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.”

  • Rainbow Bufflehead

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  • Orwell’s Roses

    “It is only very rarely, when I make a definitive mental effort, that I connect this coal with that far-off labour in the mines,” wrote George Orwell of shoveling coal into the fire to keep warm in London. He wrote this The Road to Wigan Pier, his reporting on the horrific condition in northern England’s…

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  • Holly Gone Swiftly

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  • Some More Winter Ducks

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  • Finches

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  • Raptor Wednesday

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  • Gadwall’s Launch

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  • Mammal Monday

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  • Kestrel v. Red-tail

    This fire-escape is in the morning sun and out of the predominantly western winds. Can easily see a dozen Mourning Doves up here, a scattering of European Starlings, and a few House Sparrows. It’s also a great place to perch for a raptor, meaning a scattering of all the other birds. Two days before this,…

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  • Great Blue at Low Tide

    Ari Berman puts it well concerning the corporate-tool Krysten Sinema’s announcement that she’ll continue supporting the filibuster: “Sinema, by refusing to support changes to the filibuster, is now giving the anti-democratic party veto power over protecting democracy. She is saying it would be divisive and partisan to respond to a divisive and partisan effort to…

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