northeast-flora-and-fauna

For Throwback Thursday, I met a Wood Duck mom leaving her house back in 2017, presumably to make a food run. This is the only time I knew for sure that this duck box was occupied, and I was kind of fortunate the duck decided to leave when I was in the area. This box was obviously designed for a Wood Duck to nest in. Though she could get in and out fairly efficiently, a somewhat larger bird probably wouldn't have a chance of getting in. I'm a little torn on the choice of location though. When her ducklings are ready to leave the nest, it's a fairly short drop straight into water. On the other hand, I've certainly seen Common Snapping Turtles in this part of Great Swamp, and although I'm not sure duckling is their favorite food, snapping turtles will prey on waterfowl. And small, immature waterfowl probably makes their hunt especially easy. June 11, 2017 at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Photo 8555584, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a trio of Ring-necked Ducks I saw last March. Though they don't typically breed here in NJ, my impression is that they start pairing up over the winter. But seeing 2 males (the black-and-white ducks) following 1 female (the earth-toned duck) makes me suspect that these 3 haven't entirely worked out their relationships yet. (I can't judge whether the female Ring-necked Duck is considered especially vivacious/attractive, garnering extra attention.) Though ducks are considered monogamous within a breeding season, the next season they're likely to pair up differently, so every year the males need to audition for the privilege of being a dad. March 17, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 267711174, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Last March I briefly met this Muskrat who appeared to be foraging in the river on the outskirts of Duke Island Park. I don't encounter Muskrats all that often, though sometimes they seem fairly tolerant of humans. As always, I try and get a look at the tail to make sure I'm not seeing a smallish American Beaver . This Muskrat swam past me twice and didn't seem very concerned about my presence, making it much easier to get some pictures. They do have lodges similar to beavers, though it doesn't sound like they store food in them like beavers do. They don't hibernate, and it sounds like they generally forage for food throughout the winter, though in a pinch they might eat part of their lodge. (This sounds like a desperate measure to me, trading off shelter for food.)  March 16, 2023 at Duke Island Park Photo 267709653, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Last March I spotted this American Robin foraging among goblin balls. I have to confess that prior to writing this I've never referred to American Sweetgum seed balls as "goblin balls", though the sharp spikes on sweetgum seed balls do seem like the sort of things that mischievous goblins might put out to annoy/vex us. And this article on sweetgums suggests this is a valid term for them (but rest assured that arborists are convinced that goblins are not involved in the production or distribution of these things). Though sweetgum isn't the favorite wood of woodworkers, these seed balls are probably the main reason this tree isn't terribly popular in yards. For those who like to walk barefoot, these seed balls constitute a minefield of pain [1]. Although our robins are unlikely to eat the seeds in these seed balls [2], some of our birds will eat them. These mostly seem to be stouter-billed birds like sparrows, cardinals, and finches, with American Goldfinch bein

Many times when I'm trying to photograph them, turtles dive/fall off their basking spot into the water, almost certainly to avoid whatever dire fate awaited them based on my appearance. Fortunately there are plenty of times when the distance between us and/or the mood of the individual turtle combine to keep the turtle in my sight. Presumably distance and mood allowed me to get this picture, but I'd like to think this Painted Turtle felt safe hiding under this branch: "He can't see me under this stick, so I'm safe!". March 16, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 267710630, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

A little over a week ago I did something at Sourland Mountain Preserve that I hadn't done before: I got to the end of its Texas Eastern Pipeline Trail all the way to Long Hill Road. This isn't an especially impressive hiking feat, but instead speaks to trail conditions: In the past there were spots where the vegetation would get pretty thick, enough that a machete would come in handy. And there were also spots where things would get wet enough that I wasn't sure I could wade through it even with my nearly knee-high rubber boots. But our surprisingly dry spring made these areas fairly easily passable. The trail is steep in parts, though near the end I seemed to be going up and down a lot. Besides getting to the end of the trail, it was a pretty good trip. Though most of the milkweed wasn't in bloom yet, a few early milkweeds and many of the dogbanes were in bloom, so there were lots of pollinators out there. And although there weren't a lot of odonates around, there

