northeast-flora-and-fauna

It looks like I was all lined up for an above average picture of a perching dragonfly when suddenly someone else jumped in front of the camera. You can see that the background dragonfly (probably a Blue Dasher ) was in focus but the intruder (definitely a Common Whitetail ) was a little too close. (The movement of being in flight probably also contributed to the blurriness.) These kinds of photobomb moments are pretty common for me, and are especially likely to happen: Among perched dragonflies, especially near water when males are trying to acquire/defend a territory. Among pollinators when a bunch of them are competing for the same flowers. At bird feeders when birds are both trying to feed themselves while depriving rival birds of an easy meal. A fair question is whether the Common Whitetail was attacking the Blue Dasher to get a meal. Dragonflies will eat other dragonflies, especially species smaller than themselves. And Blue Dashers are slightly smaller than Common Whitetails. But

Here are a couple dragonflies I've talked about before , a Common Whitetail  (upper left) and a Widow Skimmer  (lower right), each perched next to one another overlooking a pond. They're both robust-looking dragonflies, and can look a little similar when the Widow Skimmer has more pruinose and thus has a while abdomen. (I suspect the Widow Skimmer is a little on the young side, and will eventually look whiter.) My recollection is that on this day there were a lot of dragonflies out there, mostly males flying back and forth, presumably trying to carve out an area that females will find appealing. But all that flying uses up energy, and so it's not uncommon for them to conserve energy by finding a perch where they can survey their territory. Though these guys are competitors for food, being separate species they don't compete for mates. Most of their aggression is spent on harassing/intimidating males of their own species, though occasionally they appear to have inter-spe

Unicorns (or at least Unicorn Clubtail dragonflies) may be more common than I realized; I got my 2nd picture of one last month. The first one I showed you looked darker/plainer than most pictures I've seen online and in my field guides, but had the "unicorn point" field mark that pretty much identifies them. In today's picture I've got almost the opposite situation; the coloring looks more like outside pictures, though it's even harder to detect the "unicorn horn" (though I think I've convinced myself that it's there when I blew up the original picture). June 15, 2022 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 210217557, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) There does seem to be a small point in the lime green between the eyes when I expand the picture. (The main problem I have with using it as a field mark is that I can rarely get this good a look at a dragonfly when I'm in the field and can only use it after processing the photos

In mid-April at Duke Farms I was hearing and (to a lesser degree) seeing Eastern Towhees a lot, and I was fairly confident that their mating season was underway (article here ). So why was I hearing this fella singing in mid-June? First - like many passerines - these birds will have 1-3 broods in a season; it's possible that breeding season started over for some birds. (Once laid, Eastern Towhee eggs take up to 13 days to hatch and another 12 days for the hatchlings to fledge. Assuming the parents watch over their fledglings for a couple weeks and it seems plausible that they could be looking to raise another family around 2 months after the 1st set.) Second, Eastern Towhees tend to be somewhat territorial, so it's possible this little fella was staking its claim to this part of the woods. June 14, 2022 at Washington Valley Park Photo 210216990, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

The picture of an American Goldfinch reminds me just how light many of our birds are. This little fella is able to perch on what looks like a sturdier-than-usual blade of grass. These birds typically weigh less than half an ounce, and only a little more than a Kennedy half dollar (the vaguely common US coin that's closest to them in weight). By way of contrast, Mourning Doves weigh 9 times more than goldfinches, and American Crows weigh around 35 times more. (This is one small bird.) As birds that fly, there are obvious benefits to being light. The heavier you are the more calories it takes to get you off the ground. As one of our smallest commonly seen birds, our goldfinches probably derive some foraging benefits too. They can eat seeds out of thistles and coneflowers while perching on these flowers. June 12, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209947165, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I'm thinking that this (presumed) Eastern Cottontail is contemplating eating the grass seeds in front of it. As fairly common NJ mammals, I've seen them a lot and talked about them before ( here , here , and here ). You've probably heard about rabbits, hares, and pikas (if you even know what pikas are) will eat their own scat. This is technically true, but it's a little more complicated than that. Unless us, these animals generate 2 different kinds of scat: Cecotropes , which are fermented, soft, gel-like droppings that are re-eaten. Going through the digestive system a 2nd time greatly helps them get all the nutrients out of their food. It sounds like this is also the way a mother transfers good gut bacteria to her kits. Conventional waste, which is hard, presumably has no nutritional value, and isn't re-eaten. June 12, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209947143, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I'm assuming this was a Brown-headed Cowbird couple, though being obligate brood parasites (I've talked about that here ) we don't see obvious couple behaviors like nest-building or nestling-feeding. (I was a little surprised to learn that Brown-headed Cowbirds tend to be monogamous, since after mating it's unclear that a pair needs anything from their partner.) While the males tend to be black with brown heads, the females are more of a beige color. (She might look light gray to you, perhaps due to the lighting.) It should be pretty easy to identify each in the picture below. What's Mrs. Cowbird saying? Perhaps she's warning her mate that my camera and I are in the vicinity. Or maybe she's telling him to pick up some grasshoppers for dinner if he's heading out. June 12, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209946491, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's another fly that looks like a bee and another invasive species, a European Drone Fly . The best clue that this isn't a bee (or wasp or flying ant) is that it only has 1 pair of wings (though admittedly some bees/wasps are small enough that it's hard to get a good look at their wings). Like other syrphid flies , these flies are helpful to plants as pollinators; they have no interest in biting you. They probably fit into our ecosystem pretty well partly because they've basically supplanted a similar native fly, the Hourglass Drone Fly . The Hourglass Drone Fly used to be one of our most common syrphid flies, and would probably get confused with the European Drone Fly except that the Europeans have out-competed [1] the Hourglasses throughout North America except for some areas around Hudson Bay. June 11, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209944365, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] It's possible that the European Drone Fly and Hourglass Drone Fly interb

