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.”

  • More Henslow, Please

    A bird unimpressed by people. As a vagrant rarity, this little creature has attracted crowds to the cemetery. But the bird just goes on patrolling the grass and the edges of the road, sometimes getting quite close to people. This has worried some observers: is the animal alright? A sparrow maven’s quote that the species…

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  • Henslow Sparrow

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  • Understory Oaks

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  • Raptor Wednesday

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  • Pecking

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  • Mammal Monday

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  • A Sunday Sermon

    Recently, a respected botanist we know and used to admire was photographed and quoted at a fascist anti-vax march against public health measures here in NYC. He wore a large yellow star on his clothes in a brazen attempt to align himself with Jewish victims of Christian European anti-Semitism over the centuries, but particularly in…

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  • Beeches

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  • Confused Cherry Blossoms

    Scattered cherry blooms this week on a day of blustery snow.

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  • The Other Sweetgum

    Liquidambar acalycina, which iNaturalist calls Chang’s Sweetgum. These are the Burgundy Flush variety, but this has been such a rotten year for foliage. Compared to American Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, the leaves here are different, but the smaller, longer-horned seedpod is the quickest way to tell them apart.

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