northeast-flora-and-fauna

While immature and sexually dimorphic species can look different (see Common Whitetails and Eastern Pondhawks ), sometime butterflies like the Mourning Cloak can present a different look just by repositioning its wings. (Other species that can do this include - but are not limited to - Red Admirals and Question Marks .) The 1st picture is their camouflage look, and while it doesn't blend in too well in this sandy soil, it can be quite a bit harder to spot them in leaf litter or against the bark of some trees. Though there's a light colored trim at the edges, they resemble something drab with a rough texture. June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 300991453, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) But then the butterfly opened its wings, allowing us a view of its rich brown wings with light spots highlighted by a black background and with almost a gold trim on the edges. And the wings that appeared to have a rough texture with the wings up suddenly seem to

On a trip to Sourland Mountain Preserve, I met these 2 Eastern Pondhawks . Unlike yesterday's post , I didn't see a mature male, a female, and an immature male on this trip, but I can show you a female and an immature male. (Mature males can be found here though.) The 1st picture is of an immature male. Though you can still see a lot of the vibrant green that the immature Eastern Pondhawks of both genders have, but you can also see that the abdomen is beginning to turn the bright blue color that mature males develop. June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 300988992, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The next picture is almost certainly a female Eastern Pondhawk. Although a close image of the tip of the abdomen is a little different than what the males would have, probably the only anatomic way of differentiating the genders. I'm not sure my picture is detailed enough for this differentiation. So why do I think this is a female? Well, this picture i

Here are 3 different-looking Common Whitetail dragonflies, all ones I met late last spring. The 1st picture is of a mature male, easily noticed by that prominent white tail (really the abdomen) that provides the species with its common name. But also look at the wings. There's a bit of black where the wings attach to the thorax, then it's basically clear (if a little veiny), followed by large black patches before turning clear again at the ends. June 15, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 300989072, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Next observe the female of the species [1]. First notice the lack of a pure white abdomen, which is the most obvious clue that this is something a little different. But there's also wing differences. While the black strip close to the thorax surrounded by transparent wings are still present, note that the black patch further out on the wing is smaller and doesn't span the entire wing. And while this is followed by more w

While my 1st picture shows a Wood Duck who's probably raising ducklings, the 2nd picture shows a Wood Duck who probably isn't the mother to those turtles.  These 2 pictures are of 2 female Wood Ducks in basically the same location and I found it interesting that 1 of them was surrounded by juvenile Wood Ducks while the other was surrounded by turtles ( probably Painted Turtles ). One thing that could be going on is intraspecific brood parasitism , where 1 duck mom ends up raising the ducklings of other duck moms. Perhaps the 2nd female's ducklings are being raised by the 1st female, and so she has no parental responsibilities and can hang out with her turtle friends instead.  Of course, there are probably dozens of other plausible explanations behind these 2 pictures. I'm just sketching out 1 possibility. June 13, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 300988614, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 13, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 300

Though you'll also find them in meadows, Red-winged Blackbirds are also quite happy in a wetlands environment. It sounds like there can be insects hiding near the base of some aquatic plants, and that Red-winged Blackbirds are fairly adept at finding/eating them. And of course there are usually insects flying around near water too, some of which also potentially end up as blackbird snacks. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this Red-winged Blackbird was poking around this vegetation specifically to scare up a tasty bug. I'm sure Red-winged Blackbirds would happily eat a cooperative bluet , though I also suspect that most of the time damselflies and dragonflies are a little too quick and maneuverable to end up as a blackbird snack. As birds that like to feed near water, it should come as little surprise they're also comfortable nesting near water. The females will usually find some dense vegetation near or within water and build a nest relatively close to the ground ther