A raft is one of the many names of a group of ducks, and for some reason this spot was popular with the local ducks. I think we've got 3 species out there: I think the 2 on the right are Mallards , 1 male and 1 female. The dark 1 standing in the middle might be an American Black Duck ; at least it looks quite a bit darker than the presumed female Mallard. The other 4 white-bodied ducks are almost certainly Common Mergansers , with 2 green-headed males and 2 tan-headed females. My impression is that many ducks are pairing up heading into breeding season, so 3 potential breeding pairs makes a certain amount of sense. The (presumed) American Black Duck didn't have an obvious companion, but that doesn't mean there wasn't 1 nearby. March 16, 2023 at Duke Island Park Photo 267710181, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

For Throwback Thursday I'm going to show you a Swamp Milkweed from a couple years ago but talk about something I did just yesterday. The Raritan Headwaters Association got a grant to increase the milkweed population in their meadows and recently planted around 500 Swamp Milkweeds [1] at their Fairview Farm location in Bedminster [2]. Historically I've considered Fairview Farm to be one of the muddier places I routinely go, but our relatively dry spring they need to water them to prevent them from dying [3]. Though some of them are close enough to their buildings so that they can be watered via hoses, some of the areas require more physical labor than that. Towards that end, a couple of us volunteers filled up large tubs of water, pulled them (mostly down) into a meadow, and hand-watered them using watering pots. It took about 2.5 hours in all. It wasn't grueling work [4], though Wednesday was an unusually cool day for the start of summer, and I could see it being more cha

From a distance it almost looks like 1 Canada Goose on the back of another. Are they playing piggyback? Or is 1 scouting the area by getting a higher vantagepoint? A closer look reveals 1 goose is simply standing behind the other. While some waterfowl will carry others on their back, this is a sometimes-risky strategy for moving their offspring . March 11, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 267704783, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

American Robins exhibit subtle sexual dimorphism. Though there are some other subspecies that can complicate the issue, here in NJ the males have darker brown and brighter orange than the females. Another complication is that immature males also resemble the females; it's safer to identify a mature male while distinguishing immature males and mature females is going to be more problematic. This looks to me to be a good example of a mature male. The head's pretty dark while the breast/belly are a fairly bright orange. April 18, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 272140697, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The robin below has lighter head coloring and paler orange. This picture was taken in March, and they ought to have adult plumage after a year, so I suppose it's possible this is a male born in 2022 that hasn't quite gotten its adult plumage. If the bird is over a year old though, we could safely claim her as a female robin. March 20, 2023 at the Raritan Water Pow

Here's something I've heard frequently in turtle hotspots where a large turtle is with a small one: "Look at the Mother Turtle and her babies!". Depending on the situation, I'll sometimes mention: Turtle moms lay their eggs and leave. It's highly unlikely that they know who their children are, making it highly unlikely they protect/guide them. In many cases, the turtles aren't even the same species. Our Northern Red-bellied Cooters tend to be larger than most of their contemporaries, and thus get interpreted as parents to the smaller species. Both of the pictures below are cases where Northern Red-bellied Cooters are with Eastern Painted Turtles . While we can't rule out that turtles might have some tenuous social relationship with other turtles living nearby, you're probably not seeing parent-child relationships out there. March 6, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 269673787, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) March 6, 2023

I read today that there is some sexual dimorphism among our Northern Red-bellied Cooters . Though in many of our turtles the females tend to be larger, in Northern Red-bellied Cooters the difference isn't great; a large male and a medium-sized female are probably going to be about the same size, and unless you see turtles pretty close up, judging subtle size differences can be error prone. But this article suggests that it's the females that have the distinctive reddish-orange plastrons while the plastrons of the males tends to be pinkish. And my field guide says that while the sides of the females look striped, the sides of the males look more mottled. That's why I'm suspicious that the 1st turtle below is a female and that the 2nd turtle picture is of a male (with a friend). Bright orange plastron + stripey side = Female March 16, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 267710927, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The presumed male Northern Red-bel