Yesterday I showed a pair of male Bobolinks I met this past June. Today I'll go back a few years to show a picture of a female Bobolink. I believe the relatively dark feathering on the top of the head, the line behind the eye, and the lines on the wings are dark enough for this to represent a breeding plumage female. If the coloring in these spots was lighter, I'd be more inclined to think this to be either a male or female with non-breeding plumage (which this time of year would probably mean a juvenile born earlier in the season). Because we see Bobolinks primarily during breeding season, it's generally very easy for us to distinguish males from females. If we lived in South America though, both genders would look like a lighter version of my picture, and I'm not even sure people can distinguish the males from the females. Since female Bobolinks are polyandrous , her nestlings could have different fathers, and may actually get help feeding them from more than 1 male

Here are a couple interesting-looking birds I encountered last month: Bobolinks . These are males in their breeding plumage; their non-breeding plumage looks awfully similar to female plumage, which is far less eye-catching. The buttery-yellow on the head and the patches of white elsewhere contrast sharply with their black plumage, making these guys extremely easy to identify. These birds like fields/meadows/pastures. They'll sometimes be seen above the vegetation line eating seeds off of plants, but they'll also hit the ground to forage for insects living within the vegetation. Bobolinks are kind of the swingers of the New World blackbird family , having polygynous males and polyandrous females. This means Bobolink nestlings might be as closely related to the "nest next door" as they are to the ones they were raised with. As a species, Bobolinks have no really close relatives, and are the only species in their genus. Bobolinks are also impressive migrators, spendin

A little over a month ago I was on my way out of Duke Farms when a visitor wanted to know about these birds he saw over near the Hay Barn. It turned out that there was a Baltimore Oriole couple who were busy bringing food in for their kids. Their nestlings were definitely hungry; when a parent would show up, they'd all start crying for the food. And the parents seemed to be pretty good foragers - it seemed like 1 or the other would appear every couple of minutes. Baltimore Orioles build nests differently from most birds. Instead of something like a bowl that rests on a branch, the orioles build sack-like nests that hang from a branch. I'm not sure what the advantage of the hanging nest is, though there probably are advantages since they're probably harder to build. (I suppose it's probably pretty hard for a nestling to fall out of these nests.) Female Baltimore Oriole June 11, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209944904, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Male Balt

Here's a pair of Azure Bluets on a blade of grass in a small pond. The brighter one on the left is a male and the lighter blue one on the right is a female. Given the male has attached himself to the head of the female, it is likely they had just mated . It sounds like they stay together like this until the female lays her eggs; this is done so the male is assured that the female doesn't father somebody else's kids instead of his own. (In some cases, the female will actually submerge below the water surface to lay her eggs; if she does this, the male feels secure that ovipositing his eggs and will detach.) Though our bluet damselflies can be difficult to ID, this is probably a pretty good identification. The Azure Bluet males are the area's bluets have blue on the 7th - 9th abdominal segments . Notice also how far down they hold their wings; the dancers tend to hold their wings a little higher than the abdomen. Since azure basically means blue, their name has some

