northeast-flora-and-fauna

A couple weeks ago I encountered 2 (presumably) different Brown Thrashers ; at least I saw them almost 2 hours apart and a healthy walk away from each other. Because I don't see them very often I wasn't sure who I was seeing, but the leading candidates were the Brown Thrasher or the Wood Thrush . When I looked at the pictures at home and looked them up in my field guides, the long tail, streaky rather than spotty marks on the breast/belly, and lack of lines near the eye convinced me that I had Brown Thrashers. (Brown Thrashers are also quite a bit larger than Wood Thrushes, though without a "reference bird" like an American Robin nearby it's kind of hard to judge size.) Brown Thrashers are one of our general-purpose mimics, and it's believed that they have an even larger repertoire of songs than their Northern Mockingbird relatives. While the Northern Mockingbird will usually mimic a sound 3 times, the Brown Thrasher will mimic it only twice, making it possi

Though I got some pictures of Wood Frogs earlier in the season and had been hearing the small/elusive Spring Peepers about that time, it was only about 5 weeks ago that I started seeing one of our most visible frogs, the American Bullfrogs . I've talked before about how to differentiate them from their Green Frog cousins (hint: it's all about the dorsolateral ridges), a fairly similar frog that starts appearing about the same time of year. This wasn't my first bullfrog picture of the season but was one of the most handsome. I think they tend to look a little discolored and emaciated very early in the spring. A few weeks later they seem to regain their plumper and greener appearance. May 13, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 199462915, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) By way of comparison, here's one of the 1st pictures I got last year. April 13, 2021 at Delaware Raritan Canal Photo 121031804, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I saw this Red-winged Blackbird who "stopped to smell the flowers" earlier in the month. Or did it? Although birds do have olfactory glands to be able to smell, they're not well developed in most birds including our passerine friend here. Similarly, these birds have extremely few taste buds. For most birds, smell and taste presumably aren't a big part of their lives . There are exceptions. We know our Turkey Vultures have quite good senses of smell which they use to find dead animals. And there are questions. It's believed that birds learn to avoid eating Monarch butterflies after tasting them, which doesn't sound compatible with a weak sense of taste. So what's this bird doing? I'm assuming it's about seeds and insects; birds know that pollinated flowers tend to produce seeds, and that the flowers attract both insects that eat the plants and that pollinate the flowers. Stopping to check out the flower could scare up a meal. May 15, 2022 at Duk

Do you ever see turtles that appear to be waving at you? Or at least that's what it looks like in a picture, though there wasn't really much movement to the wave? Given that turtles are somewhat fearful of us and they probably haven't studied anthropological greetings, you can assume they're not just being friendly.  Presumably this is done to increase sun exposure . Turtles are out in the open basking in the sun to regulate their body temperature, and having a leg in the shade of their shell doesn't help the process. By sticking limbs out away from their body, they can warm themselves up a little faster. But just in case they were trying to be friendly, it wouldn't hurt to wave back. 😀 March 21, 2022 at Duke Island Park

Earlier this spring some wooded areas were inundated with the tent-like webs of the Eastern Tent Moth  caterpillars These caterpillars are native to North America, and prefer to feed on apple, crabapple, and cherry trees, though they're not extremely picky eaters. When I was a kid, we mistakenly thought these were Spongy Moth caterpillars, an invasive pest you probably knew by a different name . As an invasive species, the Spongy Moth caterpillars are probably more destructive of the 2 since they have fewer natural predators or parasites. Although the Spongy Moth does make silk, it never makes the tent-like webs found on trees. It sounds to me like tent moth caterpillars are less likely than Spongy Moth caterpillars to damage trees, at least partly because they eat leaves in the spring when trees are better able to regrow their leaves, and partly because they do have plenty of natural predators/parasites in our ecosystem so their populations don't generally get as large. When

I think this is the 1st time I spotted a Common Merganser mom with her ducklings.  I see some evidence of the young referred to as "merganserlings", though it doesn't show up in any dictionary. I kind of like this since it implies juvenile ducks for a species of duck that doesn't have "duck" in their name. For non-birders, the 1st sentence of this post raises questions like "how did a merganser acquire ducklings?" or "is this an example of brood parasitism ?". Ducklings is the official term for merganser young, though I suspect many birdwatchers would forgive you calling them merganserlings. It looks like one of the ducklings is actually riding on the back of the mother. I don't think this is common behavior among ducks (possibly because they wouldn't all fit), but other waterfowl like grebes may do it regularly. With 8 ducklings around her, this is certainly within the range for a Common Merganser brood (6-17 eggs are typically

