrolling the nearby fence, hoping for a loser. We chased the cat off. I’ve…
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Back 40 and Beyond Spiders
Look closely and you will see that this jumping spider, found in my backyard, has some prey. And you just have to look closely to see how well this one blends into the sand. Found on a Brooklyn beach. It had turned over on itself in a sandy depression and pulled in all its legs.…
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In the Back 40
A sunflower maggot fly, Strauzia longipennis. Scoping out my sunflowers, which have not yet budded. You can’t really see the red in the eye in my photo, so take a look at this image.
Backyard and Beyond 