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.”

  • Other Woodpeckers

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    Other Woodpeckers
  • Red-headed Excavations
  • Hatch: Hutch & Hack

    It has been a good winter here for White-breasted Nuthatches. I see and hear them all over Green-Wood, especially but not exclusively at the bird feeding stations. This one was foraging along trunks and branches… And pulled out a seed from under the bark. Funny place for a seed, though, right? Is it a sunflower…

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    Hatch: Hutch & Hack
  • Flocks

    Midmorning Mourning Doves. Tower Parakeets. Secret recipe? More Feral Pigeons, with a Coopers Hawk on the left. This is fairly common sight from the windows of the Brooklyn Raptor Observatory. Sometimes the Starlings get into the mix as well.

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    Flocks
  • American Crow

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    American Crow
  • Blue Jays

    Ubiquitous but elusive, at least for my camera. Here are two.

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    Blue Jays
  • Raptor Wednesday

    All the birds at the Dell Water bird feeder scattered as this adult Sharp-shinned Hawk/Accipiter striatus zoomed in low to the ground. It was unsuccessful sortie. No lunch. She (didn’t seem small enough for a male) circled neighboring Crescent Water for a bit before flying off. Almost a half hour later, as I approached another…

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    Raptor Wednesday
  • Raven

    In the line of trees that border the train yard. Two blocks from home.

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    Raven
  • Junco

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    Junco
  • Persistent Coot

    This is the first American Coot I can recall being on Sylvan Water. And it has stuck around. Managed to use the cover of the pond-side mausoleums to sneak up on the bird.

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    Persistent Coot