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.”

  • Bugging Out

    Narcissus Build Fly/Merodon equestris Common Eastern Bumblebee/Bombus impatiens This weekend I’ll be doing two of my Bugging Out walks for Green-Wood Cemetery. Details on the Tours page. Nomada genus bee, maybe N. luteoloides.

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    Bugging Out

  • Raptor Wednesday

    American Kestrels should start start fledging by the end of the month. This is, I think, the male of the nearby nest I’ve been watching. A trio of Red-tailed Hawks. I think the one at the top, further up in the sky, is unrelated, checking out the scene. The two lower ones are, I think,…

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  • Not Least of All

    Construction at Sylvan Water, Green-Wood Cemetery’s largest pond, has necessitated a severe lowering of the water level. Mud or murk, flats have resulted. This has attracted some Solitary Sandpipers and both waterthrushes. But pictured today is a rarer visitor to the interior of the borough: Least Sandpier/Calidris minutilla. The bird, in seeming response to a…

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    Not Least of All

  • Goslings

    The fencing here surrounds one side of an empty warehouse building. Canada Geese are on both sides of the fencing. Sharp eyes will see at least three of the feral cats in the mix at well. I counted sixteen goslings in the area on Saturday, not including the ones in the water at nearby Bush…

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    Goslings

  • Ravens Mothers Day

    On January 1st, 2015, I saw Common Ravens for the first time in Brooklyn. A pair were cavorting on the block of 39th Street between the water (“0 Avenue”?) and 1st Avenue. An abandoned building, which is still abandoned, was the stage of their canoodling. Yesterday, I saw the above bird over the same block.…

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    Ravens Mothers Day

  • Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: Pollination

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    Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: Pollination

  • Pollination Continues

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    Pollination Continues

  • Pollination In Action

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    Pollination In Action

  • Wednesday Wasps

    Another Polistes paper wasp, and the most vibrantly colorful one seen in these parts: P. exclamans. Here’s another look at our P. dominula nest three days after the photos put up yesterday. Now for some ground yellowjackets. Vespula maculifons above. The gynes, females who mated last year, are now searching for places to start their…

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    Wednesday Wasps

  • Paper Source

    A European Paper Wasp/Polistes dominula has recently started a new nest. She has collected wood fibers to make pulp to make the paper combs of her nest. You can see several of the eggs she’s laid. The larvae will grow and pupate inside these chambers, then the new adult wasps will help make this nest…

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    Paper Source