You were probably wondering, during Milkweed Madness earlier this week, where the Monarchs were. Me too. I haven’t spotted any larvae yet. Adult above is slurping up some Butterfly Milkweed/Asclepius tuberosa nectar. This male was going for Common Milkweed/A. syriaca. I tend to see more activity on syriaca than tuberosa. Tuberosa is more photogenic, and…

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An inland sea: Lake Michigan from Saugatuck Sand Dunes State Park, Michigan. I’d seen this water body from Chicago, but it’s been a while, and never from this vantage point, which is looking westward. South. North. Look at those dune heights in the distance! Or right behind me. Now, looking back over the water. I…

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Saw some new Odonata, damselflies and dragonflies, while traveling. American Rubyspot above. Dot-tailed Whiteface. Dusky Dancers. Stream Bluets. Ebony Jewelwing. Not a new species for me, but I see them rarely. Blue-fronted Dancer: another species I don’t see in Brooklyn. This one was next to the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh. I think this is another…

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The edges of the Grand River in Grand Rapids were dominated by Red-winged Blackbirds. And it was fledgling season. Who’s the boss? These bruisers have drawn blood from a friend, but I’ve found Northern Mockingbirds and, especially, Arctic Terns to be more in your face when it comes to protecting their own.

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The Grand River is now mostly rapid-less, quite a let-down to those like myself hoping that Grand Rapids would live up to its name. But every day, we saw Osprey hunting over the river. The photos above are from the 21st floor. It’s not often I see Osprey from the top! (Through rather dirty windows…

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Milkweed pollen comes in saddlebag-like structures called pollinia. These stick to pollinators: this Honeybee is laden with them and trying to get them off.

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The milkweeds started to bloom while I was away. I caught up with them on Friday. There was a lot to catch up on. Various species of bees were of course sucking up the nectar. There were beetles. Ants. A moth. And more… coming soon!

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Back to our morning Red-shouldered Hawk in Oberlin, Ohio. It wasn’t but a few minutes later when a distinctly Buteo-ish calling was heard in the parky square across the street. A hawk lifted off off the ground and landed on the art museum. Then it flew even closer. When I got my camera on the…

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Shortly after checking into our hotel in Oberlin, Ohio earlier this week, I glanced out the window and saw a hawk descending between the hotel’s other wing and a neighboring building. Then I spotted it atop the roof. I hustled outside for the best views of an adult Red-shouldered Hawk I’ve ever had. It was…

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A ready distinction between dragonflies and damselflies is that dragonflies perch with wings open and spread out while damselflies perch with their wings closed, parallel to their abdomen. That’s most damselflies. The regional exceptions: the Lestidae family spreadwings, and one of the pond damselflies, the Aurora/Chromagrion conditum. This is one of the former, a Lestes…

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