Posts in Category: Birds and Animals
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. This one is patiently waiting for a fish breakfast near Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
The color of the eastern tiger swallowtail can vary. Males are yellow or yellow-orange with black tiger stripes. Their wings are bordered in black with yellow spots and there are black “tiger stripes” running across the top of their wings. Their long black tails have blue patches on them. Female colors can range from the yellow of the male to an almost solid bluish-black. Their wing span can be up to 6 1/2 inches. These butterflies are very common and can be found in Eastern US and Canada and as far South as Mexico.
Dawes hummer
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird at the Dawes Arboretum bird feeding area. Shot through the glass in the downstairs observation area. At the same time there was a young raccoon and a chipmunk feeding.
Widow Skimmer Dragonfly
The wings of the Widow Skimmer Dragonfly make it one of the most uniquely colored dragonflies with such distinctive markings. The Widow Skimmer is a dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa) of the Family Libellulidae and has a beautiful brownish-blue skimmer body with black curved color patterns on their wings that extend over half its wing surface followed by a bluish-white to light-pink outer stripe and a darkening at the wing-tips. The face (or head) is usually pale yellow or brown for juveniles and females, but darkens to black in mature males and ultimately turns to powder-blue later in life.
This Widow Skimmer was photographed at the wonderful Dawes Arboretum over the July 4th weekend, with temperatures reaching the mid 90s even the dragonflies were looking for ways to cool off. Because of the excessive heat, we only spent a few hours here enjoying the Japanese Garden and the island on the lake.
Eastern Bluebird
This Eastern Bluebird is enjoying a breakfast of mealworms placed on its nestbox over Memorial Day weekend in Pennsylvania. Bluebirds are territorial, prefer open grassland with scattered trees and are cavity nesters. Bluebirds can typically produce between two and four broods during the spring and summer. We learned after our visit that this pair had laid 4 eggs, their second brood of the year.
Black Swallowtail caterpillar
While turning the soil in my wife’s garden, came across this Black Swallowtail caterpillar feasting on some parsley. The Black Swallowtail is the state butterfly of Oklahoma. Soon we may see a chrysalis on the parsley and then hopefully a butterfly. This caterpillar, along with the recent Robins hatching, goes to show that we are not alone in the world and must respect our Earth. After all, we are just visitors ourselves.
American Bullfrog
The American Bullfrog, often simply known as the Bullfrog in the United States, is an aquatic frog, a member of the family Ranidae, or “true frogs”, native to much of North America. Its habitat is of larger, permanent water bodies, swamps, ponds, lakes, where it is usually found along the water’s edge. On rainy nights, bullfrogs go overland and may be seen in numbers on country roads.
Hatchlings
Barely an hour old, 3 baby American Robins hatched right on schedule. Mommy and Daddy Robin have been busy taking turns feeding the hungry trio. A major storm is blowing in tonight, but the nest is secure in the corkscrew willow tree. We wish them luck!
One, two, three
We have new neighbors in our backyard. An American Robin has built a nest in our corkscrew willow tree. After about 4 days building the nest, the female laid 3 eggs, one each day. Robins incubate their eggs for 12 to 14 days. Once hatched, the nestlings remain in the nest for another 14 to 16 days before fledging. Sometime around May 7 we should be welcoming them into the world.
Prejmer stork nest
Prejmer, Romania is a parish located about 15 km away from Brasov, on the east side of the Brasov Depression, and in the proximity of the Olt River. Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked, wading birds with long, stout bills. Storks are mute; bill-clattering is an important mode of stork communication at the nest. Their nests can be large and may be reused for many years. Many species are migratory. There are 19 species worldwide and 2 species which occur in Romania, White Storks and Black Storks. The nest seen here in Prejmer is that of a White Stork.