northeast-flora-and-fauna

In late August I encountered a flock of Wood Ducks . (Shadows prevented me getting great pictures.) There were at least 11 of them in one spot. Some of them looked like they were just starting to develop the distinctive plumage of the male Wood Duck; I'm suspicious that most of these were raised together as ducklings. (See here for the complicated makeup of duck broods.) Wood Ducks aren't the smallest ducks around here, but they're one of the most common of the smaller ducks. Though they're here all year round, they can get lost in the mix when large flocks of ducks/geese gather together during the winter. At a high level, your doctor would probably approve of their diet. It's varied, with greens, berries, nuts, and seeds comprising most of it. It's estimated that about 20% of their diet is meat, mostly insects and invertebrates. August 31, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 229849779, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The ducks in these pictures were close

I managed to get 1 pretty good picture of the Belted Kingfisher that I was hearing a lot and getting glimpses of until this moment. As I've mentioned before , these are birds that I frequently hear (especially around water) but have a much harder time spotting, and an even harder time taking their picture. The main problem with meeting a Belted Kingfisher is that not only is the bird likely to fly away before you can get a picture but that they'll also issue their alarm call that alerts everyone else in the area to flee as well. Still, if you can get close enough, these are fairly good-looking birds. August 30, 2022 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 229847576, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's some bugs I've shown you before, Lupine Bugs . Though they have a reputation for eating legumes, a scat feast isn't unheard of. August 25, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 229695847, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) If you're thinking "why not show nature's beauty instead of scat-eating bugs", well look who else was dining on the scat. They were butterflies, Pearl Crescents to be precise. Scat may not be nature at its finest, but to many invertebrates they are a valuable food resource. With the exception of blooming native flowers, scat is probably one of the most common places to see various species hanging out together (mostly) peacefully. August 25, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 229695884, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's one of our larger but fairly nondescript grass skippers, the Broad-winged Skipper . In theory when the wings are up you should see light brown wings with a light line going front-to-back and with a light spot above and 1-2 light spots below that line. (With a little additional imagination, this is sometimes described as a light cross symbol.) As you can see in my picture, those light marks can be pretty subtle. You can probably make out what I'm talking about, but as field marks go they don't necessarily jump out at you. July 31, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 222579090, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) And although they're more colorful in this wings-down position (common among grass skippers ), it's still not a slam dunk to ID this butterfly. On the left it looks like the front wing is up with the rear wing down. This pattern is similar to other skippers like the Zabulon Skipper , though I'd expect the dark border to be narrower on a Zabulon. O

This summer I went to Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. I went there specifically to find herps (turtles, frogs, snakes), birds (herons, ducks, geese), and insects (dragonflies, damselflies, bees, wasps, butterflies). But the swamp does have lots of woods and some meadows adjacent to its murkier spots, so it's not a surprise to see non-aquatic animals in the area too. First there's this Eastern Chipmunk , a fairly commonly seen rodent at the swamp. I suspect they live here because of the forested areas around the swamp without benefiting directly from it. August 10, 2022 at Great Swamp Photo 228539724, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) A little later I saw an Eastern Cottontail out doing a little careful foraging. They may appreciate the edge habitats like this one. Edge habitats are areas where (for example) a meadow meets the woods. This can be a popular spot for rabbits and some birds since there's usually different plants growing in both habitats, and

I meet a lot of Great Blue Herons , and these are 2 more. Although they're fairly common birds, I'm sure their size and foraging methodology also contribute greatly to the number of encounters. Note that we not only had a dry summer but also a hot one. Both these birds may have been trying to cope with the heat part. In this first picture, the Great Blue Heron may have been trying to forage in a shady spot, though I can't rule out that this could also have helped keep some human eyes off it. August 3, 2022 at Lord Stirling Park Photo 222580534, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) In the 2nd picture, the Great Blue Heron has waded in belly-level to the water. Once again I can't be sure of the bird's motivation; it could simply think the fishing will be better in the deeper water. August 10, 2022 at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Photo 228539341, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)