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

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  • The Gall

    The IPCC’s latest report Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, is very, very, very bad. I suppose we can chalk it up to irony that this “atlas of human suffering” comes out in the midst of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The bloody connections between autocracy and petroleum are well established: Putin’s Russia is a…

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  • Tracks

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  • Yard Birds

    Saw 18 species of birds in the yard (or passing over it!). Saw 14 other species of birds in the neighborhood or a away on the Hudson. You can help keep this blog blue-birding along… Remember: Trump’s first impeachment was for trying to extort President Zelensky by withholding security assistance from Ukraine for dirt on…

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  • Ice

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  • The Good Gravy Bird

    Solidarity with the people of Ukraine: 8 ways to help. 7 other ways to help. Watch out for bullshit in social media. Be wary of internet trolls and cyberattacks. Remember how Trump, his gangster-family, and the GOP all supported Putin, a dictator who routinely has his enemies killed, and have been supported in turn by…

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  • Beeches

    In the city, most of our beeches are the introduced Fagus sylvatica, which includes all the weeping, copper, purple, cut-leaf varieties. I put together this post a few months ago to look at the other species found here.

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  • Raptor Wednesday

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  • Woodpecker Hole

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  • Woodpecker Haven

    I’ve seen a female Red-bellied Woodpecker clamor into this hole a couple times this winter. She announces herself loudly when she arrives, looks into the hole, looks around outside, and then just pops right out of sight. This has been happening 20-45 minutes before sunset. It may be one of several night roosts for her.…

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