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.”

  • Sapsucker On Yew

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    Sapsucker On Yew

  • Mammal Monday

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    Mammal Monday

  • Some New Species

    New to me, that its. These first three are all introduced to the region from elsewhere. I found them all on the Wild West Side of Marine Park, amid the ATV tracks, cat/rat feeding stations, trash, and high tide wrack line right at the bordering road. What the what? Those eyes are all Hymenoptera, but…

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    Some New Species

  • Ibises

    Sixteen sacred, or profane, Glossy Ibises flying overhead at Marine Park Saltmarsh Nature Center.

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    Ibises

  • The Robber Bridegroom

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    The Robber Bridegroom

  • Boxed In

    Flies galore all over this bloom Box/Buxus. Must smell like death, corruption, rot, excrement, Trump. And one big wasp. This time of year, last fall’s mated females or gynes are emerging, ready to start being queens. German Yellowjacket/Vespula germanica.

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    Boxed In

  • Raptor Wednesday

    Four of the last five times I’ve been down to Bush Terminal Park, I’ve spotted a female American Kestrel. She must recognize me, too. More falcon news: I hear there are four eggs at the 55 Water St. Peregrine nest.

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    Raptor Wednesday

  • Infrastructure

    A temporary side-walk shed, put up to protect pedestrians on the sidewalk from construction, is supporteded by narrow I-beams. Where they come close: a space ripe for any kind of weaver finch. Right across the street from Green-Wood Cemetery, one of the ground-zeros of the introduction of the House Sparrow to North America. A female…

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  • Solar Eclipse

    Today’s the day of the solar eclipse sweeping across North America from northern Mexico to Newfoundland. There won’t be another North American one for 20 years. Get out there and check it out; remember, no looking at the sun directly, and regular sunglasses aren’t good enough, so if you don’t have eclipse-certified viewing glasses, try…

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  • Pollination

    An early spring flower, Claytonia, and an early spring Andrena bee. There was one bee. This was the second flower. Didn’t even have to fly to the third flower.

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    Pollination