Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

I have a few pictures to post today and thought I’d spread them out a bit rather than putting them into one long post. They are someone disconnected, in any case. The first picture was of a sunrise, this next one, taken a bit after 2:00 PM, is of a willet (Tringa semipalmata), a fairly common shore bird in these parts. They can be seen pretty much anywhere along the beach and seem to be after the little sand crabs (in the genus Emerita). They aren’t the shyest birds on the beach but it’s hard to get very close to them, as they are always on the move and quite willing to fly away or around you if you get too close.

Alligator

We went for a drive this morning, giving Dorothy a little driving time. We went a little way into South Carolina before turning around. On the way back we stopped at a pond between a golf course and the road. There is a wildlife viewing platform built there, although the bushes between it and the pond make it difficult to see much of anything. Just past the end of the platform there is an opening in the bushes and we saw a pair of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis).

Tenodera sinensis (Chinese Mantis)

Cathy and I were out back this evening and she spotted this mantis on one of the chairs on our patio. I think (but I’m by no means sure) that it is a Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis), which were introduced here from China in 1896 to combat pests. This is a smallish one, only about two and a half inches long. It was getting a bit dark and the pictures I took by available light were not very good, so I turned on the flash and got a few pictures that are reasonably good, with the mantis standing out well against the dark background.

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

I had sautéd octopus for breakfast this morning and took pictures of that, but if history tells me anything, pictures of cooking octopus aren’t as popular as some others that I take. In the early evening I was going out to take pictures and there was a catbird in the rose bush just outside our front door. I took a few pictures before he (or she) flew away, and thought that might be more acceptable.

Polistes dominula (European Paper Wasp)

I only took a few photographs in the back yard today, including a few of black-eyed Susans and then some of this European paper wasp (Polistes dominula). They aren’t the friendliest of wasps and I have to admit to being a little nervous of him. In general, the bees at the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) are unmindful of me but there are a few that I take with are, regardless. I think if you’ve ever been stung by one of these, you’d feel the same way.

Feather

Did you know that since the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (16U.S.C. 703-712) it has been illegal for most people to collect most feathers. Unless you want to be a criminal, just let it lie. It’s a bit stupid, of course, and many people collect feathers without being indicted. It’s a good example of a “well meaning government” making life against the law and making criminals of all its citizens, in this case including (and especially) children.

Anyway, this is a feather. I think it’s pretty.

Strymon melinus (Gray Hairstreak)

I went out to photograph bees on the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) and did get some, but the best pictures I got were of this male gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus). The light wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good and with my camera on a tripod I was able to get as close as my macro lens will allow. I’ve posted a picture of a gray hairstreak once before (on Saturday, August 11, 2012) but I think this picture is a bit better. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed watching it move about on the flowers.

(Mostly) Dead Cicada

What a beautiful day. It’s the middle of July and it’s in the mid 60s in the morning, getting up only to about 80°F in the afternoon. For my money, it doesn’t get any nicer than this. I could take a little cooler, but it’s July, for crying out loud. The sky was blue with cottony, white clouds. After the heavy rain on Tuesday and the heavy hearts yesterday, this is what I needed.

I went to the car to drive to work and this is what I found on the roof. This is one of the Magicicada species, the 17-year periodical cicadas. It was actually only mostly dead. For the record, it doesn’t taste like chicken.

Update: Albert rightly pointed out that the periodical cicadas all have red eyes, so this is probably one of the many annual cicadas in the family Cicadidae but not in the genus Magicicada.

Macrosiagon flavipennis (Wedge-shaped Beetle)

This is one of the wedge-shaped beetles (Family Ripiphoridae) but one without a particular common name. It’s Latin binomial Macrosiagon flavipennis comes from the Greek word for large jaw bone and the Latin for yellow wings. These beetles parasitize wasps and bees, by laying eggs on flowers. When the eggs hatch, the larva attach themselves to a visiting bee or wasp. It is then carried back to wasp nest where it burrows into a host larva.

There is a closely related and very similar species, M. dimidiata, but the “fin or cup-shaped tubercle on the posterior of the pronotum” (the plate between the head and the yellow of the wings), is indicative of this species.