Boys will be boys. In this picture a male Mallard may well be splashing (what I believe to be) a male Common Merganser . These are our 2 most frequently seen green-headed ducks (though they're not closely related). Though it might look a little obnoxious, this is frequently a way for ducks to clean their feathers, though apparently males will also do it to attract the attention of females. It's unclear whether female ducks find this attractive, but it is at least attention-getting. March 16, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 267710089, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) This Canada Goose was also having a splashing good time that same day. March 16, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 267709364, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Canada Geese have a wide range of behaviors towards people. Some (possibly migrant) Canada Geese will fly away as readily as most other waterfowl. Many seem to cautiously walk or swim away, sort of the way you might if you saw a bear approaching you. And some of them have clearly been around humans a lot and aren't all that impressed with the danger we present [1]. This particular goose didn't flee but seemed to exhibit an air of confidence standing on its log. Perhaps it surmised that I was extremely unwilling to risk falling into near-freezing water with an approach? I need to use "it" to describe my goose friend since Canada Geese are essentially sexually monomorphic. March 6, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 267703395, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] It's discouraged these days, but I'm sure some people feed the geese, making our presence a somewhat welcome sight.

Back in early March I got a picture of this Eastern Gray Squirrel (by far the easiest squirrel to find in this area) foraging in a thicket. I'm not sure if the squirrel thought this was my bush; it looks a little guilty in there.  I'm not sure what this squirrel was eating, though those look more like buds than berries to me. And as I've mentioned in the past, squirrels will eat the buds of some plants. March 6, 2023 at the Duke Island Park Photo 267704526, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Basking turtles - turtles who like to bask in the sun - are frequently found together, sometimes in pretty close quarters crowded on a log or a rock. Wikipedia suggests that a group of turtles is called a bale. This picture represents the Basking Big Three turtle groups [1] around here: Sliders - The top turtle is a Red-eared Slider , a species introduced to this region from other parts of the country. There are concerns that they might out-compete our truly native turtles, though right now we have plenty of other turtles. Pond Slider is the common name for the species, and around here the Red-eared Slider is the most commonly spotted subspecies. Painteds - The 2 turtles in the middle are Painted Turtles, probably Eastern Painted Turtles , our most common Painted Turtle. They have smooth (sometimes shiny) carapaces segmented into easily distinguishable scutes . Painted Turtle is the species name, while Eastern Painted Turtle refers to a particular subspecies. Cooters - The large t

Though I believe I had spotted Red-winged Blackbirds a little earlier in the year, this was my 1st photographic evidence of their return from their winter homes. Though food brought them together, after their meal they might be fierce rivals, each trying to establish a territory that their future wives - male Red-winged Blackbirds usually have multiple wives [1] - will be drawn to [2].  Red-winged Blackbirds don't limit their aggression to avian rivals either; it's not uncommon for them to attack people as well [3]. These are fun birds to identify for people because their common name is almost exactly the way you'd describe them: a black bird with red on the wings. Not even any fancy language, like if they were called Crimson-shouldered Ebonybirds.  March 1, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 267700847, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Female Red-winged Blackbirds frequently breed with more than 1 male too. You could probably map out a plot of a soap opera based

It's a little hard to think about birds, turtles, and trees today when the dominant nature event this week has been the hazy/smoky conditions resulting from Canadian wildfires. My impression is that both New Brunswick and Quebec have wildfires causing these conditions. Yesterday morning I woke up to cool, hazy conditions but some actual sunlight. The radio warned me that the air quality wasn't good, and that people should limit strenuous activities, especially outdoors. But conditions didn't seem all that different from normal, so I did my usual morning jog [2]. I did shorten my route a little for caution's sake (and felt fine afterwards). June 6, 2023 As the day progressed, things appeared to get worse. I couldn't see shadows at all, and the hazy conditions extended down to ground level, giving the appearance of fog in the middle of the day [2]. I've lived in the northeast my entire life and don't remember seeing a day like this before. I suspect this day w