In contrast to the (frequently vividly) blue bluets I posted Wednesday and Thursday (and earlier ), I also saw a pair of  Orange Bluets  in tandem last spring. You might be thinking: "If it's orange, it should be called something else, like an oranget or something". Let me defend the name a bit: The bluets are their closest relatives, and while it's a little unfortunate that the genus was named after a trait this particular species doesn't have as adults, there are more egregious naming problems out there [1]. As you might have picked up on from the preceding bullet item, immature Orange Bluets actually are a pale blue, though they outgrow it by the time they're ready to breed. In some other species of bluet, only the males are blue. The Orange Bluet isn't the only bluet where the males are not blue either. In my area the Vesper Bluet (yellow) and the Scarlet Bluet (see if you can guess their color) are the other non-blue bluets. I suspect this partic

For Throwback Thursday, here's someone who you might feel like you should recognize, at least once you hear it's a Familiar Bluet . Although I don't have tons of Familiar Bluet pictures, they are considered common and widespread enough to earn the "familiar" part of their name. They and the other bluets get the "bluet" part of their name from "bleuet", an Old French word for "blue woolen cloth". Compared to yesterday's bluets , note that the Familiar Bluet has way more blue on its abdomen. Perhaps that more striking blue appearance helped in getting people familiar with them. August 15, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 152590451, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

If all the IDs I got are correct [1], here are 3 different bluets I met last spring. Bluets are damselflies , and most of the time the males have some bright blue coloring. I will try and provide the rationale for these identifications: These damselflies are all about the same size, so even if they had agreed to be measured I might not be able to ID them from the measurement. The Skimming Bluet is 1.0-1.1", the Turquoise Bluet is 1.1-1.2", and the Slender Bluet is 1.2". And each of them has blue on abdominal segments S8-S9, which are the ones almost at the end. All these bluets are considered "common", so it wouldn't be surprising to see any of them in New Jersey. All of them are active in June. And although my field guide suggests that the Slender Bluet isn't in Somerset County, 1) They are known to be in the counties north and south of Somerset County, and 2) My field guide is from 2009, so it might not reflect the exact location of current popula

As with most gender-inspired species names, the names don't actually change with the gender, so this is a male Widow Skimmer and not a Widower Skimmer [1]. These are 1 of my favorite dragonflies : They'll perch so you can get a picture most of the time. The males are very distinctive with wings that are black near the base and (as they get older) with white patches before going translucent near the ends [2]. White pruinose on the abdomen is also frequently present as they get older, though not in the individual below. Though far from a griffinfly , they're big enough to spot if you're looking for this sort of animal. June 13, 2023 at Washington Valley Park Photo 300987064, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Similarly, male Painted Lady and American Lady butterflies are not called Painted Gentlemen and American Gentlemen. [2] Despite their distinctiveness, I'm pretty sure I originally would confuse them with the Common Whitetail .

These Painted Turtles look like they've been painted with loose vegetation from the reservoir. I doubt it's a turtle fashion statement and is instead indicative of the vegetation growing in the water, though this does add a little color to mostly-dark turtles. I've certainly seen other messy turtles like this Spotted Turtle , and our Common Snapping Turtles are frequently seen carrying vegetation around . I suspect this is mostly harmless, though maybe it makes their basking in the sun a little less productive? I'd recommend they take a bath , but since they probably got this way swimming in this water, it probably wouldn't help. June 13, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 300987037, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

These Deptford Pink flowers were in bloom last spring. You might think "These are pink flowers; they were named appropriately", but there is some controversy about their name . They get their name from a 17th century British naturalist who saw pink flowers in Deptford, which is in part of London. But these days it's believed that the flower we call the Deptford Pink did not exist in London at that time. Either he was seeing an actual Deptford Pink that was out of range [1], or (as many people theorize) he was seeing a related wildflower, the Maiden Pink . This is how the Deptford Pink got named after a place where it didn't exist. Based on the London naming, you've probably guessed that this isn't a native wildflower but is at least naturalized and arguably invasive. Depending on who you talk to, some consider any introduced plant/animal to be invasive while others will call the less aggressive introduced species "naturalized". Ultimately these wild

