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.”

  • A Very Small Jelly Donut?

    Spotted this small object on a swamp white oak leaf yesterday. With help from iNaturalist and Tracks and Signs of Insects, I learned that it’s an egg of a Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus). You may recall that I found a half dozen of the large cocoons of this species over the winter. I’ve seen several…

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  • Mammal Monday

    Hanging from a tree by the back legs.

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  • Chipping

    Sure have been a lot of bugs around here on the blog this week… So here’s a Chipping Sparrow family. Parent with the red poll above. Two views of one of the fledglings. Was chipping away like mad, always a good sign this time of year that hungry birds are about demanding to be fed.…

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  • Discovery Week V

    I could barely see, and barely photograph, this one on the side of a tree. I first thought it was some kind of moth. The very long antennae forms, mostly in shade, are rather un-mothlike, though. Turns out this is a giant casemaker caddisfly, possibly in the species Banksiola. The aquatic larvae stage given them…

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  • Discovery Week IV

    An Eumeninae, one of the potter and mason wasps. Taking a break to clean itself, including its antennae. There are some very similar-looking wasps in this subfamily. This one has been identified on iNaturalist as Parancistrocerus leionotus, a species with no common name. Genus Stenodynerus has some near-look-alikes. There are 110 species world-wide in the…

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  • Discovery Week III

    The Elegant Grass-veneer moth (Microcrambus elegans).Common and widespread. The larvae feed on grasses. The adults flit about in the grass, stirred up by your footfall. This one leapt up onto a leaf to focus my attention. Here’s what I think is a Double-banded Grass-Veneer (Crambus agitatellus), another grass-lover and photo-challenge. The fuzzy, brush-like fronts of…

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    The local Northern Mockingbirds have been relentless in going after the local American Kestrels. With a hissing sound, they dive and dive. This was yesterday morning. A little later, an alarm-sounding kestrel pulled me to the window and I saw: crow chasing a Red-tailed Hawk over the park, with a Northern Mockingbird going after the…

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  • Discovery Week II

    Look at those rear legs! It’s like they banded this one. Which would be a feat, since these are rather small insects. This is the Common Hoover Fly Parasitoid Wasp (Diplazon laetatorius). A member of the wide and wonderful world of Ichneumonidae, the ichneumon wasps, this one, as its name tells you, parasitizes hover fly…

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  • Discovery Week I

    This week I’ll be showcasing some new-to-me species. Eye-level leaves are the naturalist’s friend. Your big honking tree has a lot of leaves up there, and 99% of them are inaccessible to the eye. But find yourself some low branches, or a sapling, and examine the sun-bathed leaves. They can be hopping… That’s how I…

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  • Baby Grasshoppers

    Look closely. There are at least four little grasshoppers on this plant. The coreopsis flowers are making room for them, too. And here’s katydid in the mix. *** Breaking! There are coyote pups in the Bronx. I haven’t seen them, but these pictures on iNaturalist are just what you need today.

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