July 2012
-
Patriotism
The very red eye of an adult Eastern Towhee feeding its noisy, grey fledgling, well into a thicket but visible through binoculars, a caterpillar meal. A Cormorant sanding on the beach with its lower bill wedged into a hardshell clam. Who had who there? A Buckeye, keeping low, but unmistakable with that eyespot pattern.Low to…
-
Small Milkweed Bug
Yes, there’s a Large Milkweed Bug, too. This is Lygaeus kalmii. The bright colors are warning you, o bug-eating one, that this critter is a bitter pill to swallow: sucking on milkweed juice — as a true bug of the Hemiptera order, it’s a sucker not a chewer — makes it so.
-
Common Tern
“Comintern”? It’s a wonder these things weren’t exterminated during the Cold War. Sterna hirundo. This one was fishing from the pier, leaning over and examining the water for several moments before dropping down to capture a small fry. A couple of days later, I saw another, or perhaps the same bird, perching on the pier,…
Backyard and Beyond 