This Red-tailed Hawk may have been hungry, and there was a Woodchuck  (AKA Groundhog) and an Eastern Cottontail in the vicinity [1]. And while Woodchucks can be somewhat tough and feisty [2], rabbits are certainly on the Red-tailed Hawk's menu. Though it's hard not to sympathize with the prey animals when predators are hunting, to our hawks eating small animals isn't a choice as much as a necessity. To them our little furry friends are just food, like a burger, fries, and a shake. June 10, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300986026, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 10, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300986041, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 10, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300986076, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] I'm using the phrase "in the vicinity" a little loosely; I think I saw the Woodchuck and rabbit within 20 minutes of seeing the hawk. [2] I kind of wonder if Red-tails mostly sneak-attack adult Woodchuck

Though nectar is mostly water, bees do drink plain old water too, and that's what I think these Western Honeybees were up to. Although I didn't catch them in the act of drinking, it didn't appear there was another obvious reason why 2 honeybees would be in this spot unless it was for the water. I've mentioned before that honeybees both forage for and drink water ; perhaps since there was more than 1 here they're foraging for water? My thought process here is that 2 honeybees being thirsty at the same time would be a little coincidental, but if the old homestead (beehive) needs water maybe there was a coordinated effort to bring water back for other honeybees. On the other hand, it may be that these 2 honeybees have been foraging for approximately the same time and on similar flowers, so it wouldn't be shocking if they got thirsty around the same time too and flew down to wet their whistles. June 10, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300986011, (c) jpviolette, some right

One small branch marred an otherwise pretty good view of a Gray Catbird . Although they're considered mimics , I usually hear them making a loud squawky call that some people interpret as sounding like a cat [1]. (Perhaps the Gray Catbirds are mimicking the calls of other squawking Gray Catbirds? If so, they've got that impersonation down cold.) Although I can understand people who aren't crazy about their vocalizations, they are neat-looking little birds. June 10, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300986006, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Think of a cat making a threatening or amorous cry rather than a "my bowl is empty" meow.

This Red-tailed Hawk was intensely surveying its surroundings last spring. They do spend a fair amount of time staring off into the distance (like this hawk and this hawk ), presumably because: Their ability to see things at a distance is quite a bit better than ours. You never know when you're going to spot your next breakfast/lunch/dinner out there. Though the red (actually orange) tail isn't really in evidence with this particular Red-tail, it does have a very prominent "belly band", the dark speckles going across the belly of the hawk. In this area, that belly band is probably a somewhat better field mark for identifying Red-tails than a red/orange tail.  I do end up showing Red-tailed Hawks quite a bit; fortunately for you guys, they are fairly photogenic birds. June 5, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300862081, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

This was 1 of the Margined Leatherwing Beetles on yesterday's Hemp Dogbane . They are 1 of our more commonly seen soldier beetles , a family of beetles considered to be somewhat related to fireflies : Both are longish beetles with relatively soft elytra (the mostly protective outer wings) compared to the typical beetle. Both grow from larvae that prey on invertebrates like snails, slugs, worms, and some insects. But AFAIK none of the soldier beetles exhibit any bio-luminescent traits. The Margined Leatherwing Beetle - like its Goldenrod Soldier Beetle cousins [1] - is generally considered to be a beneficial pollinator as adults [2]. June 3, 2023 at John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve Photo 300859635, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Supporting their relatedness, the Goldenrod Soldier Beetle is sometimes called a Goldenrod Leatherwing Beetle while the Margined Leatherwing Beetle is sometimes called a Margined Soldier Beetle. [2] Their predatory days may not be

Here's a Hemp Dogbane from last spring. I've talked about Hemp Dogbane before, but it was either to compare it with milkweed or to talk about its ecological benefits . But there's plenty of interesting things about them: Though generally considered toxic to eat, it does have cardiac glycosides that could treat (with some dangers) heart problems. And just because it's poisonous, that hasn't stopped it from being used in tons of folk medicine. The latex sap has been used with clay to make a chewing gum. (I'm not sure I'd personally be a big fan of latex-and-dirt gum, but apparently some folks feel differently.) The Snowberry Clearwing caterpillars, 1 of my favorite moths [1], can use it as a host plant. (They can also use some of the honeysuckles as host plants.) If you've got too much lead in your soil, Hemp Dogbane can help you remove it [2]. Despite some toxicity, livestock will sometimes eat it, which can make them ill. And of course dogs, who'

