Creatures

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

When I was little I thought that the appearance of robins was a sign of spring. They do migrate and that even contributes to their Latin binomial. Turdus migratorius translates as migratory thrush. In our area, however, they are pretty much a year round feature. Those we have now probably travel to the north in summer, to be replaced by their sun-bird relatives coming up from Florida. The American Robin is not to be confused with the smaller, daintier, and in my mind prettier European robin, Erithacus rubecula.

Cæsar

I went over to Cathy’s mom’s this evening to work on her computer. Between doing things I took some pictures of the birds. This one of Caesar was taken through the bars, which is what makes the lower part of the image a little soft. The bars are about 3/4 inches apart, so I can’t just shoot between them. By keeping the depth of field low, I was able to mostly ignore them. I did take a few of Roscoe through the opened cage door, but didn’t risk it with Caesar.

Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

Yes, squirrels are cute. They can be hugely fun to watch. They run around, up and down trees, leaping from branch to branch, and when it comes to getting food, particularly food left out for birds, they are ingenious. We have a bird feeder outside our dining room window. It’s a nice platform feeder with a glass top and really good for feeding birds when there is snow on the ground. Of course, the squirrels know about it and in fact, they end up eating most of whatever is left there. I’ve been meaning to rig up something to discourage the squirrels but haven’t gotten around to it yet. So, this morning I enjoyed watching a squirrel eat a few leftover wasabi peas. Yes, wasabi peas. They had gone a little soft from being left out and without the crunch of the dried pea, they just were not the same. This fellow, however, didn’t seem to mind at all. At least he didn’t actually complain. This is, of course, our own furry-tailed rat, the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis).

Female Cardinal

Outside our dining room window is a small garden bed that doesn’t get a lot of special care. It’s partially under the eaves so the back is fairly dry but that doesn’t seem to deter the things growing there. We have a clump of maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) that came from our old yard in Gaithersburg and before that from my parents’ house. There is a big clump of blackberry lily (Iris domestica) that blooms wonderfully through the middle of the summer. There is also a huge butterfly bush (Buddleja) seedling that would be nicer if it were not so huge. All the spare space in the bed is taken up by Virginia Knotweed (Persicaria virginiana var. filiformis ‘Painter’s Palette’). That has loads of very tiny red flowers followed by brown seeds (achenes, technically). Apparently, and I didn’t realize this, the birds love the seeds. I’ve noticed cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) and white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) on them a few times over the last few days and managed to get a few decent photographs through the dining room window. So far, only the female cardinal has sat high enough in the them to be clearly visible.

Dead Woodpecker

My apologies to those of you who are a bit squeemish. As I left work today, this is what I found on the sidewalk outside the back of my building. I’ve posted pictures a few times of the mirrored glass on the back of my building — January 31, April 02, and June 20, 2012. I have to assume this fellow (or lass) saw an ideal perch in a tree that was simply a reflection in that glass. I felt sad, of course, but that didn’t stop me from taking a few pictures. Have I been doing this too long, do you thing?

Update: I labeled this as a flicker without really stopping to think. It is, as Albert so quickly pointed out, a red-bellied woodpecker, not a flicker. Thanks, Albert. I hate it when I do that.

Pyrrharctia isabella, the Woolly Bear Caterpillar, Isabella Tiger Moth

This woolly bear caterpillar was speeding across my driveway this afternoon. I got out my bean bag and got down at his (or her) level to take some pictures. He (or she) was moving so fast that the first few pictures were blurred! Seriously. I touched him and he stopped and played dead for about a minute. I was able to get a few close pictures and then he took off again. The woolly bear is the larva of the Isabella Tiger Moth, Pyrrharctia isabella. According to folk lore, the wide brown strip on this little fellow indicates a mild winter ahead. Of course, what it actually means is that he inherited the trait for a wide brown stripe from his parents.

Neoscona crucifera

This is the same spider I had a picture of on September 13. At least it’s the same species. I don’t actually know if it’s the same one, but it certainly could be. This time it is in the back yard with its web between the flower stalks of Verbena bonariensis. I find that to be a much better place for a spider than across the entrance to my house. I tried to get pictures of it from the other side but it wouldn’t let me get close enough. Also, I was shooting into the sun from that side, which was difficult.

Neoscona crucifera

Yesterday Cathy noticed this spider out in front of our house. There are two pillars holding up our front porch and it was between one of those and the house, to the side of where we walked. Since it wasn’t bothering anyone and since in general I consider spiders a force for good, I left it alone. This morning as I came out I didn’t see it there where it had been yesterday. With the heavy rain we had last night (and it was still coming down this morning, off and on) I wasn’t too surprised to find it gone. As I walked out from under the porch, though, I found where it had moved when I got a face full of web. As much as I like spiders, I’m not a big fan of spider webs in my face, especially when they are patrolled by a spider as big as this one.

