Top Photo: Immature plumaged hooded mergansers lingering in wetlands. I’ve been negligent in my duties and haven’t been reporting as often as I’d like to on the goings on in Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind. So much is happening, as it does every spring, that it’s tough to keep up. Here’s just a couple of handfuls of things that we’ve seen in the Wild over the past few weeks (not necessarily in chronological order). During the first weekRead more
Posts tagged: #Fragile Forktail
Springing Forward
There’s been so much happening in the Wild lately that it’s difficult to keep up, to stay on top of the reporting of said happenings. Here’s a quick update. If you remember, there were two successful Green Heron nests in our Wetlands last year. We’re hoping to have a repeat. Last Saturday two of the small, somewhat green herons appeared. I’ve seen one or two each day since, so maybe a redo of last year’s events is forthcoming. The firstRead more
Just for the record
The first ode (dragonfly/damselfly) of the season was seen on February 24 flying low over the Wetlands. While I didn’t see it well enough to positively identify it, I’m confident that it was a Common Green Darner (Anax Junius). On March 1st I did see one close enough to make a positive ID. The first damselfly was seen on March 7, but again I could not see enough detail to make out the species. However, I’m fairly sure that itRead more
Some Early September Sights
As you well know (if you’ve been following this blog) caterpillars tend to show up more frequently from late summer into fall. It’s not so much that there are more of them, but that the larger species are maturing, their frass more visible on the ground beneath the trees and shrubs that they’re feeding on, and many of them are hustling across the paths on their way to finding a safe place to pupate over the coming winter. Here’s a fewRead more
Odonata
Since March 19 when I saw the first damselflies of the season emerging from the Wetlands, there have been five additional species of odonata seen. The first Common Baskettail was seen the 30th of March. Blue Corporal and Common Whitetail were both observed on the 3rd of April and a male Common Green Darner on the 7th of the month. A Lancet Clubtail was seen on the Dinosaur Trail on the 10th of April. If all of the new arrivalsRead more
Fish Crows (w/audio this time) and Herp and Ode Updates
Fish Crows continued to fly over on Tuesday (3/9). I searched my personal audio library that I keep for video soundtracks and found a file that contains the nasal calls of the Fish Crows as they wing by. Have a listen here: [audio:/wp-content/files/2/2010/03/fishcrow.mp3|titles=fishcrow] The same day, Spring Peepers, Upland Chorus Frogs, (The chorus frogs are the ones that sound like someone running their finger down a comb, the peepers are the higher pitched single notes heard)[audio:/wp-content/files/2/2010/03/chorus_peeper.mp3|titles=chorus_peeper] Pickerel Frogs, [audio:/wp-content/files/2/2010/03/pickerel-frog.mp3|titles=pickerel frog]andRead more
The Wheel, a Hopper, a Borer, and a Carpet Beetle
Dragonfly and damselfly species are picking up. Seen this period were (dates next to names indicate day in which that species was first observed this season) Fragile Forktail, Citrine Forktail (4/18), Orange Bluet (4/27), Skimming Bluet (4/28), Common Green Darner, Swamp Darner, Common Baskettail, Eastern Pondhawk (4/25), Blue Corporal (4/25), Blue Dasher (4/27), Common Whitetail, and Black Saddlebags (4/27). The Skimming Bluets in the image at left are configured in what is referred to as the “copulation wheel.” This configurationRead more
Butterflies, Dragons, Tent Dwellers, a Forester, and a Tiger
Fragile Forktails continue to emerge from the Wetlands (see Fragile Forktail, Explore the Wild Journal, March 16-31, 2009), although I’m now seeing females as well as males. Among the other odes observed during the first half of April were Common Green Darner, Swamp Darner, Common Baskettail, and Common Whitetail. Butterflies seen this period were Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Orange Sulphur, Olive Hairstreak (4/9), Eastern Tailed-blue (4/3), Mourning Cloak (4/3), Silver-spotted Skipper (4/9), and Juvenal’s Duskywing. Now bivouacked on atRead more
The First Dragons and Damsels, a few early Leps
Finally, odes! That is, dragonflies and damselflies. The first Fragile Forktail that caught my attention this season was on March 18 when one individual was seen taking its first flight after emerging. This sighting is nine days later than the first sightings of this species last year, which occurred on the 9th of March. By March 21 many of these tiny, teneral damsels could be seen flying across the path on the north side of the Wetlands in search ofRead more