mthew

Spittlebugs, leafhoppers and treehoppers are in the infraorder Cicadomorpha, which, as its name suggests, also includes the cicadas. Heard my first of the year over the weekend of the 4th. Was standing by a tree with one sounding off in it, unseen, and spotted the shed exoskeleton of the nymph stage.

Early Saturday morning, we heard a screechy Mockingbird outside. And kept hearing it. It wasn’t until I was practically next to the window that I saw the why. Two Northern Mockingbirds were harrying this Red-tail. Note that there are still some juvenile striped feathers on this hawk. This is one of last year’s fledglings, probably…

FYI: The Empire State Pollinator Native Pollinator Survey 2017-2021 is out. From the executive summary: “We found that, using conservative criteria, 38% of New York’s native pollinators (of our focal taxa only) are at risk of extirpation from NY. In the worst-case scenario, as much as 60% of the native insect pollinator fauna may be…