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.”

  • Meadow Part I

    First summer of a new meadow in Green-Wood. More on Thursday, after Raptor Wednesday.

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  • Unearthed, Reearthed

    Mediterranean Potter Wasp/Eumenes mediterraneus perched on a pebble gathering up a ball of dirt for a nest. And the source of this dirt? An Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp Sphecius speciosus nest I’d first noticed 9 days earlier.

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  • That Dirt Bank Again

    A return visit to a local patch of dirt. Here’s one of two Pseudomethoca frigida velvet ants seen. These are actually wasps: the females are wingless and race around on the ground. They are endoparasites, laying their eggs inside ground-nesting bee nests. That is, if they can get in. Here, two Lasioglossum genus bees wrestle…

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  • Bearing All Burdens

    Pallidefulva-group Field Ant/Complex Formica pallidefulva carting along the forewing of an Apantesis tiger moth.

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  • Mycophiles

    Crawling all over this large Berkeley’s Polypore? Spotted Diaperis/Diaperis maculata A very pleasing beetle on fungus, yet not a Pleasing Fungus Beetle, Family Erotylidae, but rather a Darkling beetle, Family Tenebrionidae. And since we’re at this mushroom… A fast moving Ectemnius wasp. May have been hunting for flies.

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  • Some Mushrooms

    Xerocomellus truncatus Green-spored Parasol/Chlorophyllum molybdites (largest of these 6″ across) Berkeley’s Polypore/Bondarzewia berkeley at base of Willow Oak/Quercus phellos. Largest of these is 24″ across. This one was quite busy (a cliffhanger…).

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    A bolt of lightning absolutely exploded the top off this American Kestrel perch in Green-Wood Cemetery last month. Here’s a remembrance of perches past: (The lightning rod seems fine, if off-kilter, now.) And a special guest star appearance by a Red-tailed Hawk: News: I’m doing another Green-Wood Cemetery members-only insect walk on Sunday, if you’re…

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  • Recent Odonata

    Two weekends ago, I took a long walk in Brooklyn and saw a huge number of Pantala dragonflies in Green-Wood, Prospect Park, and Brooklyn Botanic Garden. These rain pool gliders spend a lot of time in the air, so it’s hard to document them. But I did manage to capture images of two perching Spot-winged/P.…

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  • Trumpet Vine Connections

    A colorful Aplos planthopper nymph. Crawling over a seedpod: a Crematogaster ant.

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  • Summer of Wasps

    I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these three recent books about wasps were all written by entomologists. The business of science journalism, non-scientists interpreting the often obtuse communiques in scientific journals, is roaring, but wasps really need some loving professional attention by people who’ve spent their lives among them. Wasps, after all, are the…

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