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

    Saturday morning, there was movement inside the American Kestrel cavity. I could see two nestlings. On Sunday morning, they could see me. Two females and a male. Very possibly more in this spacious rust-bucket of a cornice. To re-cap: for three seasons, American Kestrels bred on the corner above the Valentina bodega. This spring, that…

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  • The Young Ones

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  • Mammal Monday

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  • Pollinator Week

    New readers/viewers: did you know we accept donations to help defray the cost of hosting this blog?

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  • Odonata Update

    Today’s the start of the Odolympics, an attempt to survey the dragonfly and damselfly populations of the Western Hemisphere. (Part 2 will take place in December for folks in South America.)

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  • Youngsters

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  • Spiders

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  • Charismatic Galls

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  • Bluegill Sashimi

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  • Twig Hunting

    The Green Heron really wanted this curved twig. It could not break it off. Meanwhile. Literally, at the same time, another Green Heron was further up in the woods. This one was successful, snapping off a twig and then flying it back to the nest site. The first heron flew back as well, but without…

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