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.”

horseshoe crab

  • Horseshoe Crabs

    I wrote about the Atlantic horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus last week, before I got a chance to head out to the city shore to look for some this year. So that was theory, this is practice, at Plumb Beach. And practice can be hands-on. If you should happen to see a horseshoe crab wrong-side up…

    mthew

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  • Limulus Polyphemus

    Spring, the new moon: The littoral of the city is filling with mating Atlantic horseshoe crabs. The males of Limulus polyphemus, sometimes several at a time, are clamoring aboard the larger females, who come ashore at high tide to lay their eggs at the wrack line. A female may lay 90,000 eggs in a season.…

    mthew