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Robin’s egg blue…. Three American Robins flew out of the nearest of a cluster of ornamental apple trees, which made me glance through the trees for nests. This nest was in the next tree over. Since the nest was above my head, I lifted my phone up high and hoped for the best, picture-wise.

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Barn Swallows at Jamaica Bay. [Opps! I meant Tree Swallows!] [Thanks to those who alerted me to my typo.]

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Out of the corner of the eye, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird could be mistaken for a bumble bee or large carpenter bee. This is some kind of apple/Malus, with rather large flowers.

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A fair number of Osprey sightings at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on Monday. Hard to get a count, what with the comings and goings, but I had a minimum of five separate individuals. That’s a lot of stick. Two nests are visible from the south-side trail at West Pond, but both of them had two…

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Yesterday, the great Blue Heron in Green-Wood’s Sylvan Water was showing off some impressive fishing chops. Today, it’s the Great Egret. Ah, but this was just the sushi appetizer. A few minutes later, something more substantial. Meanwhile, a close encounter: one of the huge Common Snapping Turtles approached the Great Blue. First time I can…

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This is a big, big year for periodical cicadas. Both the 13-year Brood XIX and the 17-year Brood XIII are emerging. All seven Magicicada species will be seen–but not all in any one place. The broods are “adjacent (but not significantly overlapping) in north-central Illinois.“ Unfortunately, none of this is happening where I am. I’d…

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Well, I was looking for one kind of Gymnosporangium rust and found another on this Eastern Redcedar/Juniperus virginiana. Juniper-hawthorn Rust/G. globosum requires both a juniper and Hawthorn species, alternating life stages. On another species of Juniperus, these Tongues of Flame/G. clavariiforme don’t create a gall but just bust right out of the twigs. Several days…

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