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.”

  • Raptor Wednesday

    New Year’s Day began with a Peregrine atop Mike’s Spike. Photographed here from two long avenues and two typical street blocks away.Then I looked again and saw a smaller falcon up there, likely an American Kestrel but possibly a Merlin. On the way to Staten Island, I spotted a Peregrine on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge,…

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    Raptor Wednesday

  • Fly

    Late December temperatures in the mid-50s F add a Common Drone Fly/Eristalis tenax to the very limited mix of active insects.

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  • New Year’s Owls

    Here’s one. Here’s two. Both in the same tree: Happy New Year! Another pass: this time I got those searchlight eyes on me.

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    New Year’s Owls

  • destellos naranjas en la copa de los árboles

    Details of Tatiana Arocha‘s large work at the new Sunset Park Library branch of BPL. Happy New Year’s Eve!

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    destellos naranjas en la copa de los árboles

  • Storm Leftovers

    Washed ashore at Riis Beach: what I think is a Jonah Crab/Cancer borealis claw. About a week earlier, some very large waves were recorded in nearby NJ, so the storm must have really stirred up the bottom. An American Lobster/Homarus americanus claw. Only the second time I’ve found a lobster around NYC. Lots and lots…

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  • Crow Food

    From far off, I thought this American Crow might have an egg, which seemed off for December. Now it looks like something else entirely, but what?

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    Crow Food

  • Dangler

    A Baltimore Oriole nest in a linden tree. It was out in the open now that all the leaves have fallen, but I walked by it several dozen times since last spring without noticing it. A couple of days later, after a lot of rain and wind, the nest was on the ground. Here in…

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    Dangler

  • Raptor Wednesday

    Only the second time I’ve come across a Merlin eating. The meal is bird, and, minus most feathers, everything gets swallowed, even the feet.

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    Raptor Wednesday

  • E.G.S

    Squirrels in some city parks will come right up to you for food, but Green-Wood’s Eastern Grays are quite cautious. After all, you could be a Red-tailed Hawk. This one was planning the next move… that right front paw may have been in bad shape. This one was gnawing away on hickory nuts. Green-Wood has…

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  • Raptor Week

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