I met these Turkey Vultures by just walking out of my apartment. (I theoretically could have gotten a picture without going outside, but that extra layer of glass can degrade picture quality a little.) Although they don't show up on these rooftops daily, they're not an uncommon visitor to my apartment complex. Similar to this spot of the woods , I wouldn't expect this to be a great place to find carcasses. I'm thinking they're here mostly because: They don't have to worry much about predators up there. They get a pretty good view of the area in case something should happen to succumb. (This apartment was near the top of a hill, providing a better view than most of the other apartments.) Since this picture was from February, it's probably a slightly warmer spot, especially near those furnace vent pipes. Although these are Turkey Vultures, it's also not unusual to see Black Vultures up there too. February 28, 2023 at Finderne Photo 264703396, (c) jpviole

When you're a woodpecker looking for bugs on branches, you may need to get in positions that look rather perilous. Of course, if you're a woodpecker: Your feet have developed so as to be good as grasping wood. Your ability to fly pretty much guarantees you're not going to slip and fall to your death. The relatively short bill indicates this is a Downy Woodpecker [1], and the red patch on the head indicates it's a male (with a look at a female here ). He's perfectly comfortable hanging upside down or climbing on the underside of a branch. And he's foraging in a way that our larger woodpeckers generally don't, searching for bugs on relatively small branches (in contrast with their Hairy Woodpecker cousins). February 27, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 264702796, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) February 27, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 264702773, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Though their beaks

Though they don't breed until spring, Mallards start pairing up in the autumn, and males/females are frequently seen together throughout the winter. Though there are times when I see groups with more of one gender - usually in a place with a food source that draws in other species of waterfowl - a paired couple is the norm in uncrowded areas. (This isn't just a Mallard thing either; American Black Ducks [1] are also frequently seen in pairs [2].) "Come in, the water's fine", says the swimming male to the sitting female. Though this was in February when you and I would presumably consider the water temperature to be prohibitively cold, ducks handle cold water much better than we do. February 27, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 264702709, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The next pair looked busy, so this was probably the duck equivalent of dining together.  February 27, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 264703108, (c) jpviolet

On a warm winter day I saw some movement on a tree. It was difficult to see what it was because of its (small) size and camouflage plumage. It looked like a small bird that would climb up a tree, fly down to the base of the tree, and then climb it again taking a somewhat different route to the top. This happened a few times, making me think it might be a Brown Creeper , famous for this tree-foraging technique . And it was. Though there are other treecreepers in the world (mostly in Eurasia), there are no other treecreepers in North America. My field guide implies that their closest relatives around here are the nuthatches (like the White-breasted Nuthatch I've shown before), but there's some DNA evidence that suggests they're more closely related to wrens and gnatcatchers , with nuthatches moving to somewhat more distant relatives. When climbing up a tree, the speckled plumage that's visible to us blends in well with tree bark, reminding me of how well some owls can c

One thing I try and do with I'm about to come out into the open is to have my camera on autofocus with maximum magnification, and sometimes even turn the camera on before breaking cover. This way if some animal sees me and attempts to run/hide/fly, I have a chance of getting a picture of them anyway [1]. That's probably what happened when I photographed these Mallards who clearly didn't want to be in the same vicinity as me [2]. Although I say I try to do this, I still get surprised a lot. A couple weeks ago I missed a shot of a muskrat because it swam around the bend before I turned on my camera and was ready for action. One good thing about a picture like this is it shows off the purple on their wings pretty well; when standing/swimming I'll usually just get glimpses of it.  February 21, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 264701989, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Autofocus is notorious for focusing on the wrong thing, so this doesn't always work. [2] I

It's Throwback Thursday, and this was the 1st Eastern Raccoon picture I managed to get. If memory serves, I was walking along a trail at Washington Valley Park on Thanksgiving Day in 2015 when I saw a raccoon on the trail ahead of me. I fumbled to get my point-and-click camera out (it took better pictures than my smartphone) but the raccoon scampered off the trail. I eventually managed to find it and get a slightly obstructed picture. Although I've occasionally gotten pictures of raccoons deep in the woods ( once at Duke Farms and once at Sourland Mountain Preserve), I've generally seen them closer to civilization; they didn't get the nickname of "trash pandas" by accident. This particular raccoon was a bit of a tweener; it was seen in the woods, though there were some homes in the area too. I wouldn't be surprised if this raccoon was supplementing its forest foraging with a few visits to the houses in the area. There are 3 species of raccoon, with our C