mthew
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More Young Red-tail
Same day as yesterday’s youngster(s). Maybe the same bird. Eating an Eastern Grey Squirrel. Which takes a long time. Raptors usually pluck fairly small pieces off their meal. But they can also choke down a whole limb…
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Raptor Wednesday
Not like I don’t have more fresh Kestrel content, but this year’s Red-tails have been making their presence known lately. This one was pretty close to me and even closer to other people. They don’t make ’em shy in Brooklyn. I’m not sure if this is the same bird or not. One of these primaries…
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Two To Tango?
A pair of mantises. I think they’re thinking about mating. Male below, female above. But, um, there’s a problem here. These are actually two different species. The female is a European Mantis/Mantis religiosa; identified by the white oval spot surround by black on the upper forelimbs. The male is a Chinese Mantis/Tenodera sinensis; not as…
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Cicadas
The clade Pancrustacea includes both crustaceans and hexapods. So it makes sense that cicadas taste, writes Chris Alice Kratzer, a little like shrimp, albeit “somewhat nuttier and earthier.” This also means you should stay away from them if you’re allergic to shellfish. Evolution is nutty that way. In her new guidebook The Cicadas of North America,…
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Hanging Darners
Common Green Darners/Anax junius taking a break. On these cooler mornings, they’re more apt to be found perch-hanging than in flight. Last Saturday, I stirred up many from their perches before seeing them, but I did manage to sneak up on the seven above and the four below. And some more:
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One More Butterfly
Gray Hairstreak/Strymon melinus. These are more likely than other Hairstreaks to show their inner wing colors.
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Raptor Wednesday
The cross atop the historic Chapel in Green-Wood has just been replaced after the old one, recently cleaned, was shattered by a lighting bolt last year. And of course the local American Kestrels are up there again. Elsewhere in G-W, this female was hunting dragonflies and… …at least one caterpillar.
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And More Butterflies
White M Hairstreak/Parrhasius m-album on Groundsel Tree/Saltbush/Baccharis halimifolia. The inner wings on these flash an incredible dark blue in flight, hinted at here because of the chunk taken out of the forewing. Black Swallowtail/Papilio polyxenes on Ironweed/Vernonia. There seems to be some taxonomic confusion among the Colias sulphurs. I think this is Orange Sulphur/C. eurytheme.…
Backyard and Beyond 