Here's a bird I started seeing about a month ago and is now one of our easiest birds to spot, a Gray Catbird . Before April whenever I'd catch a glimpse of a bird it would usually turn out to be an American Robin , and now when I hear a bird (and manage to locate it) it frequently turns out to be a Gray Catbird. I don't think the issue is that we now have fewer American Robins, nor that we have a lot more Gray Catbirds than American Robins; the American Robin is in the running for the most common species of bird in North American. I think that the change has to do with 2 factors combining together: The Gray Catbird is a bolder, louder bird that will vocalize in one spot, sometimes even when it knows it's been spotted by a human. As the trees leaf out, the quieter American Robin takes advantage of this and hides more effectively. This doesn't mean that you won't find robins around. But if you're in a place with a lot of foliage, it might be easier to find cat

I've mentioned that Common Snapping Turtles usually don't bask in the sun the way many turtles do, frequently choosing to warm up by finding a sunny place in shallow water where they stay almost entirely submerged. But there are exceptions. In the spring, perhaps in an effort to more quickly shake off the dormancy of winter, snapping turtles might do a little basking. And here's one that I caught in the act. Compared to other turtles, the Common Snapping Turtle almost looks too big/bulky for its shell. And they can't retract their heads into their shells like many turtles. April 22, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 197660794, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Although other turtles (none of them snapping turtles) were willing to share a log with the Common Snapping Turtle, they also kept a respectful distance from their larger cousin. I'm not sure how likely it would be for the Common Snapping Turtle to attack the others, though I'm sure turtle-on-turtle

Here's a turtle I haven't shown before, though for uncommon reasons. The Common Map Turtle  (aka Northern Map Turtle) is considered to be fairly abundant around here and readily basks in the sun. It is considered difficult to spot/photograph though, since they are considered one of our more "wary" turtles - it doesn't take much to trigger them to dive into the water and away from danger (perceived or real). The Common Map Turtle gets its name from the lines on its carapace. They look sort of like the contour lines on maps that delineate elevation. Unfortunately these marks fade as the turtles age. But I'd argue that the lines on the head/neck/legs also look like contour lines, and these are pretty prominent in my picture. The female Common Map Turtles are nearly twice as big as the males, so if you ever find yourself saying "Wow - look at the size of that map turtle!" you're probably looking at a female. As some reptiles do, their gender is deter

At the tail end of April I saw my first Black Swallowtail - the New Jersey state butterfly [1] - of the season. In my area they're neither rare nor common, maybe like friends you run into a few times a year. As I've mentioned before , the Black Swallowtail isn't the only swallowtail butterfly that's black, but it might be the blackest. Though the Black Swallowtail is usually a little smaller than black morph Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and Spicebush Swallowtails , the rich black color that sets off its yellow spots frequently has me suspicious that I'm seeing a Black Swallowtail even before I get a close look at it. (I could theoretically encounter various other swallowtail butterflies too, though it doesn't happen much.) April 30, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 197665584, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] It's also the state butterfly of Oklahoma. Oklahoma and New Jersey probably don't share a lot in common, but taste in butterflies is appa

Here's a turtle that's active all summer but is easier to find in the spring, the Spotted Turtle . I'm assuming they're easier to see now because it's breeding season, and in their search for a mate they're more active and out where we can see them. Note that spots might make a turtle spotted, but not necessarily a Spotted Turtle. Remember there are guys like the Spiny Softshell Turtle around in some locations too. But if you see a smallish dark turtle with yellowish spots, you've probably met a Spotted Turtle. Generally speaking, Spotted Turtles get more spots on their shells as they age. With no more than 1 spot per scute on this turtle, I'm assuming it's a younger one. Their presence is suggestive of a clean local environment; Spotted Turtles don't handle pollution very well. Their numbers are also declining due to people taking them as pets (which FWIW is against the law). May 10, 2022 at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Photo 197981945,