This Western Honeybee was looking for pollen/nectar on this Oxeye Daisy [1]. Both these species followed Europeans to North America; neither is native to the continent. To see this sight 400 years ago, you couldn't have been in New Jersey since the species hadn't arrived here yet [2]. Today feral honeybees are very common and Oxeye Daisies are not uncommon, just 2 of the many ways that we've altered local ecosystems. It sounds like Oxeye Daisy can dominate a meadow, though I don't usually see that around here. It's possible this is because we've got even more aggressively invasive plants that thwart it. June 3, 2023 at John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve Photo 300859439, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] I'm pretty confident that the flower is not a Mayweed (another non-native) since it has quite a few petals and there isn't a notch at the end of the petals. [2] Technically there wasn't a New Jersey 400 years ago either.

Here's a Common Yarrow I saw last spring. I'd consider it a mid-sized wildflower, maybe getting 3 feet tall but frequently shorter than that. I personally think they look a lot like a completely unrelated wildflower, Queen Anne's Lace (the "wild carrot"). Both plants are mid-sized, and both have umbels of small white flowers. But there are differences: While both have pinnate (fern-like) leaves, Common Yarrow leaves are each more like a single fern while Queen Anne's Lace leaves comprise multiple fern-like leaflets. Queen Anne's Lace will usually have a red (or black if it's old enough) spot in the middle of the umbel. You'll usually see them at different points in the year, with Common Yarrow being most a springtime wildflower while Queen Anne's Lace is more of a summertime 1. I mentioned they're unrelated; Queen Anne's Lace is in the parsley/carrot family while Common Yarrow is in the aster/sunflower/daisy/composite family . Whil

I met these male and female Red-winged Blackbirds about 2 minutes apart - could they soon be in wedded bliss? Well, it's possible, though as you can see in the background of the 1st picture (the male) there was competition in the meadow. (My recollection is that that wasn't all of his competition either.) And while Red-winged Blackbird pairs form more of a relationship than yesterday's Zabulon Skippers do, they're not exactly monogamous either. The males attempt to claim and hold a territory they think the females will want to live in. Only the toughest, fittest males can hold onto these prime spots. The males will then mate with as many females as there are who want to raise their children there, so a male will frequently have more than 1 "wife". (The females probably do cheat on the males a bit too, so maybe this evens out?)  While the female will do most of the work of raising her nestlings, it does sound like the male whose territory she's in will he

Here are male and female Zabulon Skippers I met about 5 minutes apart; could they wind up in marital bliss? Well, probably not the way humans would define it. I believe that even if they did mate, a male defending a good territory will probably mate with more than 1 female, and after mating the female probably never sees her "husband" again. And of course being 5 minutes away may mean that the female was actually in the territory of a completely different male, and she got together with that different male instead. Zabulons are fairly common butterflies, so the female probably didn't have to travel very far to find a receptive male. The 1st picture shows the male Zabulon Skipper who's not feeding but probably looking for males to chase away and females to court. The 2nd picture shows a female who looks like she's nectaring on a Red Clover . June 3, 2023 at John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve Photo 300858592, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 3

Here's a Common Box Turtle plodding through the springtime vegetation. I could probably also label it an Eastern Box Turtle , which is the subspecies of the Common Box Turtle most likely to be found in New Jersey. (The main exception to this would presumably be any other subspecies brought to NJ as a pet that either escaped or got released.) Remember yesterday's post about the Mayapple that had either an unopened flower bud or an unripened fruit? It turns out that Common Box Turtles are 1 of the few animals known to eat Mayapple fruits. Unfortunately although I saw the Mayapple and the turtle approximately the same time of the day, they weren't close enough for me to gauge whether the turtle had any interest in eating the bud/fruit. Had the turtle eaten it, we could say with confidence that it was a fruit. I'm told that Common Box Turtles are an excellent way for Mayapples to spread. The turtles are likely to poop out the seeds a fair distance from where they ate them

