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.”

  • Red-headed

    Resident since December, our young Red-headed Woodpecker has gotten more and more adult plumage over the winter months. The flag-crisp red/black/white patterning is really coming though now. Having defended various cavities from Starlings and Squirrels, what will this bird do now? It’s unlikely a mate will show up; this is an unusual species for Brooklyn…

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    Red-headed
  • Timberdoodle!

    American Woodcock/Scolopax minor surprised under a pine this week. There was another, then another, unless this third one was the first circling around.

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    Timberdoodle!
  • Wrening

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    Wrening
  • Watering Hole

    A built in flower holder on a horizontal gravestone provides a well for this Northern Mockingbird.

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    Watering Hole
  • Raptor Wednesday

    On Monday, our boy was around his usual haunts around the historic chapel at Green-Wood. The day before I’d seen him at the old nest site. Still no sign of a female, however. I thought he might be hunting for lizards… But it was a Red-tailed Hawk I saw 50 minutes later who had a…

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    Raptor Wednesday
  • Sprung!

    Yesterday, the first insects of spring!

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    Sprung!
  • At The Dump

    The local recycling facility is not a landfill, but it sure attracts the crows and gulls. And, lately, again, a Swainson’s Hawk. In 2023, a young Buteo swainsonii showed up at this facility after spending some time on Staten Island. Last year, a Swainson’s was seen here again. And for a week or two recently…

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    At The Dump
  • Raptor Week Wrap-up

    Tuesday morning Bald Eagle flyover. This might be the same bird I saw the previous Monday and Tuesday. A heavily marked (for our part of the country) Red-tailed Hawk. I think this one is female. A young Cooper’s with full crop. As of Tuesday, I haven’t seen this male connecting with a female, although he…

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    Raptor Week Wrap-up
  • Falco sps

    Falco columbarius: they love this linden tree. I’ve seen them up here regularly since 2022. In winter, that is. This is the second sighting of this Falco sparverius pair bonding off Sixth Avenue. Have yet to see mating, and the location of their cornice cavity nest.

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    Falco sps
  • Nictitating Membrane

    Big bird, big eye: the inner eyelid or nictitating membrane can really be seen in action here. And again.

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    Nictitating Membrane