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.”

  • Status

    Got our second does of Pfizer vaccine yesterday. Grackle says, “Get vaccinated!” The more, the merrier.

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  • Underbark

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    The sheer intensity of a raptor’s gaze. This Red-tailed Hawk was hunting… lizards. I have seen American Kestrels successfully capture and eat the local lizards. This big buteo didn’t have any such luck. I think this is the same heavily marked bird, seen here a day later nearby. Kestrel reception is good, with some interference…

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  • Prunus Among Us

    The ornamental cherry biz, filled with grafts, hybrids, and trademarked varietals, looks complicated. Luckily, the above samples are tagged and mapped in Green-Wood. This one, though, is not. There’s been a suggestion that it’s Prunus avium, wild cherry. Lots of pretty, to be sure, but not a lot of pollinators. They’re like roses, an exotic…

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  • Pairs & Solos

    These two House Finches were in the same tree courting. Couldn’t get these two Carolina Wrens to cooperate for a photo, but they were foraging in close proximity.

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  • The Lizards

    The Northern Italian Wall Lizards seem to be doing well. I counted eight the other day, including the one in the series of photos below, peeking out of a crevice in a pyramidal mausoleum. Thank you to all the contributors to my keep-this-blog-afloat appeal!

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  • It’s Definitely Insect Season Again

    The weather has been fluctuating. Days in the 50s aren’t very bug friendly, but once we start hitting the sunny 60s, they emerge. Did you know you can help maintain the cost of keeping this blog going?

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  • Pollinators

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  • Rusty

    Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus). This is, or better say was, a common species, but the birds have “undergone one of the sharpest and most mystifying recent declines of any North American songbird.” Here’s more information from the Rusty Blackbird Working Group. I reported this sighting on eBird. This male, forging on the edge of Green-Wood’s…

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    Backyard and Beyond is now accepting donations! If costs several hundred dollars a year to maintain this site, so I’ve put up a donations and tip “jar” feature for anyone who would like to help defray the tab. Thank you for your consideration and attention!

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