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Bobolink
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) perching at Marine Park Nature Center. This is the adult, non-breeding plumage. The species migrates to southern South America. Like many grassland species, its numbers are dropping because of habitat loss.
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Elegy for Martha
One hundred years ago today, Martha died of old age in Cincinnati. She was 29 years old and had been raised since birth in captivity. She never reproduced.Martha was the last of her species, the Passenger Pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius). Of course, by the time of her demise, the species was already functionally extinct in the…
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Common Nighthawks
It’s been a difficult week. But one of the highlights was on Thursday, when a friend and I went into Prospect Park in the late afternoon. Just before sunset, we were in the Nethermead. Overhead, the chittering of many Chimney Swifts was heard as the little birds darted all over the sky taking their last…
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Future Odes
Eastern Amberwings (Perithemis tenera) in the reproductive wheel: the male holds the female by the back of the head; the female curves her abdomen up and forwards his genitalia, located (counterintuitively?) at the base of his abdomen. A female Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) dipping her abdomen down to lay fertilized eggs in a bit of…
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Bombus
A bumblebee rumbles into the heart of the flower. Identifying bumblebees of the genus Bombus is not an easy task. In their new identification guide, Bumble Bees of North America, Williams, Thorp, Richardson, and Colla note that color patterns “can be strikingly variable within species and strongly convergent between.” As an example of the variability…
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Great Crested Flycatcher
Always a nice surprise to get a good look at a Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus), since they are usually at tree-top level. I thought this might be a migrant, and it may well be, but it should be noted that there are breeding records for the species in Prospect. They are the only cavity-nesting…
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Orange Is the New Bluet
A male Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum) in the afternoon sun.
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Spotted (or Not) and Streaky
Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularius) — no spots once they’ve moved out of their breeding plumage — are patrolling the edges of fresh water bodies now during migration. Also along the watery edges these days are Northern Waterthrushes (Parkesia noveboracensis).
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Venation
Male Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans).Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) male.Forewings of female Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella). I found this with a little bit of thorax exoskeleton a few blocks from home. Extremely lightweight, and prone to blowing away in a weak breeze.Some magnification. Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) female. Hindwings are especially wide on this species.
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Backyard and Beyond 