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.”

  • Woodsy Birds

    A robust chiseling in the woods… —turned out to be a juvenile Hairy Woodpecker. Presumably hatched right here in Prospect Park. A Great Crested Flycatcher… also breeding? Event Alert: This Friday, weather permitting, I will be setting up some insect light “traps” for the Brooklyn Bird Club just inside Prospect Park at the 5th St./Prospect…

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    Woodsy Birds

  • Mammal Monday

    Green-Wood rarely sees Eastern Chipmunks, but nearby Prospect Park has a population. You will usually hear them first. Same, with flash in the dark understory.

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    Mammal Monday

  • Wasps on Mountain Mints

    Wasps are carnivorous, at least at their larval stage. Adults take nectar, and tiny-flowered Mountain Mints/Pycnanthemum are gushing founts of nectar. (There were also bees, flies, beetles, true bugs, and butterflies on these patches of M-mint at Bush Terminal and Green-Wood.)

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    Wasps on Mountain Mints

  • Curious

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    Curious

  • Wasps

    All seen around Lookout Hill in Prospect, a woodsy spot with a few patches of sun, over about two hours. I can only ID one of these to species level; the first pictured above is a Blotching Spider Wasp/Caliadurgus fasciatellus.

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    Wasps

  • Butterflies

    Pearl Crescents. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Common Buckeye American Lady American Snouts. Last Saturday, I saw at least 8 in Prospect Park, always around their favored Hackberry trees. Question Mark

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    Butterflies

  • Raptor Wednesday

    One month or so after fledging, the young American Kestrels are out and about, usually found by their plaintive cries. This one was hovering over Lizard Hill. (That’s what I’d call it if I was a Kestrel!) These two were by the Civil War soldiers monument. By the Sophie Calle exhibit, a.k.a. Woodchuck Hill. On…

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    Raptor Wednesday

  • Barn Swallows

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    Barn Swallows

  • Biodiversity

    There’s a new report out by the New York City Biodiversity Task Force on how our wild future needs us. “Oaks, Our City, and Us” lays out a vision for how NYC can better support nature in every neighborhood. The city does not currently have a biodiversity strategy, another reason the reign of the ruling…

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  • Groupings

    A couple of bees. Pug Moth caterpillar, bee, plant bug. Foraging bee walks right over immobile lizard. Another bee, of three while I watched, doesn’t stir the lizard. A mess of small rove beetles and a larger (half-inch at best) beetle enjoy some fungus. I think the larger one is Eustrophopsis bicolor. This Two-spotted Diaperis…

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    Groupings