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.”

  • Thanksgiving Raptors

    Red-tailed Hawk on antenna tower. Peregrine. Young Bald Eagle. Merlin atop PS24 telecom jumble. Coopers like to perch up here as well.

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    Thanksgiving Raptors
  • Raptor Wednesday

    There was a Coopers Hawk overlooking the bird-feeder while I took the photos posted on Monday and Tuesday. I also saw these other raptors while I was there: This juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk passed by. I suspect my presence made the bird veer away from the feeder. Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk overhead. Announcing himself with loud cries,…

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    Raptor Wednesday
  • Feeder Politics II

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    Feeder Politics II
  • Feeder Politics I

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    Feeder Politics I
  • Late Indeed

    Mid-November. Almost nothing is in bloom, but the higher -than-average temperatures are still bringing out insects. Where can they eat? A patch of still producing Symphyotrichum asters. A single Solidago goldenrod. That stinking Tansy/Tanacetum vulgare is still puttering away…

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    Late Indeed
  • Last Butterfly?

    November 18th: Orange Sulphur/Colias eurytheme on a still-blooming aster. Well, last butterfly that wasn’t a skipper: also saw a couple of Huron Sachem/Atalopedes huron as well.

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    Last Butterfly?
  • Lizards?

    Earlier this year I heard that a local biology professor was responsible for releasing these Italian Wall Lizards/Podacris siculus all over the city. This explains their presence in Green-Wood Cemetery, where they definitely seem to be spreading from what must have been the original release site around the historic chapel. I heard this from one…

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    Lizards?
  • Feed Watch

    I one saw a Tufted Titmouse scavenging a dead Winter Wren. Maybe that’s why this Red-breasted Nuthatch was the aggressor here. The Big Liar’s “mandate” is of course bullshit.

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    Feed Watch
  • Pod-pecker

    Sounding like a typewriter, this Downy Woodpecker was tapping away at Honey Locust seed pods. The woodpecker’s holes are quite different from the exit holes of the creatures I think the bird is hunting. Here’s one of the pods I found on the ground. There were two 3mm diameter exit holes on each side of…

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    Pod-pecker