Creatures

Ducks In Flight

I love watching birds fly. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s an eagle, hawk, or vulture soaring high in the sky, a sparrow, finch, or wren flitting between bushes, or a duck, goose, or heron taking off from a pond. Their flights are different but they share a beauty found no where else.

Seeing birds in flight, particularly ducks and geese, for some reason, makes me think of Psalm 139:9–10, “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”

The Black Menace

It wasn’t too many years ago that the crow population around here was seriously diminished by West Nile virus. They seem to have made a pretty decent recovery since then and I see great flocks of them now. Recently there has been a flock moving around in our neighborhood, sometimes in our yard. When they come they are impossible to ignore completely, making such a racket.

On the way home today I saw them at the local elementary school. I pulled into the parking lot and took a few pictures, including this one of “The Black Menace.” If you’ve seen the 1948 movie, Bill and Coo you should get the reference.

Chrysaora fuscescens (Pacific Sea Nettle)

Dorothy and I went to the Baltimore Aquarium today with her friend, Julia. I took quite a few pictures including this one of a Pacific Sea Nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens). Many of them suffered from the thick acrylic I was shooting through or the low light levels but this one turned out pretty nicely. I got a few other good pictures but more importantly we had a good time. It was a nice unwinding sort of outing and except for the drive to and from in the snow and rain respectively, it was quite relaxing.

Maylandia estherae (Red Zebra)

I picked up Dorothy at her friend Julia’s house this evening and stayed long enough to take a few pictures. Julia’s mom, Maureen, has a tank with African cichlids and this, I believe, if a red zebra (Maylandia estherae). It certainly looks right and it’s from the right lake (Malawi). The picture is a bit soft because it is by necessity photographed through the aquarium glass. Still, it’s a pretty fish and shows up pretty well.

Ducks

There is a small pond near my office and there are usually ducks on it so I walked over there today. I love watching ducks take off and land. They start by running along the surface of the water while madly beating their wings. Once they are in the air they seem graceful enough but then their landing is a bit heavy. I also saw a great blue heron. Now, there is a bird that is majestic on take-off and landing. Sort of the VTOL of the animal world. Ducks and geese are more like the C5 Galaxy of birds, even though the heron is considerably bigger. I guess it’s the relative size of the wings that makes the difference.

Buteo jamaicensis (Red-tailed Hawk)

Well, I initially identified this as a sharp-shinned hawk. I’m not terribly good with the hawks (as anyone who is will tell you). I do know the general shapes and because of that I incorrectly correlated the narrow tail here with the Accipiters and went with the most common of those around here. As I was quickly told by my birder brother, this is a red-tailed hawk, which usually flares its tail. Looking at pictures (which I probably should have done first) I can see he is right. All the patterns on the wings say red-tail, to those who know. So, now I know. At least until I forget, which probably won’t be long.

Anyway, I’ve completely rewritten the text for this post. Purists would say I should have left the old and just added my correction to it. You can do that on your blog. I admitted my mistake. That’s enough.

Melanerpes carolinus (Red-bellied Woodpecker)

We went over to my mother-in-law’s today to clean out her gutter and do a few other things. I heard and then saw a hawk overhead but by the time I had my camera it was gone. I sat for a while under the carport watching a chickadee bouncing around but couldn’t get any pictures of it. As I waited,though, this big red-bellied woodpecker came and landed very close to me, too close, in fact, to fit in the camera frame. Unfortunately it was a bit dark under the trees and the picture is blurry, but it was cool, anyway. He only stayed long enough for three quick shots and was gone.

Ardea herodias (Great Blue Heron)

In addition to the various berries and leaves that I photographed on our walk around the block today, we happened to see a heron fly overhead. I barely had time to get my camera up and snap off a shot before it went behind a tree and then over my office building and out of sight. It’s not a great picture because I needed to crop it down a bit, but it’s better than nothing. I love to see these huge birds wading in the shallows but I think my favorite thing is to see them take off and fly.

Cathartes aura (Turkey Vulture)

After church this morning I was outside enjoying the beautiful fall weather. The sky was blue, the clouds were puffy and white, and there were turkey vultures all around. They aren’t the most attractive of birds, I know, but I like them anyway. Their huge wings and the way they soar give them a bit of majesty that their bald, red head cannot quite take away.

Cuddles

This is Cuddles. Cuddles is a red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) and he’s happy this evening because a new heat lamp was bought for him. Now he’s nice and warm. Nothing says “let’s cuddle” like a warm, semi-aquatic turtle, don’t you think?

Halyomorpha halys (Brown Marmorated Stink Bug)

Over the last several years this has to have become everyone’s least favorite insect around here. The brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) is a serious pest, even for those of us not trying to grow crops. This is the direction most of want to see them going (i.e. away from us) but mostly we like to see them dead.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s pernicious book, Silent Spring, which was in large part responsible for bans on use of DDT. As we now know, her book was very poor science and the benefits from responsible use of DDT far outweigh the costs. We can only hope that restrictions on its use can be eased and the poorest countries of the world, those that need it most, can benefit from it’s wonderful bug killing and disease preventing properties.

