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.”

  • Some Wasps

    Spinola’s Mason Wasp/Ancistrocerus spinolae Walden’s Potter Wasp/Ancistrocerus waldenii drinking from the pool covering. Bramble Mason Wasp/Ancistrocerus adiabatus exploring a not-deep-enough recessed screw hole. Parancistrocerus genus Ammophila Therion circumflexum (?) Dolichomitus irritator, maybe. All the above seen in Staatsburg, NY. This just in: my first sighting of Sceliphron curvatum, the Asian Mud-dauber, was on Sunday in…

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    We certainly were spoiled having American Kestrels up close and personal all those years when a pair nested on the corner and perched in a tree right across the street. Now the nearest nest I know about is a long-shot for the camera. On Monday, two males and two females were seen around the nest.…

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  • More Lancet Clubtail

    Phanogomphus exilis–if that’s what this is; there are a lot of clubtails.

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  • Hoppers

    Sulphur-winged Grasshoppers/Arphia sulphure. A little burst of yellow when they fly. Not to mention the sound. Here’s one the carpenter ants are scavenging. In addition, there were a few early instars of other grasshoppers hopping about:

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  • Wild Sounds

    While reading this, I heard it was nominated for a Pulitzer. Great news, because this book about the evolution of sound needs its profile raised. It’s an utterly fascinating and necessary read. Life and sound are intimately wrapped together over millions of years. This is a book covering the soundscape from syrinx to larynx, from…

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  • Oriole Nest

    On May 8th, I spotted a female Baltimore Oriole beginning a nest in a London Plane. I returned a week or so after that first sighting, but could see nothing. But then this past Monday, June 5, the wind was kicking up and I spotted what looks like a full nest. A male singing atop…

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  • Beetlemania Continues

    Dogwood Twig Borer Bumble Flower Goldenrod Leafminer Larinus something False Darkling Beetle family member Strangalepta Flower Longhorn Beetle Peach Root Weevil (Tortoise beetle on window, from the inside, because by the time I got outside it was gone…) Stropenron hamata Gambrinus Flat-headed Apple Tree Borer… …one of the Jewel Beetle family. Don’t we all wish…

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  • Beetlemania begins…

    I saw more than two dozen beetle species last week in a yard and along a nearby street. Plum Curculo above…you might have to take a seat here, this is going to continue into tomorrow… Oak Leafrolling Weevil One of the numerous Agrilus species Kuschelina vians Rove beetle Six Spotted Tiger Wrinkled Soldier Agrilus cyanescens…

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    At the Kestrel Communications Center… With the female out and about, I expect any youngsters in the nest are close to fledgling. * News on our awful, awful air, filled with smoke from Canadian wildfires. It’s akin to a thick fog at 8pm Tuesday; can’t see NJ, can barely see some of the barges on…

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  • Garter

    This was seen in Staatsburg. I haven’t seen one in NYC in quite a while, but they are definitely found in all five boroughs.

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