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.”

  • Ring-billed

    A first winter Larus delawarensis‘s bill isn’t ringed yet.

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    Ring-billed
  • Cold Beach, Hot Birds

    A couple of wintering-over American Oystercatchers/ Haematopus palliatus. One is an Atlantic Jacknife/Ensis leei -catcher.

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    Cold Beach, Hot Birds
  • Great Blue On The Go
  • Raptor Wednesday

    This female American Kestrel is pretty much the boss of the territory around the Old Chapel in Green-Wood. This male likes the Green-Wood corner of 36th and 5th. About ten blocks separate them. Recently, I saw a second male near the Chapel. Speaking of territory. I noticed the two crows from some distance away, then…

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    Raptor Wednesday
  • Raven Flight

    One of a pair of Common Ravens/Corvus corax circling. Nine days earlier, fit them both in the viewfinder.

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    Raven Flight
  • Beach Corpses

    I’ve seen a good number of dead birds over the years, and I’m almost always surprised by how difficult I find it to identify their scraggly-miserable corpses. I took a look at this bill on Plumb Beach and thought…tern? But in December? Pink feet and a wide black band on the tail also pushed this…

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    Beach Corpses
  • Long-tailed Ducks

    Long-tailed Ducks/Clangula hyemalis off the Rockaway Peninsula. It’s the male who has the long tail: This is the duck formerly known as the Oldsquaw. The AOU formally changed the name in 2000. Very much a diving duck.

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    Long-tailed Ducks
  • Swallowtail

    In metal, etc., attached to fence by antenna. Artist unknown. (Typing “metal butterfly art” into ye olde search engine resulted in some gawd-awful stuff, but I like this.)

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    Swallowtail
  • Tufted Titmouse

    Not a single Tufted Titmouse was seen in Brooklyn during the day of the 2023 Christmas Bird Count. There was at least one spotted during the week surrounding the CBC, though, and I saw this one, in Green-Wood, a couple of weeks beforehand.

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    Tufted Titmouse
  • Knobbed & Channeled

    Knobbed Whelk/Busycon carica and Channeled Whelk/Busycotypus canaliculatus side-by-side. I usually see more Channeled around here, but Recently at Jacob Riis Beach, the Knobbed predominated.

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    Knobbed & Channeled