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

    A mewling squirrel brought this Red-tailed Hawk to my attention. They were in the same tree, which provided much more protection for the mammal than the open ground. Unsuccessful there, the hawk spent some time on an angel’s wing.

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  • Flypaper

    A swamp white oak (Q. bicolor) on an industrial block below the tree-line, which is very marked in Brooklyn. Let’s look a little closer. This tree was jumping. The larvae and pupae of Asian Ladybugs were all over it. Hm, but what about those pieces of fly? There were plenty of living flies landing on…

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  • Is This It?

    I intended this to be a humorous send-off to summer. The Turkey Vultures were cleaning up the day after some jumped-up apes — reader, you know the species intimately — partied on the beach at Croton Point. Species that eat our garbage may be doing ok, but others not so much. God-damn, we are doing…

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  • Climate at B&B

    A special Climate Strike edition: All my climate-themed posts are here. These are some of the highlights over the years: On the history of warnings about climate change. Authoritarian carbon democracy. And even worse: climate behemoth. Frankenstein’s Planet. The last time humans saw a two degree global temperature change, it was the other way, and…

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  • At The NYC Climate Strike

    A few signs from yesterday’s Climate Strike in NYC. Amidst the crowd at the edges of Foley Square, it was hard to get an overall picture of the size and shape of things, but school kids predominated. #ITMFA, a begging call to the Weimar Democrats. Another good sign: “The lifestyle you ordered is out of…

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  • Global Climate Strike

    Who, what, when, where. How to be an adult ally. Art by David Solnit.

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  • Cats!

    When a body meets a body coming through the… Apiaceae. Black Swallowtail caterpillar fit to pupate. The Asteroid, AKA Goldenrod Hooded Owlet. A reprise of the Common Buckeye caterpillar. Five were seen in the same small patch. The blue spines! Our old friend the Monarch. On the same day, two days ago, a female was…

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    Summer is quiet when it comes to raptors, unless you have American Kestrels breeding down the street.But now fall is in the air. This Red-tailed hawk perched on a #BrooklynKestrel landmark recently. One of the local falcons, now days generally heard more than seen, was not happy about it. The kestrel’s alarms calls got me…

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  • Hairy Nature

    Close up, nature starts looking really, really hairy. Take a look at the green shoots of plants, the exoskeletons of insects. Hairs and spines are everywhere.Common Buckeye larva.Bumblebees, it goes without saying.Other bees, too. Look at these bristly thighs, Writes Dennis Paulson in his natural history of Dragonflies & Damselflies: “Because a chitinous exoskeleton does…

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  • Climate Strike Prep

    This Friday is the beginning of a week of the Global Climate Strike. Some resources: Fridays for Future youth activism training program. NYC student organizing guide. Climate Strike educator toolkit. Climate Strike Arts Kit, from whence this David Solnit fire-extinguisher logo comes. People’s Climate Movement NYC. Petition for teachers, educators, & faculty. Here’s some history…

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