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.”

  • Ardea herodias

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  • Pattern

    Taxodium leaves afloat.

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  • November Insects

    Not counting the various bees, flies, dragonflies, and butterflies I already blogged about last month, here are some of the insects I noted in Brooklyn. Above: November 5th: Pimpla pedalis. November 9th: Chinese Mantis/Tenodera sinensis November 9th: leafhopper November 11th: Tephritis pura November 14th: Neogerris hesione November 16th: Lasioglossum November 17th: False Milkweed Bug/Lygaeus turcicus…

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  • Paper Balls

    You will be assimilated… this Borg of a Dolichovespula aerial yellowjacket nest has absorbed one of the leaves of the magnolia it was built in. Here’s a nest way up a White Oak. Another magnolia-based nest, this one not too far up and rather small. One each in Horsechestnuts that weren’t too far apart. These…

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    A windy day. This female American Kestrel was flying between funeral monuments and occasionally having difficulty with the wind. What’s to eat? Dragonflies? Didn’t see a one. Lizards? Not out in the open, although I did hear some suggestive rustling. Songbirds? Subdued in the wind. You just have to work harder this time of year.…

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  • Milkweed Pods

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  • Mammal Monday

    Delicious hickory nuts were being enjoyed by at least three Grey Squirrels.

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  • Bronx Giants

    Turkey Vulture/Cathartes aura at the beginning of a Torrey Botanical Society walk in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. We looped, and two and a half hours later: Bald Eagle/Haliaeetus leucocephalus. Both birds were seen over the valley of the Bronx River, which is also the course of the Bronx River Parkway and the Metro North…

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  • More Raptor Infrastructure

    From the Brooklyn Raptor Observatory, also known as our apartment, the car service antenna at 40th and 5th is a landmark. American Kestrels perch atop one of the two parts regularly. Merlins, Red-tailed Hawks, Coopers Hawks, and Peregrines have also been known to perch on it, the larger birds preferring the horizontal superstructure (unseen here).…

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  • Raptor Infrastructure

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