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.”

  • Trilliums and Trilliums

    These were some of the native trilliums in the New York Botanic Garden earlier this month. The seeds of these plants are distributed by ants, who are attracted to the lipid- and protein-packed elaiosomes (“oily body”) on the seeds. Like all wildflowers, these beauties are best left alone. Picking the flower can kill the whole…

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  • Not Just The Legs

    It’s a long stretch from the edge to the water.Yet this Green Heron (Butorides virescens) not only got this frog but dipped it back into the water over and over again until a car flushed the heron and it flew off with its hominid-looking prey. That’s a long neck. And the dipping? Making lunch easier…

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  • Butterflies So Far

    Duskywing. Horace’s, I think. Erynnis horatius. Spotted in Doodletown.American Lady, Vanessa virginiensis, NYBG. Have also seen: Mourning Cloak (harbinger of the thaw); lots of Cabbage Whites; and, just Friday, my first Tiger Swallowtail of the year. * In the President’s commission to investigate nonexistent voter fraud, packed with professional vote suppressors, the essentially strategy of…

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  • Kingsland Wildflower Roof

    When last we visited this Greenpoint wildflower garden, it was right after its opening.Now the first generation of wildflowers sprouting here have emerged, with more blooms to come.Currently, the garden is only open for events. Eric W. Sanderson was talking about Newtown Creek’s history, in the context of the Welikia Project. This is an elaboration of the…

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  • Whole Birds

    Was there some grumbling about Tuesday’s bird-parts photos? Here’s an Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) to tide you over until you get outside.And a Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica).One of my favorite warblers. A Veery (Catharus fuscescen), our least marked thrush.Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), our most-marked thrush.Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), le rouge et le noir.

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  • Little Brown Jug

    Arrowleaf or heartleaf ginger, also known as little brown jug (Hexastylis arifolia). You can see the arrow and heart inspiration, but what’s with the jugs?As in wild ginger (Asarum canadense), a related plant, the action is at ground-level. The little brown jugs (LBJs?) are flowers that start out green and age brown. While these particular…

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    A new Red-tailed Hawk nest on a Park Slope church. The nest got some media attention. Evidently the church fathers thought it would be fitting that there be a contest to name the birds, encapsulating Christianity’s misguided view of nature. I haven’t see any sign of hawks yet. My last pass by was Monday. The…

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  • Swamp Darner

    Originally posted on Backyard and Beyond: A female Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros), one of the largest dragonflies in the east. A migratory species, averaging 3.4″ long. This is my first sighting. I watched her deposit eggs into pieces of lumber that edged a portion of the Vale of Cashmere. All the other species of dragonflies…

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  • Barely Glimpsed Birds

    This is a natural history blog, not a photographic one. I try to use my best pictures for illustrative purposes, but my PowerShot SX50 definitely isn’t a SLR with a long lens. Sometimes I get a fine shot. Often not. You’ll notice few in-flight images here, for instance. And sometimes I get shots for reference’s…

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  • Don’t Know Jack?

    Someone hath browsed off the overhanging spathes and tips of the spadicies of these Jack-in-the-pulpits (Arisaema triphyllum). This gives us a good view of the pin-striped goodness within these curious flowers.Otherwise you have to get personal.This is a flower that hides itself.Who is this Jack, you might well ask, and what is he doing in…

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