northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's a (non-baseball playing) Baltimore Oriole I met in late May. He and his (presumed) mate were flying around near the Orchid Range's Outdoor Education booth. I don't spot these guys very often, but their population seems to be doing reasonably well. They're considered a type of blackbird even though they probably have more orange on them than black. And these birds have a sweet tooth, being particularly fond of brightly colored fruit. I lost track of this couple. I haven't seen them in the area since this picture, so perhaps they elected to start a family on another part of the property. May 28, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 133215338, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's an insect I met a couple months ago, the Golden-backed Snipe Fly . They're small enough to get overlooked by people, though they're almost certainly larger than the average fly. I think the yellow/gold thorax and striped abdomen makes them among our better-looking flies, and certainly makes them distinctive looking. While some snipe flies bite large mammals (including us), the Golden-backed is believed to eat small arthropods like aphids. I doubt they're large or numerous enough to clear aphids off your milkweed plants, though every little bit helps. This picture is probably of a male since the eyes are large and nearly touching. The females look similar but the eyes are smaller and further apart. May 28, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 133215205, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

In basically the same spot I met the Northern Red-Bellied Cooter laying eggs , I met a Red-eared Slider that was surveying the same area. This turtle didn't seem to be looking to leave Great Falls Lake for another lake, so I'm very suspicious this was another female looking for a desirable spot to lay eggs of her own. You should be able to see the red spot behind the eye that identifies the turtle as a Red-eared Slider. I didn't stick around to confirm this suspicion. While the Northern Red-bellied Cooter was in the process of laying eggs and thus committed to the spot she was in, it's at least possible that my presence might have caused the turtle to decide to go somewhere else to lay her eggs.  Red-eared Sliders lay 3-17 eggs, or 2-30 eggs, depending on what source you're using. The number of eggs correlates to the size of the turtle. The turtle eggs hatch in 59-112 days, and apparently are influenced by temperature and rainfall. My impression is that we've h

A couple months ago I was on Fox Hollow Lane at Duke Farms and I saw a Northern Red-bellied Cooter who apparently laid her eggs on a cleared patch of ground. (I don't know if the vegetation was removed to make it a better location for turtle eggs or if it had another purpose.) Unless she was an outlier, she laid 5-17 eggs. They're supposed to incubate over 80 days, so they're scheduled to hatch around August 16. I may try and visit around that time, though: Duke Farms is closed to the public (Su+Mo) on August 15 and 16. We've had a fairly hot summer; it's possible that will speed up the hatching. My impression is that many predators find and eat these eggs; it's unclear there will be anything to see. May 28, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 133214583, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The mother lays her eggs and buries them. It'll initially look like a small muddy patch, though I'm sure that dries up pretty fast. Buried turtle eggs Photo 13321474

Here's a Red-banded Hairstreak I met in late May. The hairstreaks are a group of butterflies with a crisp/clean appearance, though they're not flamboyantly colored. We have a number of hairstreaks in NJ, though none of the others has such a prominent red/orange band like this little guy. Although NJ isn't a particularly big state, this butterfly demonstrates that small differences can matter a lot. It's believed that these butterflies overwinter as caterpillars in southern NJ counties but don't in northern NJ counties. (I'm not sure if the northern ones perform a mini-migration to southern NJ or are simply killed off in the winter.) May 28, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 133214304, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a silk nest of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar . What it is not is a group of Gypsy Moth caterpillars [1]. Both of these species grow up to be moths, and both have the potential to defoliate our trees by eating leaves, but that's about where the similarities end: They're not closely related. Eastern Tent Caterpillars are a native species that our local ecosystems have been dealing with since pre-colonial days. Gypsy Moths are an invasive species brought here in a misguided attempt to create a silk industry here. Eastern Tent Caterpillars can defoliate trees, though this typically occurs early in the growing season and our trees typically refoliate in a couple weeks. Gypsy Moth caterpillars are more likely to defoliate trees, and the trees are less likely to regrow leaves that season. Eastern Tent Caterpillars create the silk "tents" (hence the name) to provide themselves some (imperfect) protection from predators and the elements. They are fairly social as la

