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.”

  • Feeding

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    Feeding

  • Youth

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  • Lady Beetles

    Fourteen-spotted Lady Beetle Asian Lady Beetles Scymnus genus Firefly Duskyling, I think. Convergent Lady Beetle Two examples of Variegated Lady Beetle

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    Lady Beetles

  • How About Some Bees?

    Great Northern Bumble Common Eastern Bumble Lasioglossum (?) Rufous-backed Cellophane Neighborly Mining Eastern Carpenter (“robbing” Penstemon flower of nectar) European Woolcarder Brown-belted Bumble Hylaeus (?) Megachile

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    How About Some Bees?

  • Food

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    Food

  • Monarch Monday

    Just a couple millimeters of larva on Common Milkweed… Here’s a nearby male. But what is happening to some of the Common Milkweed here? What’s making it wilt and shrivel up? I had thought this stuff was pretty indestructible.

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  • More Ravens

    Still reporting on last Sunday’s Raven scene. Here’s one the adults transporting an egg. Definitely one of their favorite foods. I once saw them take individual eggs from a Costco 18-pack. Meanwhile, three nestlings. The one on the right is clearly the next to fledge. On Monday, the first fledgling (on top rail) was back…

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  • Breeding Season

    Common Grackle and Baltimore Oriole chase a crow. Looks like the Grackle made contact!

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    Breeding Season

  • Ravens, Continued

    Food for the fledgling… only the fledgling had to come and get it, which the bird could not do while we were there. Gutter-water break for the parent. Lots of calling.

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    Ravens, Continued

  • Ravens, Continued

    Parent Raven was making a lot of noise with the youngster in the tree when we arrived on Sunday. A feral cat down below might have been the issue.

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    Ravens, Continued