Just after May, this was a Mayapple I saw in early June. Mayapple's weird lobes on a pair of stems, growing low to the ground, and being at their best before a lot of plants have recovered from winter makes that part of the identification easy. A trickier discussion is about the green orb growing off it. There are pretty much 2 possibilities: This could be the unopened bud of what will be a Mayapple flower. Or it could be the unripe fruit that a Mayapple produces from a fertilized flower. Visually I kind of like it as a fruit due to its smooth and shiny green appearance. Pictures I've seen of the buds are a little less smooth without a shine to them, though admittedly it was a pretty small sample size. Seasonally though, I think it's more likely to be a Mayapple bud. I'd generally expect to see buds in May and fruits in July, and June 3 is a lot closer to May than to July. I also believe that Mayapple flowers are more numerous than Mayapple fruits since Mayapples don

I photographed these 2 commonly-seen sparrows about 13 minutes apart, but their lineages are "worlds" apart. The 1st is a House Sparrow , more commonly seen near human dwellings. They are Old World sparrows , and perhaps because they evolved longer around humans, they're fairly tolerant of humans.  And the 2nd is (another) Song Sparrow , which is a New World sparrow that seems willing to sing for us but generally won't nest especially close to us. Although we have a lot of Old World sparrows here in the US, almost all of them are House Sparrows, and here in NJ you're unlikely to find any other Old World sparrows. As you might suspect, all the Old World sparrows and all the New World sparrows are more closely related to the other sparrows of their "world" than they are to sparrows of the other "world".  And while Song Sparrows are considered skilled and prolific singers, the House Sparrow vocalization mostly sounds like they're calling you

I got 2 confirmations on this ID so I think we can be fairly confident that this is a Golden Northern Bumblebee . (It does have a prominent black band on its thorax and an especially yellow abdomen like any good Golden Northern Bumblebee.) Despite the "northern" part of its name, it can occasionally be found in places like Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia. The name isn't entirely inappropriate though, since it does sound like they're more common in the northeast than down south. Each spring the queens emerge from hibernation and feed on nectar/pollen until they're strong/healthy enough to start a colony. They'll each build a nest and lay 8-10 eggs for whom she provides honey. When these bees grow up, they take over the foraging and the care of the next generation of eggs the queen lays; at this point the queen's responsibilities shift from being a do-everything mom to mostly being the egg-layer. In the fall, some of the eggs develop into males (drones) and n

The Grassland Birds were putting on a meadow concert last spring. While the Red-winged Blackbird's song may be a bit louder, the Song Sparrow's song is more classically melodious. And as far as I could tell, neither was really trying to harmonize with the other. If anything, they seemed to be trying to sing over 1 another. Such is life when the birds are throwing a concert. Their goals are also somewhat different. While the Song Sparrows look for that 1 special female, the Red-winged Blackbirds think that the more females they can attract, the better. June 3, 2023 at John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve Photo 300857827, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 3, 2023 at John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve Photo 300857865, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Though birds don't have much of a social media rep, you could argue that this Red-winged Blackbird is working on his post. Okay, technically he's not creating a social media post, but his job this time of year is to find a perch and defend a territory and attract eligible female Red-winged Blackbirds. And this post looks like a perch that provides good visibility for spotting rival males and attracting interested females.  FWIW the post joke has been done better here . June 3, 2023 at the John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve Photo 300857731, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Skippers like the Zabulon Skipper are quite common if quite often overlooked. That's no doubt due to their earth-toned coloring and their relatively small size. These butterflies generally produce 2 broods in NJ, causing population peaks in June and again in August. That makes this fella maybe a smidgen early but clearly part of the June brood. He could be looking out a blades of grass, which would have been a food source in his childhood (AKA caterpillar) though now he lacks the mouth parts to eat grass even if he wanted to: When I was a caterpillar, I crawled as a caterpillar, I ate as a caterpillar, I thought as a caterpillar; but when I became a butterfly I put aside caterpillary things. It's believed that they overwinter in NJ as (presumably dormant) caterpillars though it sounds like this is another thing we don't know with certainty. May 26, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 300288117, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)