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.”

feathers

  • Flickering

    Northern Flicker, yellow-shafted edition of the east. They have mostly passed through in migration by now, but a couple of weeks ago, the city was full of them.This Colaptes auratus male — females lack the black mustache marks — excreted while perched up here. Most of these birds are pretty skittish, bolting quickly at the…

    mthew

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  • Feather Quiz

    Starting with a gimme, a bit of exotica.Found along a pond in Westchester Co.Found at the northern end of Central Park. Answers in comments. It’ll take several days to get back to ya’ll.

    mthew

  • Crown

    Looks like a crown feather of an American Woodcock to me. Just under an inch long. On the snow in Prospect; it was devilishly difficult to get the warm gold of the edging accurately into digital form!And you can, I think, see these crown feathers pretty well here.

    mthew

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