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.”

  • Turtlenecks

    The all too-common Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta). Note those neck line patterns. On the same day, close by, was this specimen. This one differs by having the yellow line go up past its eye.And by having an oval shape on the neck. Missing, too, is the red stripe behind the eyes which give Red-eareds their…

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  • NYC Wildflower Week: Geranium

    Geranium maculatum “Espresso” or Wild Geranium, cultivated for espresso-colored leaves. NYCWFW. All over Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 now.

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    Red-tailed hawk on the Brooklyn Museum.Another atop the American Museum of Natural History.

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  • NYC Wildflower Week: Solomon’s Seal

    Polygonatum biflorum, Smooth Solomon’s Seal, really demands an explanation of its common name. Two theories: the circular seal shapes on the rhizome, or the wound sealing properties of the plant. Either way, enjoy them in bloom now at Brooklyn Bridge Park, especially at the base of the bouncy bridge. Note the pollinators trying to crawl…

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  • Two-Spotted Sightings

    My first ladybug of the year was spotted on the weekend. It was, no surprise, a Multicolored Asian, Harmonia axyridis, which you should expect to see just about everywhere. I also saw very small lady beetle I’m not yet sure of the identification of. But on Monday, I saw half a dozen Two-spotted, Adalia bipunctata,…

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  • NYC Wildflower Week: Phlox

    Phlox stolinfera. Creeping Phlox, found now in the understory at Pier 1, Brooklyn Bridge Park. NYCWFW.

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  • Unleashed Dogs, As Usual

    Coyote? Hirsute blonde’s interpretive dance? No, just another unleashed dog tearing through, and up, the woodlands. The authorities — Prospect Park Alliance, Parks Department, NYPD — should make a special effort during Spring, when ground or near ground-level nesters and baby animals are particularly vulnerable, to back up the city’s leash law with some enforcement.…

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  • The Birds Certainly Do It

    Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) throwing out some wood chips from a nest cavity. Both birds were working on the excavation, and defending it from cavity-stealing Starlings. One of a pair of tiny Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea) crafting a nest of spider webs and lichen. Yes, that’s right, spider webs and lichen.Meanwhile, having gotten the jump…

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  • Another Leucistic Robin

    There was a leucistic American Robin (Turdus migratorius) seen in Prospect Park for at least five years, if I remember correctly. This one, spotted in Green-Wood last week, has much less pigmentation in the feathers. There’s enough of the bricky red in the breast to let you know that this is, in fact, a Robin.…

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  • NYCWFW

    The 8th annual NYC Wildflower Week starts tomorrow. And for the last several years, this event has gotten off with a bang… the explosion of bird voices in the blooming flowers and leafing trees. I call it the Listening Tour: a silent walk through loud woods. We are silent, the woods are loud. Set your…

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