northeast-flora-and-fauna

I think this is a Carolina Grasshopper I met last summer, though I have to admit it doesn't look a lot different from the Sulphur-winged Grasshopper . At least it doesn't look like the Differential Grasshoppers .  Though it might surprise you to look at a stationary 1, these grasshoppers are frequently mistaken for butterflies when in flight. This is partly because they have a somewhat erratic flight like a fluttering butterfly and partly because their mostly-dark wings with light-colored edges reminds people of a Mourning Cloak butterfly. If you think you see a Mourning Cloak in flight but it completely disappears when it lands on the ground, you might be seeing a Carolina Grasshopper. As frequently happens, this species has a far wider range than the "Carolina" part of its name might lead you to believe. They can be found in most of the contiguous 48 US states and much of southern Canada. June 29, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 301251109, (c) jpviolette,

Dogbanes, similar to milkweeds, are considered plentiful sources of nectar, and this Painted Lady was taking full advantage of this. I can distinguish it from its American Lady cousin (from this view) by looking at the 4 small eyespots along the rear of butterfly's wing; 2 large spots would imply an American Lady instead. In flight, I personally can't distinguish between the 2 butterflies at all. This is somewhat unfortunate since I've been seeing one/both of these butterflies a fair amount this spring, but without a lot of flowers they like in bloom they've mostly been flyby sightings. (Sometimes they'll tease me for a while fluttering in my vicinity or even circling me only to fly off either without landing or landing for just a second or 2 while I fumble to spot them with my binoculars.) I'm not sure what flower this butterfly is nectaring from, but it looks like a dogbane . Similar to their milkweed relatives, dogbane is popular with the pollinators for fa

Let's do something a little different today; I'm going to talk about a tree-planting activity organized by Raritan Headwaters Association . The last 3 days I've been planting native trees and shrubs in a field adjacent to  Chambers Brook in Readington Township. My impression is that this land is owned by the township. (We needed to gain access through the cooperation of a Christmas tree farm though there are plans for public access in the future. You probably shouldn't rush out there to check on my work.) The field used to be grazed by cows, probably before Readington owned the property. Though you can't tell it from this picture, the field is quite muddy and frequently quite lumpy. Although humans can't currently access this field without either trespassing or bushwhacking, the central New Jersey deer population can easily get here. To prevent deer from devouring the plantings, each plant gets its individual protection. Trees, expected to grow straight up, get

Just before leaving for home 1 day, I encountered this Killdeer that was clearly in distress, awkwardly lying on a tree stump in pain. June 29, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 301252702, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Fortunately Killdeer have a remarkable ability to recover from crippling injuries, and this 1 made a miraculous recovery a couple minutes later. Or was something else going on? As people familiar with Killdeer know, these birds are famous for their acting skills, and will fake an injury to lure perceived predators (like me, apparently) away from a clutch of eggs by pretending to be an injured bird the predator could make an easy meal of. Once the luring away is successful, the Killdeer then makes an improbable recovery and flies away. June 29, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 301252635, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a strikingly goodlooking Green Frog from last year [1]. This frog is likely a male; his tympanum (eardrum) appears to be larger than his eye, and he has a yellow rather than white throat, both being field marks for male Green Frogs. (FWIW the American Bullfrog males can also be identified by tympanums that are larger than their eyes.) June 29, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 301252530, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] And this is saying something given how goodlooking the average Green Frog is.

Here are a couple of Orange Bluets who are propagating the species. Of course most of bluets are ... wait for it ... blue! Like these guys and these guys . You could call the Orange Bluets "the orange sheep of the family" ... except that the bluets are a genus, not a family. Their family is the narrow-winged damselflies , a diversely colored family where members can be red, green, yellow, or purple in addition to blue and orange. Somewhat oddly, my pictures of them are disproportionately related to breeding; besides this picture of a mating pair, my previous post appeared to show egg-laying . June 29, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 301252443, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)