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.”

  • Twilight JBWR

    Yesterday was the first anniversary of this blog. It’s been a lot of fun and I hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves, too. I want to thank all my regular readers, first time visitors, random googlers and members of the Academy for coming along for the ride.The birds fly into the West Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife…

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  • Virgin Gorda Hermits

    As we started our hike up to the top of Virgin Gorda Peak, the highest spot on the nine-mile-long island at 1395 feet, I noticed a nice shell on the path. Weird, I thought, considering our distance from the sea. I picked it up to find a hermit grab tightly tucked inside. I assumed it…

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  • Virgin Gorda Insects, Spiders

    I don’t know the identity of these insects and spiders, but that doesn’t stop me — and I hope, you — from admiring them. If you’re familiar with any of these, let me know.

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  • Virgin Gorda Birds

    I had the good fortune to spend last week on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. I’ve never been anywhere near the Antilles, Greater or Lesser, so I was quite unfamiliar with the flora and fauna. I’ll be posting shots and thoughts over the next week or so detailing explorations and discovers. In summary,…

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  • Mussel Power

    I had no idea there are around 300 freshwater mussel species in North America, making our continent the richest in the world for these animals. Most of them occur in the mighty Mississippi Basin, particularly in the southeast, but we have a few in the metropolitan area as well. AMNH has a short course on…

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  • A cool note on fire

    Fire was probably the most important technology used by the native Americans before the coming of the Europeans. Fire cleared land for cultivation, fertilizing it with ash. Fire thinned out forests into game park-like woodlands for the all important deer, and prevented succession from taking over rich meadows with brush and trees again. Fire created…

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  • Field Etymology

    Or armchair natural history…. I am but mad north-northwest. When the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. ~ Hamlet, to those errand boys Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, letting them in on the wink-wink. Now, if you’re like me when you first came across this line, you wondered “say wha?” I should hope…

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  • Una Selva Oscura

    Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura ché la diritta via era smarrita. Words: Dante. Image: My Polaroid transfer from a friend’s slide negative. Reason: My birthday.

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  • BBG

    It was warm and gray in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden this morning. I saw my first chipmunk of the year, woken from its dozing, its racing stripes flashing. The Pond is still frozen over, so the turtles yet dream their turtle dreams in the mud.Catkins of the Caucasian alder, Alnus subcordata, native to Iran. Is…

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  • Public Scope

    UPDATE 3-11-11 State Senator Carl Kruger, whose district includes Four Sparrow Marsh, has been indicted. About time. According to today’s Daily News, it’s alleged that Kruger’s “no big box stores” demand at the meeting detailed below supported his developer buddy Aaron Malinsky (who has paid Kruger’s shell operation $472,500 in the past), who wants smaller…

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