A couple weeks ago I spotted 5 turtles (almost certainly Red-eared Sliders  except for the right-most one) basking on a rock. One thing a little interesting was that the turtle in the upper left had scutes on its carapace that were peeling . Though there are diseases associated with peeling scutes, it's generally a common way for water turtles to: Grow their shell as the turtles themselves grow. Preserve buoyancy by losing the weight of their old scutes. A turtle's carapace consists primarily of rib/vertebrate bones, though the outer layer of scutes are made of keratin , similar to our fingernails and toenails. As aquatic turtles grow, their shell grows but their scutes are no longer large enough to cover the enlarging shell. Their solution is to grow new scutes underneath the old ones and then shed the old scutes. This scute shedding helps keep a turtle streamlined and lighter for swimming in water. Land tortoises don't shed their scutes but instead add a new scute layer

Last week at the Washington Valley Reservoir a largish bird with white-and-dark contrast flew just past me onto a tree branch. My suspicions were quickly confirmed; this was an Osprey . Similar to the nearby Duke Farms where I had also seen 1, I don't believe Ospreys ever nest here, though the reservoir can be a great place to grab a bite to eat before migrating elsewhere. I didn't see it catch a fish, though the abundance of human fishermen there suggests fish are plentiful. As I typically do, I took the 1st relatively clear picture I could get, which in this case was almost directly under the Osprey. I feared that I might be too close for the Osprey's comfort, but the Osprey didn't seem very concerned about me as I moved further away to get a better angle. I have had some success getting Osprey pictures; some individuals seem to accept human activity in their vicinity. (I'm doubtful that a Bald Eagle would have been as accommodating.) Ospreys are among several sp

About a month ago I met a Killdeer at Duke Farms; shortly after that I noticed a pair in a gravelly parking lot there. One was in an area cordoned off by Duke Farms because there was a nest there; the other was a short distance away. I wouldn't be surprised if one of these Killdeer was 1 of the birds I had seen previously. I was a little surprised that neither Killdeer (I'm assuming they were a couple) gave me their famous "broken wing performance", where they pretend to be hurt to lure dangerous creatures away from their nest. Since this was a somewhat active parking lot, perhaps they simply got used to humans being around and decided luring us away was pointless or unnecessary. Killdeer often lay their eggs in higher parts of gravelly parking lots, right out in the open. The nests have almost no structure to them, and the only protection they have is camouflage and whatever defense their parents can provide: They're probably big enough to discourage some birds

Though we don't think of trees as flowers, many trees do produce flowers. And while some of those flowers tend to be too high up for us to appreciate (and some are admittedly less showy than others), you can find some pretty impressive flowers on some trees. Take a look at these flowers from a Red Maple . Earlier in the spring they can get your attention even if you're not particularly close. These look like female flowers ; I have to admit that I didn't look to see if it also had male flowers on it. Red Maple trees can consist entirely of male flowers or female flowers or a mix of both . Not only that, but an individual Red Maple tree will occasionally switch between these 3 flower configurations. The Red Maple can be used to make maple syrup, though there's a catch. The Red Maple produces buds quite a bit earlier in the season than trees like the Sugar Maple , and once the budding starts the syrup doesn't taste as good. This means the sap tapping season for the Re

These are Green-winged Teals , a small duck that's theoretically here all winter. Almost all my sightings though have been in the spring, and the only exception was once in the fall. I suspect that although they might be kicking around in New Jersey during the winter in small numbers, it's when they pass through during migration that we're most likely to encounter these guys. (On the other hand, up north where they breed thousands can be found together.) We're supposed to be able to identify the males of these ducks due to their rufus-colored heads with a sizable green patch that starts at the eye and extends to the back of the head. But that's not what you'll see in my pictures. Remember when I showed that in certain light a green-headed Mallard can look purple instead? That seems to be happening here too with our Green-winged Teal friend.  April 22, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 197660298, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Here's a male/female pa

I've mentioned that the Red-eared Slider , while a North American species, is not native to New Jersey . When I said they can "aggressively bully other turtles for resources", it could mean out-competing them for food, but it could also mean taking the most desirable basking locations. Here's an example of a Red-eared Slider that found another turtle [1] in a prime basking location, and how the Red-eared Slider dealt with the problem. It just climbed up on the first turtle's carapace, hogging most of the sunlight. Of course, if the bottom turtle is sufficiently bothered by the top one, nothing prevents it from dropping into the water, almost certainly taking the top turtle with it. (I'm thinking that this Red-eared Slider is the equivalent of the annoying coworker that you don't like working with, but also don't complain to management about.) March 21, 2022 at Duke Island Park Photo 186773930, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] I'm

