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.”

  • Geese Down

    Snow Goose and Canada Goose corpses on Rockaway beach.

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    Merlin. Here as four (4) Red-tailed Hawks cavorted overhead. Two of the quartet. One of them chased the falcon off this perch… But the feisty little one came back and zoomed the big buteo.

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    Raptor Wednesday
  • A Mess of Clams

    And scollops and oysters and…

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    A Mess of Clams
  • On 37th Street

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    On 37th Street
  • Even More Raptor News

    January 12: first time I’ve spotted the male American Kestrel on the nest cornice this year.

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    Even More Raptor News
  • Cooper’s Continued

    An adult Cooper’s Hawk has frequently been seen around the Monk Parakeet nest complex on the 5th Avenue entrance of Green-Wood. This time, the bird was on the nest. And all the parakeets were away.

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    Cooper’s Continued
  • More Raptor News

    A few days after coming across a young Cooper’s Hawk eating a pigeon, I heard about the remains of a young Cooper’s Hawk in the very same place. Of course I had to go over to check it out. So who might have plucked and eaten a Cooper’s Hawk? Another Cooper’s Hawk is not out…

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    More Raptor News
  • Early Bloomer

    Exotic Wintersweet was blooming on Tuesday, which was well below avarege temperatures.* Last year’s fruits still on the shrub. *Average cold of late that is; when I was a boy the Hudson would freeze over and wolves would cross the ice from New Jersey.

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    Early Bloomer
  • Raptor Wednesday

    A male American Kestrel jumping from one from funerary column to another.

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    Raptor Wednesday