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.”

  • Raptor Wednesday

    Red-tails galore. A trio of them were cavorting in the wind. All looked like last year’s models, without their red-tails yet. And all were frisky. Hither-and-yoning, they never all lined up as a trio for the lens. Simultaneously, a fourth was perched some blocks away on the taller of the two Industry City smokestacks.

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  • Loons

    The loons are usually further out, but here in Coney Island Creek with the low morning sun behind me, this Common was looking good. Further around the bend of Sea Gate, this Red-throated turned out to the only one I saw on my scramble around the far western “private beach” end of Coney Island. This…

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  • Claws

    Sometimes the claw is the only evidence. This is from one of the rock crab family, I think. Asian Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus). Another tentative ID. Atlantic Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus). Flat-clawed Hermit (Pagurus pollicaris). (Gave this one its own post.)

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  • Landfill

    Former landfill, that is. Scenes from Shirley Chisholm State Park in winter. At least two female American Kestrels were hovering in search of prey. A sunnier day, from across low-tide Hendrix Creek.

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  • Feather Awry

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  • Spatula clypeata

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  • Cone

    A third to half of an Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica) cone. Take off on of the scales… To reveal two of the winged seeds.

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    A Yew. Screaming Blue Jays. A couple of frozen Gray Squirrels. Plenty of clues…

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  • Egg Case

    Long-time readers may know that my most popular blog post ever was about these whelk egg cases. We have two types in the upper Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. The pinched edges of these capsules mean this it the egg case of the Channeled Whelk/Busycotypus canaliculatus. Here’s one of the capsules separated from the chain. Often…

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  • Downy in the Phrag

    Phragmites are notorious for taking over and turning everything into Phragmites, leaving little room for other plants and the hosts of other organisms that live with those plants. One exception is whatever it is that attracts Downy Woodpeckers to the winter stalks. Somebody is living in there, and this small woodpecker is determined to chisel…

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