I went birding!!!

Swami and Swamette took the girls for the night, presumably to give us a break, but Swamette just wants to go shopping for school clothes. Hell hath no fury like Swamette with a credit card.

And look at Swami's new pet:

This is Stanley. He enjoys music and shedding skin.

A cute-burrito...with an extra helping of girliness.

I went to Kelley's Nature Preserve, and I saw more bugs than birds, but I was just happy to be out in 75 degree weather, so it was okay.

I like praying mantis's. Is that right? Mantis's?
This one checked me out while upside down...

And this one was giving me the evil eye right side up.

I jumped up and down with this one: A Viceroy!
The difference between monarchs and viceroys...the black line on the hindwings and smaller size. A life bug for me.

The Little Miami is so low, I was able to walk out to the middle of it. I stood there so long, soaking up the WARM sun and cool breeze and bird song, some neighbors poked their heads up and went about their business:

Some killdeer...

And let me say it now...give me a million ambiguous hawks ID's, but you can keep the sandpipers! I am lost on this one. Fairly clean grayish back, dark eye line, yellow legs and mostly white underparts with just a bit of gray/brown wash on the throat.
I need the Birdchick! She's the expert sandpiperess now!

I think this is a juvenile wood duck. That whitish chin strap is all I can see every time I look at this picture.

It's a bird! It's a plane!




I added a few new caterpillars to our habitat. I found these guys on some milkweed...milkweed caterpillars, soon to grow into milkweed tussock moths!

1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Who goes there?
King Arthur: It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Pull the other one!
King Arthur: I am, and this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my court at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: What? Ridden on a horse?
King Arthur: Yes!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: You're using coconuts!
King Arthur: What?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: You've got two empty halves of coconut and you're bangin' 'em together.
King Arthur: So? We have ridden since the snows of winter covered this land, through the kingdom of Mercia, through...
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Where'd you get the coconuts?
King Arthur: We found them.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Found them? In Mercia? The coconut's tropical!
King Arthur: What do you mean?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Well, this is a temperate zone
King Arthur: The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
King Arthur: Not at all. They could be carried.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: What? A swallow carrying a coconut?
King Arthur: It could grip it by the husk!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.
King Arthur: Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?
King Arthur: Please!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Am I right?

"Houston, we have a pupa..."

(I was so proud of that title when I thought it up, I had to call Geoff and tell him about it)

Snookie is wrapped up in a sweet, surprisingly tiny chrysalis. I was surprised at how small it was...in pictures on other's blogs, etc, they look big, like the size of a bowl of a spoon...but it's less than 2 inches long. And you can't really call them cocoons, because they don't spin silk like moths do. Chrysalis or pupa.

I wanted to be there to videotape it turning into a pupa, but we were gone.
But you can bet your bippy I will be there to videotape the emergence!

You know other birds point and laugh.


And a totally different bird:


I found this juvenile male cardinal yesterday (with just a beginning of sheathed red feathers), weakly "chipping" near the fountain. I had my camera, so I got one quick pic, examined it to see if it was flighted (it wasn't) and took it in to get a box and to call Marilyn, one of our RAPTOR rehabbers who also treats songbirds.
The poor bird died in my hands in less than two minutes.



This is one of two emotions that owls have.
One is disgust, and the other one is this...startled.
News: Our gray screech owl has made a full recovery from her foot infection, and should be back at RAPTOR tomorrow! Yippee!
Now the red SO won't be publicly humiliated anymore. He can molt in peace. And by the way, I have seen "Molt" also spelled "Moult". They are both correct, right? English is stupid sometimes.

Okay, birders...someone please, please tell me I can put these on my life list...


Guinea fowl!
They were out in the middle of nowhere (no house anywhere near them), and ranging free. Someone tell me that this is a well-established introduced species that is now part of our avifauna.
What do you think? Listable?



News:
My Mom, the woman who didn't get an answering machine until the late 1990's, now has a freakin' lap top.


...With a wireless connection, which I connected for her, I might add.
She's entered the 21st century. I'll be dipped.
(Look at the fingers sticking up...I think she is afraid that it might blow up if she touches it too roughly.




Can't find the ID for this moth.
You'd think those "T" shapes would be easy to find in a guide.

Mom's wrenlets are big and fluffy and strong. At least a few baby bewds came from that nest box.

Tomorrow, I get to meet a fellow blogger. Trixie is in Cincinnati and we are going to meet up and let the kids play (so we can talk, hopefully), and I'm sure it will be bloggalicious.