Here's another picture of a basking Common Snapping Turtle . As I've mentioned before, these turtles are infrequent above-water baskers , instead preferring to catch less sunlight while staying in the water. I tend to think they're really uncomfortable/insecure when out of the water (very much like the "fish out of water" euphemism); when they're out of water they have a reputation for being aggressive and bad-tempered, but in the water they're unlikely to snap at you unless directly threatened. When they do bask out of the water, they can look awkward and out-of-place. Here's one that I spotted on some wood projecting out of the water of a small pond. At the risk of anthropomorphizing this guy, doesn't it look like a shipwreck survivor clinging to jetsam while sadly hoping to be rescued? (Visually I'd like to offer it help, but intellectually I know it's just fine and wouldn't welcome any attempt to aid it.) June 10, 2022 at Negri Nep

I encountered this Bald-faced Hornet - a better name would be Bald-faced Aerial Yellowjacket - last month near my apartment. It was attracted to the same tree as this European Hornet , presumably to cooking oil. I've mentioned before that these wasps aren't really hornets . I suppose they are bald, though since most wasps aren't particularly hairy "bald-faced" doesn't appear to be a very informative name. Apparently they get that part of their name the same way a Bald Eagle gets its name; they have a white face. June 10, 2022 in Finderne Photo 209835476, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) While I don't see these wasps a lot, I see evidence of them every autumn when the leaves fall; they are the most likely builder of the large wasp nests that were around us all summer long. (Though they'll apparently defend their nests aggressively, I think they can frequently live around us without a problem if we're not threatening their nest.) I sa

On iNaturalist I got a validation today for one of my owl pictures from 5 years ago, so let's do a Great Horned Owl for Throwback Thursday. I suspect this picture came from back when Duke Farms was running periodic bird watching programs since the picture was taken before the core part of the property is open to the public (7:58 am). Great Horned Owls is probably our largest year-round owl, and thus near the top of the nocturnal food chain. They're presumed to have little sense of smell (like most birds) which probably makes them one of the few animals to prey on skunks. (I suspect Red-tailed Hawks would also go after skunks, but since skunks are nocturnal they're more likely to be found by owls.) Crows understand the predacious nature of Great Horned Owls; if crows discover a GHO in their area, they'll almost certainly get together and try and harass the owl into leaving. They have an attention-getting relative. Despite the lack of "horns" and their white c

Here's what I believe to be an Eastern Phoebe eating lunch. (Some of the other tyrant flycatchers can look pretty similar.) I've certainly talked about Eastern Phoebes before (if you're looking for a phoebe phactoids). As flycatchers, these birds certainly have flying insects on their menu. My impression is that they're perfectly happy to eat spiders, ticks, and terrestrial insects too, though their hunting strategy generally focuses on flying insects. I'm suspicious that this little fella had some sort of wasp in its beak. (Presumably they take extra care when preying on stinging insects.) June 8, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209835325, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 8, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209835352, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What outranks a Monarch butterfly? Perhaps an emperor, like this Hackberry Emperor ? We don't see a lot of emperors around here, though this is the more common species of our emperors; I see its (similar-looking) Tawny Emperor even less. As you might expect given their name, the Hackberry Emperor uses hackberry trees like our local Common Hackberry  [1] as its host plants. (Their Tawny Emperor cousins also use these trees as hosts.) Unlike many native species, both emperor species appear to be increasing in numbers a bit. Presumably this means we have more hackberry trees than we used to; butterfly populations frequently correlate to the population of their host plants. August 5, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 148951639, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Although hackberries are in the elm family, they don't appear to be susceptible to the devastating Dutch Elm Disease .

I've mentioned in the past that the Common Whitetail was one of the 1st dragonflies I learned to recognize. Today's featured dragonfly - the Widow Skimmer - was probably one of the 1st dragonflies that I confused with the Common Whitetail. The males do have things in common: They're both robust-looking skimmer dragonflies. They both (when mature) have prominent white pruinose on their abdomens. They both have black spots on mostly translucent wings. And even though I could see that some of the dragonflies had wings with basal black spots rimmed with white while the other had black spots near the center of the wings, early on it was unclear whether these were variations within the same species versus different dragonflies entirely. Though the white on the wings indicates this is a male, there isn't a lot of white pruinose on the abdomen, suggesting this is a not-quite-mature male. (More discussion on males/females/juveniles is here .) June 8, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo

Here's a small fly that's generally considered beneficial, the Margined Calligrapher . (Or maybe I should say  Margined Calligrapher . ) Similar to their Eastern Calligrapher cousins, they are hover flies that mimic bees to appear more dangerous than they actually are. As adults they're harmless pollinators, though in their wild and crazy youth they were known to attack small invertebrates like aphids. Usually the little tip at the end of the abdomen has more black on it. I've read that some relatives will look lighter if it was warm during their pupal stage; perhaps this fella pupated during a warm stretch? June 8, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209834396, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's an Eastern Bluebird who didn't know if I was going to be trouble, but he was certainly going to keep his eyes on me. This fella was at Duke Farms, where I'm told there is a thriving community of bluebirds raising families; it wouldn't surprise me if this was a dad scoping out the neighborhood for threats to his nestlings. One false move on my part and I'd be subjected to 1.1 ounces of unrelenting feathery fury. (In actuality Eastern Bluebirds are less aggressive nest protectors than Tree Swallows or Red-winged Blackbirds , both of which have "attacked" me.) Previous bluebird posts are here and here . June 8, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 209834311, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a type of wildlife I don't often run across, a salamander . While I encounter frogs quite a bit and sometimes have a nice run on toads, their fellow amphibians aren't seen by me very often. I suspect that getting salamander pictures is more of a 2-person job, where 1 person lifts a log or rock while the other snaps pictures. Since I'm typically by myself when out in nature, I don't really try for them very often. This little fella was the rare salamander that was right out in the open. I believe this to be the Northern Two-lined Salamander even though you can only see the black line that runs down the left side of its back. (Admittedly the black lines in my field guide are more prominent than this.) This species is known to come out in the open like this, especially if the area is warm/damp. The picture was taken in early June in a typically muddy area near a brook. Though tiny and harmless looking to me, if you're a small enough terrestrial invertebrate

For at least a couple years Duke Farms has had educational meadow posters that talk about the Eastern Milksnake . While I've had to confess to passersby that I've never seen one at Duke Farms, I've now seen them elsewhere in the county: at Washington Valley Park. (I always mention that it's hard to know everything that's going on in the middle of a meadow.) This snake is pretty distinctive with its brownish-red blotches outlined in black, though the "Y" or "V" pattern on the back of the head is also a good field mark. Unlike our 2 most common (AFAIK) snakes - the Eastern Garter Snake and the Northern Watersnake - the Eastern Milksnake is oviparous (egg-laying). They generally hatch in the autumn at around 4 inches in length, but if they live long enough they can get a little over 4 feet long. The one in my pictures was pretty small and so must have been 1-2 years old. The Eastern Milksnake constricts its prey to subdue it, a little like a very

Though some of the larger damselflies (like the Ebony Jewelwing ) are easy to spot by anyone paying attention, I'll frequently see some smaller ones like this Eastern Forktail . Unfortunately the small size of most forktails makes it easy to lose sight of them, especially when they're not moving. They get the forktail name because for most of these species the males have a slightly forked tip at the end of their abdomens but given their small size this characteristic probably won't be easily spotted if you run across one. This is a heteromorphic female forktail, which my field guide [1] defines as a "dull morph in female odonates with 2 color morphs". Some other Eastern Forktails are considered andromorphic, defined as "bright (usually male-like) morph in female odonates with 2 color morphs". These terms are apparently only used when females have 2 different morphs; if a species has no colorful morph in the females they aren't all called heteromorp

Here's a dragonfly that I see semi-regularly and is (at least for males) an easy ID: the Twelve-spotted Skimmer . There is also an Eight-spotted Skimmer in the western part of the US with similar pattern/coloring, but they don't live around here. (It sounds like these 2 dragonfly species occasionally hybridize.) They used to be called the Ten-spotted Skimmer, getting its name from the 4 prominent white spots on the front wings and 6 on the hind wings, but nowadays we count the 3 black spots on each wing (3x4 = 12). Since the females lack white spots but have the black spots, this new name has the advantage of representing both species. (Many odonates and birds are still named after the more flamboyantly colored gender, and don't describe the other gender at all.) I talked in the past about distinguishing juvenile versus mature males ; this one is just beginning to develop the white tale of the mature male. June 10, 2022 at Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve Photo 209943

Here's someone I haven't posted about [1], an invasive insect called the European Hornet . If you're into wasps, these gals - as eusocial insects , probably every one I've ever seen was a female - are cool to look at. The rich blackish-red on most of the front of the abdomen contrasts well with the golden-yellow at the back, and they're actually big enough for you to actually see this without lens. Of course, if you've been stung, you might classify them as scary rather than good looking [2]. They are thought to have been introduced to the US (presumably accidentally) in the 1840s, and over the last 180 years they've spread throughout most of the eastern US. And they're probably not done spreading. Did you know that North America has zero native hornets? Anything you see over here named "hornet" is either: Invasive, like the European Hornet. Slightly misnamed, like the Bald-faced Hornet , which is actually an aerial yellowjacket. (Admittedly th