Here's probably the first damselfly I learned to identify, the Ebony Jewelwing . They're pretty common in the places I go that are near water. Depending on the lighting, the males can look mostly black or have a metallic sheen (usually blue or green) like in the picture below.  The females are black but lack the shininess. Like all damselflies and dragonflies, they're predatory. Though they'll sometimes stare straight at you, I can't believe they're sizing us up as a meal; I'm pretty sure they're watching us for their own safety. May 28, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 133214083, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's another Silver-spotted Skipper I met a couple months back. They're a moderately early season butterfly since they overwinter as pupa in a chrysalis, so they're ready to emerge as adult butterflies when the weather warms. Many of our skippers are small and predominantly brown/tan with similar markings, but these guys with their (relatively) large size and white and gold spots on a dark brown background make them distinctive/recognizable.  Common names can be confusing. If you were discussing Silver-spotted Skippers with your British lepidopterist friend, he'll be talking about this butterfly , a rare and less distinctively colored butterfly. (The two butterflies aren't considered to be particularly closely related.) May 27, 2021 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 133212569, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I was a little surprised that, until this late May trip to Sourland, I didn't get any pictures of the male Common Whitetail dragonflies this season. That ended on this trip, as I got reasonable photographs of 5 of them (which probably means I saw 2-3 times that many). These guys were all buzzing one another, trying to establish a territory that'll impress the females. Optimally they'll try and hold 30-100 feet of shoreline, though Sourland has a fairly small pond that makes for a lot of competition for that space. I'm sure I don't have a full appreciation about what's really going on among the dragonflies at the pond. The aerial battles among the males of a species are pretty clear, and males pursuing females is fairly straightforward, though I can only guess what the inter-species interactions are about. I'm fairly sure larger dragonfly species will prey on smaller dragonfly species, but evenly matched species could be ignored or could be subject to territ

I had a somewhat rare treat in late May when I met this Indigo Bunting at Sourland. They're considered to be a fairly common bird, but I don't spot them a lot. This is only my 2nd picture of them, which admittedly is twice as many as I have of the bird they're most often confused with, the Blue Grosbeak . (Besides being blue, both birds are in the cardinal family .) I did notice this bird exactly where you're supposed to find them, edge habitat where meadows meet woods. I had a distant but unobstructed view of this guy (the females would have little or no blue) before he flew off. May 27, 2021 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 133211246, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

A couple months ago at Sourland Mountain Preserve, I ran across this American Bullfrog . The little pond adjacent to the parking area was just teeming with interesting critters that day; I had already photographed geese, ducks, a butterfly, and a snake before spotting a few bullfrogs. It's easy to get a circle of life theme evident at this little pond. Certainly the butterflies and dragonflies at the pond could be food for the bullfrogs. The bullfrogs could be a meal for the Northern Watersnake, and (probably when they're younger) the Mallards. The Canada Goose droppings recycle nutrients for the plant life (even though there may be a bit of an overexposure of these droppings). The snakes didn't have obvious predators that I could see, though I wouldn't be surprised if a snapping turtle could be lurking in there somewhere. And of course a visit from a hungry Great Blue Heron would be happy to eat the snakes and frogs. There were no doubt a lot of predator-prey relation

Here's a Northern Watersnake swimming in the small pond at Sourland Mountain Preserve. I had just gotten pictures of a couple of Canada Goose families, a possible breeding pair of Mallards, and a mudpuddling Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly when I spotted this snake in a muddy area adjacent to the pond. Northern Watersnakes are pretty comfortable in the water, and this fella immediately escaped the area by swimming into the pond. Though my documentation says the Northern Watersnake can have a mean disposition and has some tendency to bite - they're non-venomous - all of them that I've run across either fled from me or (perhaps because I wasn't deemed to be too close) ignored me. May 27, 2021 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 133210590, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's another Great Blue Heron I met a couple months ago at Round Valley. I did think the coloring was more vivid in this bird than I usually see in Great Blues. They are supposed to molt into their somewhat brighter feathers prior to breeding season, and the lighting must have been fairly favorable. One cool thing about being a Great Blue is that when you're scanning the water looking for a good place to fish, it can look like your staring across the water contemplating the mysteries of life. Yesterday I mentioned that Eastern Kingbirds will drive herons away from an area. Both these birds were at the reservoir, though there was a small cove between them. I suspect that the heron was sufficiently far away that the kingbird didn't feel obligated to try and drive it away, though it's possible that the heron is on the kingbird's TODO list. May 20, 2021 at Round Valley Reservoir Photo 132040157, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's an Eastern Kingbird I met a couple months back. They are one of the tyrant flycatcher species, many of which have a very slight overbite (or over-beak?) that probably helps keep insects they catch from escaping. (You can't see this well in my picture, but up close you'd certainly notice it if it were pointed out to you.) Similar to swallows, these guys can snatch insects right out of the air, though they'll sometimes forage on insects that aren't in flight. Like a lot of birds, they switch to a more vegetarian diet outside of breeding season. But while a vegetarian diet is forced on most birds that stay in NJ during the winter when insects are scarce, for the migrating Eastern Kingbird the vegetarian diet seems more like a lifestyle choice. They migrate down to Amazon rainforests where I suspect insects would still be plentiful. These birds are considered fairly feisty, and will harass/pester crows, hawks, or herons that are a potential threat to them or th