Hawk ID answer, miscellany Sunday

Yesterday we discovered this moth on the front door, and I think it had just laid an egg...there was a small yellow thing near it's backside.

I can't tell if it is a False Crocus Geometer or a Chickweed Geometer.
The only reason I sound like I know what I'm talking about is because I looked it up in my new:

I hear that this is THE field guide for insects, and that Kenn even inserts some humor.
And really, how cool is Kenn Kaufman? The man has his own Wikipedia entry. I wanna meet him. Hey, Kenn? Come see us in Cape May!

Sigh...even though we really need these to be rain clouds, they aren't. But pretty anyway.

Snookie is growing and eating and pooping.
(For a funny take on monarch ranching, see Jess' post here. That woman makes me shoot milk out of my nose on a regular basis.)


We have yet another wee animal in the house.
Isabelle discovered them first as they left this morning, then after I hauled my cookies out of bed later, I saw them too:

Tadpoles in the fountain. Since I never found any tree frog eggs anywhere (which is crazy, since it sounded like they were knockin' boots EVERY night) I guess these are bullfrog tads.
Isabelle almost turned herself inside out as one was brought into the house and placed in her previously disastrous Frog Habitat: disastrous because the tadpoles stayed tadpoles for 8 months and when I thought they might need some sunlight, it got so hot that it killed them.
We only brought in one, just in case we goof it up again.
Isabelle named the tadpole Tiger Lily.
*****
Now, onto yesterday's hawk ID quiz:
Donald the Birder (who I just realized is in Cincinnati) got it right...a juvenile red-shouldered hawk. Donald, if you want a freshly minted Cape May Birder Blogger Conference T-shirt, email me your address and what size at capricorn1273@cinci.rr.com.
Juvenile hawks are very tricky, and even if you know what you are talking about, you may have to pour over a field guide first before being sure. Lynne was pretty close with a guess of Broad-winged. And yes, Lynne. You still get to come to Cape May. And you get a T-shirt because you are Flock member. In fact, everyone in the Flock needs to send me their T-shirt sizes so I can distribute the shirts.
And don't forget that you and I came up with the idea of going to Cape May in the first place. Remember when I was planning on coming up to Minnesota in February and Laura wouldn't come, so we said, "If Mohamed can't come to the mountain..."?

Education Corner time:
Red-shouldered hawks are divided into 5 subspecies. Our subspecies in the north and east are the largest.
Juveniles in the east streaked brown and white on underside, brown above, tail with dark and light brown bands, and their wing crescents are tawny. They are very similar to juvenile broad-winged hawks, but can be distinguished by their longer tail, wing crescents and accipiter-like flight patterns.
Interesting tidbit: Four of the subspecies exist on the eastern side of the continent and contact with each other, but the West coast form is separated from the other four by about 1000 miles! and the Florida form is the palest, with gray heads and very faint barring on the chest.
Want to get really confused? Check out the possibly-only documentation of a red-shouldered X red-tailed hawk hybrid. I take this seriously because David Sibley weighed in on the issue.

I need to do more raptor ID posts. They're fun, aren't they?

You bunch of smart-asses.

I don't know whether to put words over here,

Or here,

or over here.

I guess I will try putting the pictures in the middle, and the text right-justified? Does that make everyone happy?

We found an Imperial Moth in the backyard this morning:

It was looking pretty rough...It had quite a bit of wing gone.

But how beautiful is that yellow and pink fuzz? Like a little cat with wings.

And a face that everyone should love.

The dope on Imperial Moths:

Family: Wild Silk Moths (Saturniidae) (Same family as Luna moths!)

Subfamily: Royal Moths (Citheroniinae)

Identification: Females are larger than males. Upperside is yellow with pinkish brown to purple-brown patches, bands, and cell spots, and tiny brown spots scattered overall. Males have larger patches on the forewings than females, except for some subspecies pini males which have reduced purple and are mostly yellow.

Life history: Adults emerge before sunrise and mate after midnight the next day. Females lay eggs at dusk singly or in groups of 2-5 on both surfaces of host plant leaves. The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks, and the caterpillars are solitary feeders. Pupation takes place in underground burrows.

Flight: One brood; in the north from June-August, in the south from April-October.

Wing span: 3 1/8 - 6 7/8 inches (8 - 17.4 cm).

Caterpillar hosts: Conifers and deciduous trees and shrubs including pine (Pinus), oak (Quercus), box elder (Acer negundo), maples (Acer), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum). Subspecies pini feeds only on conifers.

Adult food: Adults do not feed. (WOW! They don't EAT?)

Habitat: Deciduous and evergreen forests.

