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.”

  • Bristles

    I just noticed this underwing blue… …but the ostensible reasons for this post are the close-ups I managed to get of the feathery bristles around this (very obliging) Phoebe’s bill.

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    Ten years ago, I saw my first Green-Wood Cemetery Bald Eagle. Not over the cemetery, but perched, briefly, on a pine within it. The bird flew when the limb it was one broke off. I’ve seen a few more since. Last Tuesday, I saw two together for the first time. I followed them around for…

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    Raptor Wednesday
  • More Squirrel Tuesday

    I found this Gray Squirrel a few minutes after spotting the Groundhog I posted pictures of yesterday. Later, looking in an old guidebook to North American mammals, I noted that Groundhogs are in the squirrel family, Sciuridae. In fact, they are the biggest of our squirrels. Humph!

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    More Squirrel Tuesday
  • Mammal Monday

    This Groundhog’s den is near Sophie Calle’s Here Lies the Secrets of The Visitors of Green-Wood Cemetery, which lets people write down and slip their secrets into an underground vault. Making this the Woodchuck Who Knew Too Much?

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    Mammal Monday
  • Hearts of Wood

    Some sprouts at the base of a mature linden/Tilia were cut off recently. And while we’re on the topic, this is the big bole of a Beech.

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    Hearts of Wood
  • Raptor Wednesday

    Hunting from obelisk to obelisk… …this male American Kestrel spots something below. Mantling over the prey… …and autofocus flubs it! The bird flew towards nearby trees. It took me less than a minute to find him again, but there was no sign of the lizard. Did he drop his prey, or stash it for later?

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    Raptor Wednesday
  • Angelic Falconry

    This is the second year I’ve photographed this male American Kestrel on this handy perch.

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