I met this Bumble Bee Mimic Robber Fly almost 2 months ago at Round Valley. The common name is a mouthful, but really does convey a lot of information about these insects: Bumble Bee Mimic : They have evolved to look like bumble bees. This gives them 2 benefits. First, some predators leave them alone for fear of getting stung even though these guys have no stinger. And second, they tend to prey on bees and beetles, and those insects might not recognize them as a predator (until it's too late). Robber Fly : Robber Flies are true flies that mainly prey on other arthropods. I was initially suspicious that this wasn't a bumble bee because the wings looked wrong. They were thinner/longer than I'd expect, and there are only 2 wings. Generally speaking, if you see 4 wings (or 2 wings and 2 elytra) it's not a true fly. Seeing 2 wings ruled out a bumble bee (or anything else in the wasp/bee group of insects). Somewhat similar to the odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) these

Here's a family (presumably) of Canada Geese I met a couple months ago, this time at Duke Farms. If they've all survived (even at Duke Farms there are predators), the goslings would be much larger today. They probably look sorta like adults by now, just grayer and a little smaller. But at this age they're cute little guys. I count 5 goslings here, which seems to be right about in the middle for a Canada Goose brood; 2-8 eggs are typical. Canada Geese are fairly diligent parents as animals go; they may have a role in raising their kids for as long as a year. Certainly what they're doing seems to be working; the population of the Canada Geese has been rising for decades. May 18, 2021 at Duke Farms

Here's a Red-tailed Hawk I met a couple months ago at Duke Farms. In other views the tail looked brown and the eyes yellow, suggesting that this is a somewhat young Red-tailed Hawk. I doubt that a Red-tailed Hawk that hatched this year would have been hunting on its own in mid-May, so I suspect this hawk was born in 2020. If that's true, it might have a handsome orange tail by late fall as it molts. Could this be the same Red-tailed Hawk that I photographed near the Orchid Range in mid-June? It's possible, though it's worth remembering that the Red-tailed Hawk is one of the most common raptors in the state. This fella wasn't staring straight at me, but definitely in my general area. I'm not sure what it saw, but it's possible my presence inadvertently saved the life of some small critter. May 18, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 132040010, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Talk about a tough neighborhood, right next to the Poison Hemlock I talked about yesterday there was also Stinging Nettle . It would seem that at the species level Stinging Nettle is both native and invasive. This is because there are 6 subspecies, 4 from Europe and 2 from North America. One of the invasive ones doesn't actually sting, and one other sometimes stings and sometimes doesn't; both of the North American ones are stingers. This plant doesn't want to be touched. The leaves and stems are a mix of both non-stinging hairs and tiny needles able to pierce skin and inject biochemical irritants. They haven't stopped us humans from eating them though; we discovered that cooking and/or soaking in water removes the plant's ability to sting us. They're also a host plant for some insects. Red Admiral, Question Mark, and Eastern Comma butterflies are known to eat nettles as caterpillars, and probably consider Stinging Nettle to be a reasonable nettle to eat. May 1

