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.”

  • Even Laster Monarch of the Year

    I assumed my last Monarch of the year was the one I saw on October 19. But this past Monday, November 6th, I found a male drinking Spotted Horsemint nectar in Janet’s Meadow in Green-Wood. (According to iNaturalist, one was also seen on Staten Island that day.)

    See more

  • Fall Odes

    The last Odonata of the season should be Autumn Meadowhawks and Common Green Darners. Common Green Darners are a migratory species, so expect them to be passing through. I saw one being eaten by a Kestrel on Oct 24. This was one of half a dozen seen November 6th. I waited a while before I…

    See more

  • Raptor Wednesday

    Once in late August and once in late September, I came across a Merlin in this European Beech. Here’s my once-in-late-October sighting. The tree happens to be a favorite American Kestrel perch as well. At precisely the same time as my October Merlin-in-the-Beech sighting, there was a female American Kestrel atop the chapel, approximately 250…

    See more

  • Belatedly, Some Fall Colors

    Sassafras. . A couple of Black Tupelos. (They make ’em bright in the trade.) Swamp White Oak The hazy pink of a grass.

    See more

  • Still Pollinating

    November 3rd, mid 40sF. Very little is still in bloom, but these late asters still provide food.

    See more

  • An Impossible Task

    Heavy with illustrations, this cultural history of birds will enliven any naturalist’s bookshelf. Of course, anything approaching a complete cultural history of birds would fill many volumes and be an on-going project. It would be in as many languages as there are—and ever have been. The human/bird connection goes back a very long way. Was…

    See more

  • GBH

    See more

  • Everything Here Belongs To Me

    See more

  • Rotted Circumstances

    In March, 2022, I noticed some fallen Pignut/Carya glabra wood under a venerable tree. A rotted limb had fallen and broken into pieces. There was a little jewel in there. The other day I returned. The wood was still there. It’s a well-managed cemetery: they usually clear away such fallen wood and brush, but this…

    See more

  • Raptor Wednesday

    From Gerard Manley Hopkins’ feverish poem, we know that “Windhover” is an old name for the Common Kestrel/Falco tinnunculus because of their characteristic tendency to hover. Above is one hovering over the Nothumberland Coast Path. American Kestrels/Falco sparverius do this as well, although perhaps not as much. Here’s another Common K, from Falsterbo, Sweden. The…

    See more