Bombus impatiens (Common Eastern Bumble Bee)

When I see a big black bee with a blond, hairy thorax, I tend to call it a bumble bee whether that’s really what it is or not. There are plenty of bees of this general size and look, but I think this actually is a common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens). They are actually quite hard to photograph on my mountain mint because they don’t stop moving. Some bees actually stop for short while not and then but not these chaps. Busy as a bee applies to them. This is as good a photo as I was able to get but it’s a bit blurry. Sorry.

Two Piglets

We went out to Rocklands Farm today and, among other things, enjoyed seeing three very young piglets. They were with there mother eating acorns on a large oak tree that came down in the last few days. This picture shows two of them and you can see how small they are. Cute little things, destined to be turned into bacon, sausage, chops, and ribs. If that bothers you, then you probably don’t want to know what’s in my freezer now.

Nemoria bistriaria (Red-fringed Emerald)

Dorothy called me into the kitchen this evening saying there was something for me to photograph. On the sliding glass door from our kitchen into the back yard was this little moth. It’s only about 2 cm across. I got the tripod and put the flash on the camera and was able to get a pretty good shot or two. I also got some extreme close-up pictures that show the hairy scales on the wings, which are pretty cool.

I’m not 100% certain of the identification. There are more than 20 species and they all look fairly similar. Since identification photos tend to be from above (dorsal) and this photograph is from below (ventral) I’m at a disadvantage. Still, that looks right and we’re in the right part of the country for that species.

Archytas apicifer

In general I’m not a fan of flies. Some of them are quite pretty, I know and of course they have their part to play in the natural order of things. Still, it’s hard to think of the common house fly and similar critters as anything other than disease carrying vermin. Close up, I guess, they are beautiful in a sinister sort of way. This is actually a fairly distant cousin of the house fly (Musca domestica) which is in a different superfamily of the Calyptratae. Yes, I know, whatever.

Scolia dubia Blue-winged Wasp

I know everyone is going to be shocked when the learn that I took insect pictures today. Me and insects? Really? Well, I think this is one of the coolest wasps I’ve seen in a while. It’s wearing woolies on its tail end. It is a blue-winged wasp (Scolia dubia) and it’s a big one, over two centimeters long. Males have longer antennae and though I don’t have anything to compare them to, I’m guessing this is a female.

Trichopoda pennipes

After the heavy rain yesterday the weather has turned beautiful. It’s clear and cool and the humidity is much lower than it’s been. I went out twice to take pictures of the varied insects in the back yard and was able to work in the sun without being uncomfortable for the first time in months.

I was also rewarded with some new insect photos. First, there were two species of flies in the genus Trichopoda. The one shown here is Trichopoda pennipes and the other is Trichopoda plumipes, which has more black with a yellow pattern on its abdomen. The genus Trichopoda are known as the feather-legged flies because they have feather like brushes on their rear pair of legs. You can’t see them in this photograph but I got a few other views from behind where they show up quite nicely.

Condylostylus sp.

Back in June I posted a picture titled A Little Green Fly. At the time I identified that fly as Condylostylus sipho. The one pictured here may be the same species or it may be one of the other very similar species in the genus Condylostylus. Either way, it’s a pretty little thing.

P Brown commented that she wanted to write a poem to that one and on Facebook she did but I never got around to posting it here. So, in memory of that last little green fly and in honor of this new one, here is P Brown’s poem:

Ode To A Little Green Fly —
Have you come to snare the dancing honey bee,
You clothed in shimmering green among the Asclepias tuberosa?
Vascular threads forming a highway for thee,
And there long-legged on a leaf, you did pose.
Do I see you waving to a passing fly,
Displaying spindly legs, yet firmly built?
Perhaps to entice sipha for a brilliant mate,
Your short life to defy.
And now Henry has without any guilt,
Captured on facebook, your eternal fate.

Calycopis cecrops (Red-banded Hairstreak)

Next we have a fairly common butterfly but one I haven’t got a good picture of, as far as I know. It is the red-banded hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops). It didn’t fly off when I got close, as they often do, but it was not making itself easy to photograph. For the most part it would turn away from me so all I could see was the trailing edges of its wings. I finally got a few from the side that I was reasonably happy with.

Polistes fuscatus (Northern Paper Wasp)

Finally, we have a northern paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus). In general I wouldn’t consider these to be particularly friendly creatures but this one was pretty oblivious to my presence. I aimed the camera straight down on the tripod and got a pretty descent view of it from above. The light kept coming and going as the taller plants were blowing in the wind but otherwise, this one was easy to photograph.

I also got pictures of a yellow-collared scape moth (Cisseps fulvicollis), a wasp called Isodontia apicalis, and a few assorted and only tenuously identified flies. All in all, an enjoyable little time out back.

Mosquito on a Mushroom

I went out this morning to take some pictures of a mushroom in my back yard. It had fallen over and that gave me a nice easy view of the gills on the underside of the cap. So, I’m lying in the wet grass with mosquitoes buzzing in my ears when I notice that one has landed on the mushroom. So, I took a few of that. Later I’ll post one of just the mushroom.

Did you know that there are some 3500 species of mosquito worldwide? Also, both male and female adults feed on nectar and plant juices but it is only the females that feed on blood because a blood meal is usually required for development of eggs. How about this: Carbon dioxide, expelled in the breath of animals, attracts female mosquitoes that are looking for a blood meal. They detect carbon dioxide in the air and travel upwind to the source. So, want to stop attracting mosquitoes? Then stop breathing. Mosquito facts taken from BugGuide.net.