A slave to plant cryptography, she feels the garden’s myths pass through stems, a living alphabet of growth. • Eastern black carpenter ant | Camponotus pennsylvanicus
California Gull with nesting material
A little over a week ago I was photographing a perched Loggerhead Shrike on Antelope Island when I noticed a California Gull (Larus californicus) flying towards me with a bill full of something that didn’t look like food. As the gull came closer to me I could see that it was some type of vegetation […]
The Brilliant Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)
The Baltimore Orioles are back and busy nesting already.The male’s song floats over trees and shrubberies filling the spring sky with a glorious clear tone unlike any other songbirds trills or tweets. Both the male and female sing and when they are annoyed they kvetch with a rattling, scratchy cry. First Spring 2012 Sighting of […]
Birding in Japan – Yellow-browed Bunting (Emberiza chrysophrys)
Spring migration has been underway here in the southern part of Japan since mid-March and we have seen quite a few rarities making landfall briefly as the wintering birds make their way northwards toward their breeding grounds in northern China and the Russian Far East. Many birds travel between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese […]
New Jersey’s Wild Turkeys, Meleagris gallopavo
Flocks of wild turkeys are a common sight in southern New Jersey. It’s a relatively new phenomenon and it’s fabulous to see them! There were no wild turkeys in the state between 1850 and about 1950. The historically abundant birds were locally extinct. It is thought that some wild turkeys from Pennsylvania may have colonized […]
Oh…Poop!
Yes, poop happens. If there are birds there is poop. That is the straight poop… I mean scoop! Some birds poop in mid-air which it is always wise to have your mouth closed when photographing birds directly over your head. A wide-brimmed hat is kind of handy too. I’m glad this Royal Tern banked when […]
Bent on Misadventure
Bent on misadventure, a streaming squadron of bees dissolves into the sun, unhooking their anchor to my garden. • Honey bee | Apis mellifera
Insoluble Mucilage – Australian Glow-Worms
While the slimy presence of the Australian glow-wormArachnocampa flavamay not be on everyones fascinating list of things to observe in the tropics at night. It is fascinating to know, that the natural entrapment by its blue green emitting light, encircled by the sticky crystal like dew drops, proves to be deadly to nocturnal flying insects. […]