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.”

  • Xmas with the Owls

    In this extreme telephoto, the little white blob is a Snowy Owl. From a distance, they look rather like white plastic bags in the grasslands, not an uncommon sight, unfortunately. These two bipeds have walked up to within feet of the animal, which was on the edge of the runway. The bird was either incredibly…

    See more

    , ,

  • Xmas with the Owls

    The amazing yellow eyes are fixed in bone rings, meaning the bird must move its head to see in different directions. The result is a remarkable 270-degree twisting of the neck to scan the surroundings. The lemon yellow is said to act like a filter to block the bright glare of sun off of snow.Note…

    See more

    , , ,

  • Xmas with the Owls

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

    See more

    , , ,

  • Xmas with the Owls

    The Snowy Owl invasion is astonishing. Fifteen were sighted in Brooklyn on the Christmas Bird Count on the 21st, an unprecedented number. We saw four this past Saturday. This particular bird was flushed by a couple walking across the grasslands, where they shouldn’t have been (but all the signs have disappeared). The flushing meant it…

    See more

    , , ,

  • Shameless Teaser

    We’ll be spending the whole week with Brooklyn’s Snowy Owls, Bubo scandiacus. Yes, never mind endless repeats of A Christmas Story (“You’ll shoot your eye out!”), Planet of the Apes sequels (“Damn them all to hell!”), It’s A Wonderful Life If You Have a Guardian Angel, and the National Concussion League, here at B&B it’s…

    See more

    , ,

  • The Blogger’s Eye

    At the Met recently. A nice little detail of a woodblock print by Lucas Cranac the Elder (1472-1553): his emblem was a dragon with a ring in its mouth, looking here like a lip piercing. Tiny. The motif was part of his coat-of-arms. While enjoying the exuberance of Jacob Vosmaer’s c. 1613 “Vase of Flowers,”…

    See more

  • Wood Duck

    Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) hanging out with the Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata).

    See more

    , ,

  • Books

    It’s never too late to get some books for Christmas. Here are two excellent choices for gifts: Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History, by Carol Gracie. Gracie, a reader of this blog, profiles 30 species of wildflowers (with variations) that herald the spring in our woodlands. The lovely (Spring Beauty, Lady’s Slipper) and…

    See more

  • Snowy Snowies

    The 114th Annual Xmas Bird Count is underway. Brooklyn’s survey was on Saturday. It was a stormy day: any reasonable animal should have been hunkered down at home. Consequently, borough totals were the lowest since 1981: 110 species, with generally low numbers of individual birds. This is continuing to be the Year of the Snowy…

    See more

    , ,

  • Branching of the Sky

    See more