Here's some Poison Hemlock I met a couple months back. Poison Hemlock is interesting in a lot of ways: It's not native to North America. It's an invasive plant from Europe and other Mediterranean regions. Despite not being a native species, a native butterfly (the Black Swallowtail ) can use it as a host plant as a caterpillar. It's related to plants we can eat, like carrots, parsley, and celery.  Though Poison Hemlock is plenty poisonous, our native water hemlocks are considered even more poisonous. It was the way the ancient Greeks got rid of Socrates and other condemned prisoners. It's not related to the hemlock trees , which are pine trees with foliage that smell slightly similar to Poison Hemlock leaves. The trees aren't poisonous (though this isn't an endorsement to eat their bark or needles). I don't see a lot of Poison Hemlock around, but there are areas where it's doing pretty well. I've heard that people have eaten it thinking that i

Here's a Pearl Crescent butterfly stopping not to smell the flowers but to drink them, or at least their nectar. And while drinking all day long may have negative connotations for humans, the butterfly community endorses drinking heavily during daylight hours. And at least I think it's a Pearl Crescent; while the North American Butterfly Association says that's our only crescent butterfly , my field guides suggest the very similar Northern Crescent and Tawny Crescent might show up in New Jersey too. May 14, 2021 at Fairview Farm Photo 132038975, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I wouldn't recommend that everybody go up on the roof of their house to scan the neighborhood, but it works for this Tree Swallow . (Walking around on the edges of your roof is less dangerous when you have wings, and can fly out of any misstep you make.) The females are described as having a duller color blue than the males; this guy looks to be a shiny enough blue that it's almost certainly a male. And it wouldn't surprise me if he's guarding a brood in the birdhouse he's standing on. They might be small, but these acrobatic fliers will dive down on intruders (and they have a fairly expansive definition of "intruder") at least as large as humans. May 13, 2021 at Raritan River Greenway Photo 132038848, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's an American Lady butterfly I met a couple months ago. This picture might not be National Geographic quality, but there's one thing I like about it. It demonstrates the 2 ways to differentiate the American Lady butterfly from its Painted Lady butterfly cousin. If you have a view of the top of the wings, look for a small white dot completely surrounded by an orange region of the wing. American Ladies have that spot while Painted Ladies do not. And if you have a view of the bottom of the wings, you can see "eyespots" on the back wing. American Ladies like this one have 2 eyespots, while Painted Ladies have 4. Other than this, these 2 butterflies are pretty similar. Both are in the same genus, and both migrate to avoid northern winters. I think the Painted Ladies are more common overall; certainly I've seen more Painteds than Americans. May 14, 2021 at Fairview Farm Photo 132039233, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

If you're walking through or near woods and hear someone singing, it might be a good thing to get out the binoculars and scan the trees. I was at Fairview Farm when I overheard this Eastern Towhee singing his heart out. Some people think their song sounds like they're singing "drink your tea", despite the fact that tea is typically unavailable while walking through the woods. The black on the head/back/wings identifies this as a male; if the black was a dark brown it'd be a female. If he finds a companion, they could raise two broods this year. (In the south they sometimes do 3 broods.) Eastern Towhees are a kind of sparrow. Their nearest relative is the similar-looking Spotted Towhee , with whom they'll sometimes hybridize. You probably don't need to know how to tell them apart though since the Spotteds are rarely east of western Iowa/Missouri. May 14, 2021 at Fairview Farm Photo 132039121, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's an American Bullfrog who was enjoying a mud bath. I suspect this mud bath is a good way to keep the frog hydrated rather than acquiring "anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, analgesic, relaxing and revitalizing properties" that motivates humans. Though a mud bath might seem like a way to beat the heat right now, the picture was taken in mid-May; it's possible the frog was actually trying to warm up while staying near water. May 13, 2021 at the Raritan River Greenway Photo 132038940, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Last spring I saw a couple people looking at something on a Duke Farms road. It turned out to be a Fowler's Toad toadlet . Our toads (Fowler's and American) are interesting to photograph. Their first instincts are to hop into dense vegetation, which can make them difficult to photograph. But if they don't see a promising escape route, their second plan is to stay very still, which can make them quite easy to photograph. I don't remember very well just how small this fella was, but I'm pretty sure it was under an inch long. I think that at this stage of its life, it eats the same types of stuff that an adult eats, it just needs to find smaller versions of invertebrates to eat. May 18, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 132039518, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a Mallard I met last spring. But there's something odd here; instead of the green head that Mallards are known for, this one had a purple head. Or did it? Generally speaking, Mallards can look this way in funky lighting. If you followed the Mallard around long enough, you'd eventually see the green head we're used to seeing. As you might expect, this isn't something that only happens with Mallards; people have also reported it in Northern Shovelers . Birders will sometimes see and/or get pictures of birds that show almost none of their blue, showing drab-looking Bluebirds, Blue Grosbeaks, and Indigo Buntings. I suspect that this is partly due to the way blue coloring is produced in (almost?) all animals . Unlike most colors, when you see a blue animal you're not seeing blue pigment, you're seeing black coloring on surfaces that are structured to scatter light and appear blue. (If you grind up a blue feather from a bird finely enough, you won't se

