Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly

I have seen a lot of eastern tailed blue butterflies lately, like the one above. They are small butterflies with a wingspan of about an inch, that's across when open, so sitting like this it's only about half an inch tall. You have to get close to see details. Click to enlarge. 

My favorite detail is the ringed antennae, alternately black and white. Pretty! Also note that it has a small thin "tail" on each hindwing; when perched the butterfly typically moves its hind wings and the tails move up and down. The butterfly also sports three orange dots on the lower surface of the hindwing. Eastern tailed blues are legume specialists. The females lay eggs on a variety of leguminous plants like vetch and clover for the caterpillars to eat.

Eastern tailed blues usually perch with their wings closed. This guy would not open up all the way -- but you can see his nice colors. Males are blue on top and females are brown or gray above. 

And they can eat head down! 

Grasshopper

A female red-legged grasshopper, Melanoplus femurrubrum. Click to enlarge.

Seeing this grasshopper reminded me of this poem, by Mary Oliver. 

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean -- 

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down --

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. 

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. 

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what the prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down 

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, 

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, 

which is what I have been doing all day. 

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life? 

Starling Snack Time

I was walking in Central Park in New York City the other day when I heard the big gray baby starling on the right making a squeaky racket, clearly saying "Feed me! Feed me!" in starlingese. Click to enlarge. 

Parent found a tidbit! 

There you go. 

All the way in. 

More please. Back to picture one. The parent walked, found food, and fed, while the baby screeched for as long as I watched. A starling parent's work is never done. 

Caterpillar Envy

A few weeks ago a friend of mine who lives nearby posted a picture on Facebook of a caterpillar like the one above. What a cool caterpillar! Was I ever jealous! Then a few days later this one showed up at my place. So, yay! I got my own! It's the caterpillar of the white-marked tussock moth, Orgyia leucostigma. It has four humps of bristles on its back, two flashy "horns" on its (red) head end, and a tufted "tail." Click to enlarge. 

Male white-marked tussock moth caterpillars eventually become grey moths with a white spot on each forewing. No surprises there. But females are wingless and flightless. The female has a swollen abdomen and stays near her empty cocoon to mate when a flying male arrives. She lays her eggs nearby. I'm combing the plants where I found this caterpillar in search of such a female. If I find one, you'll see it here. 

Happy Fourth of July !

A red milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus. Click to enlarge. 

The white underside of a summer azure butterfly,  Celestrina neglecta.

And the blue highlights of a red-spotted purple butterfly,  Limenitis arthemis. 

Yay! Have a wonderful holiday! 

I Moved to Linden Avenue!

A blossoming linden tree. I'm pasting below a blog I wrote a few years ago about linden trees and flowers. Click the photo to enlarge. 

The American linden tree, Tilia americana, is also called basswood, lime tree, white wood, and bee tree. This blog is normally about wildlife, but I'm taking a moment to praise the linden trees that are blossoming in New York right now. In a city not noted for smelling good, the event is a delightful occasion. 

Linden tress smell fresh, green, flowery, and sweet -- a little like melon, a little like honey. The smell wafts hauntingly around the trees and spreads on warm breezes. It makes me stop and inhale. It smells so good that I look forward to passing each linden on my daily route, especially a big old tree on the northeast corer of Central Park West at 66th Street; its flower-covered branches droop over the sidewalk and diffuse perfume all around. 

Lindens are native to eastern North America. They are common in cities, suburbs, and forests, so a lot of places smell good right now. Closely related trees, also called lindens, grow throughout the Northern hemisphere. They are prized for their beauty. Their wood is especially valued by carvers -- linden wood decorates the great cathedrals of Europe. Linden leaves and flowers are used for perfumes and teas. Honey made from linden flowers has a light minty herbal taste that is renowned among honeys. 

Aromatherapists use linden to "calm and relax the body and the mind." We could use more of that. We should plant more lindens. 

I wrote a few other posts about linden trees after this one in past Junes. Click here. Or here. I really like linden trees. Then a funny linden-related thing happened. You'll see in the right hand side bar section "about me" that I added a June 2018 update. In short, I retired and moved out of New York City. I'm now living about 15 minutes from Center City Philadelphia, so there will be no lack of urban wildlife to discover. I am also close to the New Jersey Pine Barrens, which is full of interesting things. But the cool thing is  -- I moved to a street called Linden Avenue, and when the leaves on the winter street trees opened in spring I realized that the tree in front of my new home is a linden! And each of my close neighbors has a huge spreading linden out front, too. There are more up and down the block and they are all blooming right now so the air here is sweet with the smell of linden flowers -- fresh, green, flowery and sweet.  Like honey, melon, and limes. Ahhh. 

Happy Father's Day!

Chincoteague wild ponies. Click to enlarge. 

"The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature."

                               -- Antoine-François Prévost