Wetland and the Shore

I am in the midst of a short stay in Philly and have squeezed in some walks at Heinz NWR and at Cape May. Here are a few images.

The waders at Heinz were stand-out, including as many Great Egrets as I have seen in one place in a long time ...

Great Egrets

Great Egrets

Great Blue Heron

Green Heron

Green Heron

Along the shore, terns were the stand-out (alas, :( no Whiskered Tern)

Common Tern

Forster's Tern

Royal Tern

Royal tern

Good Birding!!

Hawk Watching - Putney Mountain

The cadre of hawk watchers who keep Putney Mountain the only full time hawk watch site in Vermont have maintained their dedication and passion in spite of a dismal (to date) hawk season. The lack of any strong weather patterns has kept the hawks from concentrating along the ridge. Normally during mid-September there are days when Broad-winged Hawks are counted in the tens, and even hundreds of birds, this year they have been counted by one here - one there - one way up there. On rare occasion there have been a few more birds at a time, but not often.

That said, there have been a few moments when an individual bird has provided excitement.

Bald Eagles always stir the blood of the watchers. This first year bird did that when it circled low over the watch site. A few minutes after this bird appeared, four adult eagles passed by, close, but not camera close ...

Bald Eagle (1st year)

The owl decoy has attracted the attention, and enmity of an occasional young Merlin, Cooper's Hawk, and Sharp-shinned Hawk ...

Merlin

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk

 This American Kestrel hovered briefly over the owl decoy, then thought better, and flew on ...

American Kestrel

While hawk numbers have been slow to accumulate, there is always plenty to been seen, and good naturalists to see it with. Just a sampling ...

Tiger Moth Caterpillar

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-eyed Vireo

Great Spangled Fritillary

American Lady

Good Birding - or whatever else you may be doing!!

Damselflies

Damselflies are a challenge! There is almost nothing to them. They are virtually wisps of the imagination. And oh my! what identification mysteries they can.

Jon Lamm's wonderful little volume, Damselflies of the Northeast, uses three different symbols on the page of each species to indicate whether the species can be identified with (1) binoculars, (2) in the hand, or (3) under a microscope.

These damselflies are all identifiable with binoculars so I am reasonably confident I have gotten them correct.

Eastern Forktail ...

Eastern Forktail

 

 Fragile Forktail ...

 Fragile Forktail

 Orange Bluet ...

Orange Bluet

 Rampur's Forktail ...

Rampur's Fortail

 Vesper Bluet ...

 Vesper Bluet

Hopefully I will have Hawk Watch adventures to report soon.

Dragonflies

I continue my interest in dragonflies and the combined challenges of finding them, photographing them, and identifying them.

Twelve-spotted Skimmer and Widow Skimmer, photographed July 29 at Wilson Wetlands, Putney, VT

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Widow Skimmer

The Cape May day trip on August 28 provided quite a variety of dragonflies

Blue Dasher ...

Blue Dasher

Blue Dasher

Eastern Amberwing ...

Eastern Amberwing

Eastern Pondhawk ...

Eastern Pondhawk (female)

Great Blue Skimmer ...

Great Blue Skimmer (female)

Great Blue Skimmer (female)

Swamp Darner ...

Swamp Darner

Common Whitetail ...

Common Whitetail

Swallowtails - Giant & Tiger

During my absence from blogging, there were still occasions when I was able to take the camera into the back yard, or round about our locale.

In early August, Giant Swallowtails again came to our butterfly garden for feeding. This is the third year running that they have been in the garden. The large size brings immediate attention to their presence. They are a "new" species to Vermont,. The photos were taken August 6.

Giant Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail

Tiger Swallowtails love the cone flowers and lillies and are common visitors. Photos taken July 29.

Tiger Swallowtail

Tiger Swallowtail

Tiger Swallowtail

And just for a chance of pace, an Atlantis Fritillary, probably the most common butterfly in the garden this summer.

Atlantis Fritillary

Hope you are enjoying the end of summer!

Western Birds

In early July, we took our 11 year old grand-daughter to the national parks of the fours corners. It was not a birding trip, but from time to time birds posed for me.

In that monumental geography, most photography was with the 25mm-125mm lens - not so great for photographing birds. But a few did come within range of the lens, or presented themselves when I had the longer lens mounted. Here are a few samples:

Ravens were common throughout our trip - noisy and evident, as youngsters tried to prolong their dependence on parents. In some places, the ravens were prominent beggars. This young bird was in Petrified Forest NP - Common Raven

Petrified Forest National Park

Common Raven

from Mesa Verde NP - Green-tailed Towhee and Western Bluebird ...

Mesa Verde National Park

Green-tailed Towhee

Western Bluebird

from Bryce Canyon NP - White-breasted Nuthatch feeding young and Western Tanager ...

  

Bryce Canyon National Park

White-breasted Nuthatch

Western Tanager

Western Tanager

 from Zion NP - Broad-tailed Hummingbird and Ash-throated Flycatcher ...
  

Zion National Park

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Ash-throated Flycatcher

from Grand Canyon NP, North Rim- Black-throated Gray Warbler and Spotted Towhee ...
  

Grand Canyon National Park - North Rim

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Spotted Towhee

On the last day of travel, I got a new bird, but that will have to wait for a future posting - hopefully soon.