Here's a pretty good look at an  Eastern Painted Turtle  I met last spring. A few quick thoughts on the picture: You can see the large scutes on the carapace line up left-to-right and yellow/red lines on the head/neck, so it's identification is pretty clear. One difficulty with photographing (many) turtles is getting a good look at the carapace. Many times the sun reflects off them so much it's hard to make out details. This photo hints at this problem, though the angle I had alleviated this issue. (The other problem is when shells are so covered in algae or mud that you can't make out their details.) This is probably a good spot for this turtle. Its getting a lot of sunlight, but if a threat approaches the turtle can quickly jump/fall into the water where some threats (including photographers) can't follow. May 13, 2021 at the Raritan River Greenway Photo 132037746, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Since I got lots of pictures of Solitary Sandpipers last spring, I wanted to share another one. I suspect that all these guys are up north these days since they mostly migrate through New Jersey and the picture was from mid-May. True to its name, this sandpiper was all alone, foraging along a slower part of the Raritan River. I was actually able to get closer to this bird than I expected, though I have to admit that I don't have a strong sense of how human-tolerant they are. Most of the ones I see tend to be a ways away so I assumed they simply were comfortable with me 100 feet or more away. Either the food was especially good in this spot, or the bird didn't perceive me as much of a threat. May 13, 2021 at the Raritan River Greenway Photo 132038048, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a pair of turtles sharing a log. Due to the color red, both are fairly easy identifications. You can see the red "ear" on the turtle on the left, making it a Red-eared Slider . And the red plastron on the turtle on the right (plus its size) make it a Northern Red-Bellied Cooter . There are some concerns that the guy on the left, introduced to this area from other parts of the US, may crowd out our native species (including the guy on the right). The sliders are considered a more aggressive turtle, though they do have a size disadvantage compared to our cooters. When I see turtles basking in the sun, they usually turn out to be these turtles or the Eastern Painted Turtle ; currently all 3 species seem to be doing pretty well around here. May 13, 2021 at the Raritan River Greenway Photo 132037500, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a Tree Swallow poking his head out of a birdhouse. A picture like this isn't as hard to get as you might think. Tree Swallows readily use these birdhouses, there are quite a few Tree Swallows out there, and they are feisty birds that will attempt to chase away animals it thinks could threaten their nest. In fact they may the the common birds most likely to dive bomb humans to try and drive us away (though Red-winged Blackbirds are another strong candidate for this designation). Many times I'll be on a trail and have these guys diving at my head. Though they are fast and very maneuverable fliers, they have at least grazed my hats in their efforts to drive me away. I'm not sure if that was intentional, or if their zeal to scare me caused a small miscalculation during their attack. FWIW, I will usually try to vacate the area quicker than I normally would, though I'm a little old to actually run from them. Sometimes though they seem to follow me a surprisingly l

Here's a Spiny Softshell Turtle I met back in May. When I saw the spots, I suspected this was a Spotted Turtle , but when I got home I realized that Spotted Turtles have yellow spots, not black. Eventually I read that the Spiny Softshell is sometimes spotted like in the picture below. At first I thought I had missed a photograph opportunity with this turtle. Initially it saw me first and dived into the canal, but then for some reason it turned around and came back to the bank of the canal. (I guess I wasn't as scary as the turtle initially thought.) These are interesting turtles in many ways: Their carapace is softer than all our native turtles, being more leathery than hard/rigid. They (least their females) can get pretty big, almost as big as our Common Snapping Turtles . (Large males are only about half the size of large females.) Their noses are narrow snouts that are a little like tiny pig snouts. They perform bimodal respiration; they can breathe air or underwater. Many