This is a common spider in the Neoscona genus, the Spotted Orbweavers.

Philanthus gibbosus (Beewolf)

I saw a new type of wasp today. Well, new to me, anyway. They’ve been around for a while. The genus Philanthus are known, collectively, as beewolves, because they prey on bees. The female hunts for bees, buries them in brood tunnels, and lays an egg on each. When the larvae hatch, they have a nice, readily available food supply.

This particular species, Philanthus gibbosus is the most common of the north American species. It’s not all that big, between 15 and 18mm in length but it’s brightly marked with yellow. You can see the three simple eyes (ocelli) on the top of the head, although if you didn’t know they were there, you might not notice them. This wasp, like many others in our yard, it particularly fond of the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum).

White-tailed Deer Fawn

I didn’t get outside during the day today but I did get this picture from my office window. There were two fawns, actually, both along the side of the parking lot between our lot and the empty lot next door. I’ve seen deer in that empty lot a few times and have come across the bones of deer quite a few times. This is the first time I’ve seen them out in the open on our side of the fence (not that the fence is going to stop them — it’s low enough that I can step over it without any trouble).

Oncopeltus fasciatus Nymphs (Large Milkweed Bug)

We have a few butterfly weed plants (Asclepias tuberosa) in our back yard. They are mostly done blooming and actually have mostly gone to seed. One of them is totally covered with these beautiful little nymphs of the large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus).

Calycopis cecrops (Red-banded Hairstreak)

I went out after butterflies this afternoon. It was quite warm and they were all over the place, especially on the black-eyed Susans. This is one of two that I photographed. The other was an Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas) but they were not as good so that will have to wait for another day. I’m pretty happy with this picture, though. The tricky thing is to get both the head and the trailing edge of the wing in focus at the same time. I also like the fine line shadow of the antenna on the wing.

Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

I’m not particularly thrilled with my pictures from the beach this year. I got some nice pictures from the Green Swamp and from Brookgreen Gardens but the pictures I actually took on the beach are not really much to speak of. The sunrises and sunsets this week were not very colorful and during the day it was hazy and the light was harsh. Also, the girls didn’t play in the sand too much or they did it when I was in the sand with them, so there are not pictures of that. Pictures of them out in the water are fine but they aren’t fine art.

I did go out specifically to take bird pictures at one point. These two make me happy and have very different feels. They are both of a Willet (the same Willet, in fact). I like the first of them because it feels calm and ready for something to happen. The bird is a watcher. The second one, though, has a fair amount of tension and action already happening. He’s ready to move in either direction, depending on the wave that’s rolling in.

Hummingbird

Dragonfly #1

Dragonfly #2

One thing I always enjoy about Brookgreen Gardens is the variety of insect, reptile, and amphibian wildlife I see there. Because it is on the water there are always a lot of different dragonflies darting about. We saw a little tree frog as well as two different types of lizard (a Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis and a Southeastern Five-lined Skink, Eumceces inexpectatus). There are huge Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers, Romalea microptera.

Pictured here, though, are two of the dragonflies and a hummingbird. I can identify the bird as a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) because that is the only hummingbird found on the east coast. This one was darting around the white blooms of this Cleome-like flower (I’m not actually sure what it is) near The Fountain of the Muses (by Carl Milles). I managed to get a few photographs before it darted off.

As for the dragonflies, Albert and Brady are the experts so consider my identification tentative until they confirm or correct what I’ve said. I think the first, which looks to me like it is wearing a flight helmet, is a Red-tailed Pennant (Brachymesia furcata). The second, perched on basil leaves, looks like an Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis). This picture makes me happy for all the green in it, as well as its symmetry.

Nephila clavipes (Golden Silk Orbweaver)

This is the third of three pictures I’m posting for July 30. If you don’t like spiders, you may not want to click on this image. This is probably the biggest spider I’ve seen outside of captivity. It isn’t as big as some tarantulas I’ve seen but they were in terraria. The body of the female golden silk orbweaver can be up to nearly two inches long although this one is probably not more than 1.5 inches. With the legs it’s more like six inches. The male, who was on the web nearby, is less than an inch across including his legs and is not nearly as fearsome looking.

In past years we have found sundews on the ground near the banks of a small pond as we enter the Green Swamp. This year the pond had more water and where we had seen them was covered. I was walking through the trees to the shore of the pond when I nearly walked through this spider’s web. She would not have been happy with me if I had not seen her. Then again, I wouldn’t have been all that thrilled to have her climbing on my head and neck. Fortunately I saw a glint of light on the web just before I hit it.