Here's a pair of Hermit Thrushes I met about a month back. Though some of their relatives like robins and bluebirds are fairly comfortable around human dwellings, the Hermit Thrush tends to live in dense vegetation and away from people, inspiring the "hermit" part of their name. I had to shoot through some vegetation to get these pictures and wonder if I only got them because they were distracted with breeding season soon to start. These birds are noted for an unusual foraging technique called foot quivering . The general idea seems to be that they grasp some vegetation in their foot, shake it around, and see if an insect falls out. This is in contrast to most birds who will poke around in the vegetation with their beaks. April 11, 2022 at Washington Valley Park Photo 189540706, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) April 11, 2022 at Washington Valley Park Photo 189540734, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Back in March I saw a trio of Red-tailed Hawks overhead. I've read that "spring circling of a pair can be a prelude to copulation", though obviously this is more than a pair. Seeing them together like this in the spring makes me think that breeding was on their minds, though presumably one of them will have to look elsewhere for love. I don't think I'd even guess at the genders of these hawks. I'm sure the females are (generally) larger, but without knowing how close each individual is I'm not confident in saying whether there are 2 females or 2 males in the picture. If I had to guess, I'd guess there are 2 males attempting to court the same female, and that 2 females wouldn't be in the same vicinity for very long without a decisive territorial battle ensuing. The hawks eventually soared out of sight, so I have no knowledge of how things settled out between them. March 10, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 186582487, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (C

Here's someone you don't need to leave the house to meet, a Triangulate Cobweb Spider (aka Checkered Cobweb Spider aka Triangulate Combfoot aka Triangulate Household Spider ). I'm not sure why they have so many names; as best as I could tell they won't answer to any of them. 😄 These spiders were presumably accidentally introduced when Europeans started coming to North America, and are likely to be found in our buildings. As some of their names imply, they don't build the iconic orb spider web, opting for a less structured cobweb instead. The "checkered" and "triangulate" parts of their names comes from what looks a bit like triangles on their abdomens. They're not considered aggressive, and when they do bite bad reactions are very rare, so as predatory arthropods go they're pretty far over on the harmless side of the spectrum. The worst effect of having them around are the cobwebs. The best effects of having them around is they'll g

A couple days ago I showed the superficial similarity between our 2 most common green-headed ducks , the Common Merganser and the Mallard . Those green heads are only present on the males of these species; are the females also similar? Not really. Other than both of them looking like ducks, there's really not much of a resemblance between female Mallards and Common Mergansers: Female Common Mergansers are mostly off-white or light gray, but unlike their male counterparts they have rich brown feathering on the head/neck, usually with a frizzy look. Female Mallards are duller brown on the head/neck but are a mottled brown below that. In flight (and sometimes in water) you'll spot some blue on the wings. While their mates might be confused with one another, these females shouldn't cause any confusion [1]. March 3, 2021 at Duke Island Park Photo 120274105, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) December 16, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 174170341, (c) jpviolette, some righ

Though they're not as popular to watch as birds or (probably) butterflies, it's worth checking out the local turtles. Although lakes, ponds, and swamps are certainly acceptable places to look for them, canals are possibly the best place to look for them. Both the Delaware Raritan Canal tow path and the Raritan Water Power Canal (the latter going through Duke Island Park) are chock full of turtles this time of year. I've described identifying turtles before, though I suspect 80-90% of the ones you'll see basking out in the open are painted turtles, cooters (River and Redbellied), and sliders (Red-eared and Yellow-bellied). Though it's not uncommon to see a bunch of turtles of the same species together, mixed groups are probably more common at a popular basking location. In the picture below it looks like these were all our Painted Turtles . March 7, 2022 at Duke Island Park Photo 186581246, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Though most of the green-headed ducks in this area are (male) Mallards , there are also some of these (male) Common Mergansers around too, especially in winter. While the Mallard is a decent-sized duck, the Common Merganser is noticeably bigger if you see them together. The CM is also mostly white below the neck, though there's also a dark area on the back (which can blend in with the water). The CM generally has a taller, sleeker look to them. And of course the females look different in both species; I'll show them in a future post. March 11, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 186585633, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) March 11, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 186585608, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Probably because I was nearby, these 2 Canada Geese splashed their way into the water. This is one of the few native species that we have an overabundance of here in New Jersey, so seeing them isn't much of an event. Even though they're cool-looking in their own way, they're just too common to get very excited about. I did kind of like the action scene of them doing a sort of gentle bellyflop into the water in these pictures. Once in the water, they presumably felt less threatened by me and my camera. When this was taken breeding season must have been on geese's minds, though I don't know if these 2 were a couple. March 11, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 186585535, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) March 11, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 186585553, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a bird you're most likely to see in New Jersey during migration; it's the Palm Warbler . Pine Warblers spend winters at least a little south of us and got their name by being noticed on a Caribbean island with Palm Trees, but they breed well up north into Canada. They probably look at New Jersey a little like a subway; they wouldn't want to live there, but it's critical for their commute. Since they mostly just pass through, I don't see Palm Warblers a lot. Unlike many warblers, the PWs are happy to forage on the ground, and can sometimes be noticed by their habit of bobbing their tails up and down a lot , way more than the average bird. We're probably more likely to see the eastern version of the PW which is yellow all the way to the belly. There is also a western version that has a yellow throat but then the yellow fades to white. But since migration is an imperfect science, it probably wouldn't be shocking to see some westerners who are a littl

