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.”

  • Palisades

    One last boating trip of the year.The Commodore headed up the Hudson for a look at the leaves.A hazy afternoon made for some impressionistic views.

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  • Skulltacular

    Various bird skulls, crafted of, from the left, metal, white chocolate (yes!), and ceramic. Metal wishbone and ceramic turtle skull lurking on the upper right. A Halloween/Day of the Dead combo.

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  • Early Stages

    This is some kind of Lacewing larva. It was found predating under the Catalpa leaves, where the ladybugs are still to be found, too, deep into October. On the rocks below the trees, a lady bug pupa.

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  • After the rain

    A wet, leaf-rotting, ground-enriching fall is good mushroom weather.

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  • Close-up

    Common Green Darner, Anax junius.

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  • Beechwood

    This is an approximation of the light on this appropriately yellow-blazed trail on Saturday afternoon. It was a tonic that cured what ailed us. Whatever it was that ailed us. The sun had a been a little spotty before this, and the scrubby oaks atop the hill were mostly fallen, so coming into this batch…

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  • Salmagundi

    An American Toad looking for a place to burrow down for winter.Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe with tiny spider.A scattering of lichen on smooth granite. Big walnuts. All seen on Old Croton Aqueduct Trail or in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where lies Washington Irving.

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  • BFH Nest Down

    Bald-faced hornets (Dolichovespula maculata) have been in the news recently. There seem to be a lot of their nests in Brooklyn: a bumper crop or just people noticing more of them? While some seem to think they are the Ebola of wasps, the wasps won’t bug you if you don’t bug them, or their nest.…

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  • Tail-less

    This Am. Robin has molted away its whole tail. Don’t worry: new tail feathers will emerge, and meanwhile, flight, including in the sense of escape, is still possible. The silhouette is now a bit reminiscent of a woodpecker’s.

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  • The forest for the trees

    A hike in the fall woods is always a sensual and philosophical experience.I was in a yellow light under oaks and beeches in an overcast sky, later speared through by shafts of sunlight.Yes, both the woods and I were speared. My eyes kept shifting from the whole to the parts. Walking over even relatively smooth…

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