The Last Week of Summer

We are heading into the last full week of summer. Soon there will be beautiful leaves. It is that time, described by Sarah Helen Whitman, "when summer gathers up her robes of glory, and, like a dream, glides away."

An autumn preview with mockingbird and persimmons. Click to enlarge. 

Mountain Mint

This week I planted this little clustered mountain mint bush in the sunniest spot in my yard. I often hover over mountain mint plants in parks because insects love them. While they collect pollen and nectar, I have a chance to photograph them up close.  

Like this male Ammophila, a thread-waisted wasp, who seems to give new meaning to the name. Note the little patch of orange on his abdomen.

Or the lovely great golden digger wasp, so called for the golden hairs on its head and body. Click to enlarge. 

Here's hoping that my little plant will look like this in the future and attract many interesting wasps and other insects. 

Happy Labor Day

 

Laughing gulls, Larus atricilla, started flying south in August. They will be gone from the northeast soon. See you next summer! Click to enlarge.

August

A quiet afternoon with reflections in the New Jersey pine barrens. 

                                              

"The quiet August noon has come, 

A slumberous silence fills the sky, 

The fields are still, the woods are dumb, 

In glassy sleep the waters lie."  

                                  from A Summer Ramble by William Cullen Bryant

 

Last call for summer butterflies like this cabbage white. August is winding down. Autumn leaves are coming soon. Watch this spot. Click to enlarge.

Shadows

Something new for my shadow collection. It's a tiger bee fly. It gets the three-word name because it is a fly that looks like a bee, with patterns on its wings that resemble tiger stripes. No surprise that it is casting its shadow on dry untreated unpainted wood of the kind that carpenter bees make nests in. The tiger bee fly preys on carpenter bees, leaving eggs at the entrance to carpenter bee nests -- the fly larvae enter the bee nest and attach to and consume pupae.

Here's another noteworthy shadow photo of perched turkey vultures. 

 

And a fence lizard with a shadow that seems like a second head.

Fly details. 

And the shadow of a great blue heron that seems to be hunting while the bird rests. Click on the photos to enlarge.

August

 

Spicebush swallowtail butterfly. 

 

    “August is the slow, gentle month that stretches out the longest across the span of a year. It yawns and lingers on with the light in its palms.” Victoria Erikson    

 

Monarch butterfly. Click to enlarge.

Black-crowned Night Herons

 

The weather finally cooled off in South Jersey. I celebrated with a trip to Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, despite clouds and drizzle. The overcast was so thick that it obscured the buildings of Atlantic City across the bay. I think the big gray shadow is the Ocean Casino.

Swamp rose mallow flowers were blooming everywhere. I call them marsh mallows. :-) 

It was moody and lovely. And while I was looking along the shore through my camera lens... 

A black-crowned night heron literally poked its head into the frame.

And stayed for this pose. Night herons, as the name implies, are mainly active at night and at dusk. But they come out on dull days like yesterday. What a nice bonus to go with the cool breezes. Click to enlarge.

And it happened again later. Another one flew in and landed near where I was standing. 

Love the big yellow feet. 

Geese in the Park

A Canada goose family walking on a park path. Click to enlarge.

All heading to the pond. 

This one paused for a close up. 

Quiz Bird

 

Do you know this bird? Click on the photo to enlarge it. A clue -- it's a female.

The male of the species looks like this. They are red-winged blackbirds! Tricky, right? Because the female is smaller than the male and has sparrow-like stripes, it is often misidentified. 

Black Squirrels in Toronto

 

I just returned from a trip to Canada, where I saw the famous Niagara Falls.

I also saw the less famous local black squirrels of Toronto! They have a coat-color mutation that seems particularly well suited to the area; black fur absorbs sunlight efficiently and helps keep them warm during cold Canadian winters. 

Just last year, I saw the famous white squirrels of Olney, Illinois. Click on this sentence to go to my blog about them.  The white fur mutation persists with help from local people who actively protect white squirrels. The squirrels have the right-of-way on the streets of Olney. 

 

Squirrels in New Jersey usually look like this. Black, white, and gray forms are different colors of the same species, the Eastern Gray Squirrel, for which this gray is the standard color. Reddish highlights are common. Click to enlarge.

Any questions? 

Osprey

 

The osprey is about two feet long with a five-foot wingspan. This one is hovering while hunting. It eats mainly fish, which it catches by diving feet-first into water, sometimes to a depth of more than a foot. Not surprisingly, it is also called a fish hawk. Click to enlarge.

The osprey is not one of my backyard birds. But there is a nest on the Delaware River that is close enough to my house that I can walk there to watch them. 

The male catches fish in the river, carries them to the nest, then flies out again. 

And again. 

This shaggy character is one of this year's young. So... well done, osprey parents! 

Northern Flicker

Another bird from my backyard -- the Northern Flicker. It's a woodpecker. Notice its black bib, spotted belly, and red nape. The black whisker or mustache stripe on its face identifies this one as a male. 

It does not come to the feeder for seeds. I see it either in trees foraging for insects, or on the grounds poking at ants, which are a major component of its diet. Click to enlarge.

Here it is picking up a bit of debris to check for insects. 

I always feel lucky whenever I spot a flicker -- such a snazzy little surprise. 

American Goldfinch

A male American goldfinch at the seed feeder in my backyard. Click to enlarge.

He is the first in an upcoming occasional series of the birds that visit my yard. He's beautiful, right? But is he the most beautiful of all? We shall see...

Happy Father's Day

 

 Chincoteague ponies, from the Maryland herd, seem to be whispering secrets. Click to enlarge. 

Tree Swallow Baby Pictures

 

Today I watched parents feeding nestling tree swallows at the two locations I monitor in Burlington County, New Jersey. 

At both sites, a nestling sat in the doorway. Click to enlarge.

When a parent approached, the nestling opened its brightly colored gape. It attracts the parent's attention and helps them deliver food. 

Success. 

Still hungry. 

Still hungry.