Let's do a public service announcement today. While out for a walk in nature a couple months ago I saw a bunch of Mylar balloons a little off the trail. This is pretty common, especially in woods/meadows where they'll tangle up with plants. While releasing these balloons may seem like an expression of freedom, the balloons do eventually come down. They (and other plastics) either don't biodegrade at all or else take extremely long periods of time to do so. And a surprising number of times, they (somehow) get mistaken for food and are eaten by animals, sometimes staying in their systems until they die. If you're determined to use these balloons, please consider disposing of them without letting them fly away. You'll help the environment and help prevent people (like me) from getting scratched up trying to retrieve them out of the woods. (Even Big Balloon doesn't support releasing these balloons into the air.) And really, once they deflate and land on earth agai

Here's another sighting that I should have posted earlier when you might have had a (good) chance to encounter them. At Duke Island Park about a month and a half ago I heard vocalizations that (to me) sounded a little like soft clucking noises. Suspicious of what might be making the sounds, I went a little off trail to a vernal pond and was rewarded with Wood Frogs . Wood Frogs are right up there with the (louder) Spring Peepers as the earliest frogs you're liking to encounter as winter recedes. They're fairly tolerant of cold weather and are fairly vocal themselves, though they may not sound like what you'd expect from a frog. These frogs are identified by a dark "mask" that starts as a line at the nose and widens after the eye. March 14, 2022 at Duke Island Park Photo 186587399, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The only thing that was a little disconcerting about the frogs is their aggressive, sometimes murderous mating. The males are so eage

Here's what I believe are Unequal Cellophane Bees . Though they look similar to plenty of other bees, I'm fairly confident of the ID because: The Unequal Cellophane Bees appear quite early in the year, and I started seeing these guys in early March. These bees make holes in the ground similar to ants, with little dirt mounds around the holes. Though these bees aren't social insects that share a home or resources, they do live close to one another, and I saw quite a few holes and bees in the area. These bees are also known for their mating balls - more on those later. I probably should have talked about these bees earlier since you might have had a chance to watch them. With little vegetation around, almost no other insects around, and their mating season in full swing, these bees were much more conspicuous in March and early April. (Oh well, better late than never.) The Unequal Cellophane Bees get the cellophane part of their name because the females line cells in their nes

A couple of people were looking at something on the side of the road, and it turned out to be a small Common Snapping Turtle . At this size they're actually cute little guys, though my guess is they'd still be able to inflict a painful bite. (I didn't attempt to pick it up.) The turtle seemed to be heading in the general direction of a lake. Though it had a way to go, my impression is that it's best to let them get there on their own; they know their destination better than we do. I was somewhat surprised to see this little fella. My initial thought was that the turtle had just hatched and was making its way to water, but this theory has timing problems. Common Snapping Turtles tend to hatch 9-18 weeks after they're laid depending on temperature. I'm thinking that an emergence this time of year would imply closer to 18 weeks of incubation, pointing to eggs being laid in mid-December or early January. I'm not even sure a turtle mom could walk around outside t

While sometimes you're able to spot a bird and even get a decent picture of it seemingly without bothering the bird, more often than not a bird will either be flitting around, fleeing from you, or hiding from you. This occurs despite your friendly intentions towards the bird. Here's another example of what happens when a bird notices you before you notice it (in this case the bird being a Great Blue Heron ). I both regret that I've disturbed them while feeling that they displayed a wildly inaccurate threat assessment. December 17, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 174171377, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)