Prospect Park
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Migration
A time fraught with hazards. This warbler didn’t make it. Perhaps it was taken by one of the Merlins scouring the air over the park lately, for raptors are on the move, too.But also a time of new life, as a Common Yellowthroat in his first year makes his way south, towards the Southeast, Florida,…
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Wood Duck
A male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) in fresh breeding plumage, which he will sport until early next summer.
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Ant, Wing
An ant wrestles with a lepidoptera wing. An aerodynamic challenge.
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Hovering Now
At last! A good look at a Snowberry Clearwing moth (Hemaris diffinis). I had originally thought this was the Hummingbird Clearwing (H. thysbe) but the black line through the eyes across the sides of the thorax, and the dark legs, are distinguishing. Both species look a little like hummingbirds, but are even smaller than our smallest birds.…
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Flying Now
There are moments when the beauty of the world takes your breath away. Like, for instance, when a Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) spreads its wings in a patch of sunlight, opening and closing them in quick succession — as if were silently clapping — and flashing this incredible blue iridescence. And then you remember why…
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Exotic Bishop
An Orange or Red Bishop in Prospect Park. I don’t know if it’s a Southern (Euplectes orix) or a Northern (E. franciscanus)*. This is an escaped — or idiot-released — exotic, a victim of the pernicious avian pet trade. Native to Africa, there are now a few small breeding populations in TX and CA.The ring…
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Meet the Herons
Members of the family of Green Herons (Butorides virescens) in the Lullwater. The youngsters are yammering at each other, one of the parents is on the left. Now, let’s get some more details of one of the streaky-necked juveniles:A little neck-scratching, a little crest-spreading. Love the eyes, which a human like me reads as “intense.”…
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C/CKW
The Cicada Killer Wasps (Sphecius speciosus) are out and about now, collecting pollen at flowers to eat, stabbing cicadas for their young…I’m not telling, but here’s a Dog Day cicada (genus Tibicen), more heard than seen by we ground-huggers.The two wasps pictured above are males. They’re smaller than the females. Here’s a female, scare-the-horses-ginormous, patrolling…
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Carolina Wren
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) on a chessboard. Usually more often heard than seen, for this little bird has a big, big voice that rolls through the woods.Here using its tail feathers woodpecker-style, for support against the vertical as it goes about gleaning for insects.
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Flying Now
Another black and yellow animal for the day. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). All over the place right now, but hard to get a lens on unless they are feeding. Mostly I see them moving. This is the largest regional butterfly, and pretty much unmistakable, although further north the slightly smaller P. canadensis is…
Backyard and Beyond 