Range: Maine west to eastern Nebraska, south to the Florida Keys and central Texas. Subspecies pini occurs across the northern Great Lakes basin and the northern third of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

**********

This explains why I found it under one of our maple trees. Maybe it just laid eggs.
I have finally figured out why I feel so drawn to butterflies and moths. Same as why I am drawn to birds: They are beautiful and they can fly.

Sad news:
Lollipop, our blue parakeet, was dead at the bottom of his cage yesterday. When I removed him from the fishtank the other day, I checked him out and he didn't have any wounds, and seemed fine. But I guess the stress of being knocked out of his cage was too much for him. Echo is lonely, so we are giving him extra attention.
Hopeful news:
I am going over to visit my bestest bud, Shannon, tomorrow. She moved into an apartment today and I want to go over and give the place my approval. She is getting divorced, and it sucks. But she has her family and friends, and of course the most kick-ass best friend anyone could ask for. That would be me, by the way.
And I am hoping to bring a little something back with me. I will post about it tomorrow.
Today's Will-Yum:
Lorelei's pre-start-of-school physical was today. We saw the new nurse-practitioner and even though she had a great way with kids, Lorelei was so in her A-game. She chatted, answered all the questions posed to her, agreed to all the poking and prodding, smiling no less. I just had to sit there and translate a few words for the CNP. Like when Lorelei said the name of her new goldfish, which has been expanded to :Lipstick Flower Zip-It.
Not to toot my own horn, but...BEEP BEEP. We have done something right with these kids. They are smart, funny, outgoing, interesting.
YUM!

A very colorful Friday the Thirteenth

Lots of color today...I would really like to see some cool birds, though.

I saw purple:

(Skippers on bee balm, Lake Isabella)

(Bachelor's Button at home)

(Inchworm on chickory)



Pink:

Did you know that before she is a Queen, Anne blushes?



Orange, brown and green...with a touch of more pink:

(Clearwing moth on bee balm, Lake Isabella)

(Sycamore tussock moth, Lake Isabella)


(Look how Lorelei is trying to keep her dress out of the water...like it's anywhere near it!)

(Monarch)



Silver:




Gold:





And touches of yellow:

(Remains of a swallowtail)

(Our sunflowers in the back yard...see that window? That's our second story bathroom.
We don't consider the sunflowers a success unless we can see them out of that window)

Birding with a real birder

I got the pleasure of birding this morning with Kathi....and Holly. It is always nice to go birding with someone who actually knows what she is doing.
Not a very birdy day, though. I choose not to blame Kathi for that.

I got a better shot of this pretty frog, Kathi! Neener.

"May I help you?"

This is an indigo bunting. I swear.

As Kathi says on her post for today, a very industrious pileated woodpecker made a huge hole in this poor, hole-ridden tree. Either that, or we have Ivory-Billeds.

Kathi really knows the CNC. I have walked behind the Visitor Center a zillion times, and never noticed this brilliant nesting spot for phoebes. A light fixture near the ceiling of a stairwell, with no way for a predator to get to it. Smart birds. They nest here every year.

"I am a small, helpless baby phoebe. Feed me."

Here's a mystery for everyone...Kathi and I heard a very, very weird bird call (we are assuming it's a bird). When we heard it we looked at each other, and said in unison, "What the bloody hell...?"
IT SOUNDS LIKE A CRYING BABY. DISTURBINGLY SO.

Click To Play

After birding, Kathi and I went our separate ways, and I stopped over at the new RAPTOR property to do a quick drive-by of the property.

This is where the new parking lot is going to be. It was bush-hogged last summer, and now it's full of grasses, ironweed, and my new favorite plant, MILKWEED.

This is just one of many butterflies in the meadow. Some sort of frittilary.

I turned my library books in last week, so I can't easily look this up. I have seen this plant in field guides, but can't remember the name!


The milkweed is teeming with insect life.

If you look closely, you can see an aphid on the flower!

This is what got me jumping silently...a clearwing moth! Another thing I have seen in field guides, but not in real life. There were loads of this cute little guys buzzing around. Yes, they buzz, just like a hummingbird.
Not very birdy here, either. I did hear a catbird, though.


Milkweed is perfection. It smells good, it has intricate flowers, and it is the host plant for Monarchs and their relatives, moths, beetles and true bugs. And it is beneficial to nearby plants, because it repels pest insects, like wireworms.
Guess who will be gathering milkweed seeds this year?
And fellow RAPTORites: Be prepared to see me chained to the milkweed when the time comes to make the parking lot. We are saving these plants. They would make very nice islands between the parking spots.