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.”

  • 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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  • One-Two-Three

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  • The Mountain Mints Have Peaked

    But are still feeding ’em. False Milkweed Bug/Lygaeus turcicus Four-toothed Mason Wasp/Monobia quadridens Rusty Spider Wasp/Tachypompilus ferrugineus Coelioxys sharp-tailed bee male Coelioxys sharp-tailed bee female Margined Leatherwing Beetle/Chauliognathus marginatus ! Northern Italian Fence Lizard/Podarcis siculus ssp. campestris. A ringer: not so much feeding on the flowers are using as a lookout, and perhaps hunting for visiting insects.

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  • Misc. Bugs

    Sphaerophoria genus fly Mediterranean Katydid/Phaneroptera nana nymph Greater Anglewing/Microcentrum rhombifolium nymph Carolinian Elegant/Meromacrus acutus–a wasp-mimicking fly usually found further south. This is the second NY state iNat observation, the first being seen a bit further up the Hudson two days earlier. Emerald Jumping Spider/Paraphidippus aurantius (honorary “bug”) Twice-stabbed Stink Bugs/Cosmopepla lintneriana Villa genus fly. Inactive…

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  • Raptor Wednesday

    Sightings of female and male American Kestrel about 45 minutes and a 1000 feet apart.

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  • Some Faces

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