Sunday, November 21, 2010

Bathroom Bird ID Quiz

I've had these bird postcards hanging in my bathroom for about 5 years now. I bought them at Ikea when I was first decorating the house. I bought them mostly because they had birds on them, but also because they went with the neutral beige theme of my wonderful artful decorative eye. This was before Beth was in my life to add any feminine touch to the decor. Over the years, I've stared at them as I've been busy doing other things. I never realized that they would make a good bird quiz. So here they are, make your best guesses in the comments. To be honest, I'm not even positive on the IDs, but I have good guesses.




Friday, November 05, 2010

White-tailed Kite in NJ

A White-tailed Kite has been found in NJ along the Barnegat Bayshore. It was first reported on October 21 by a local birder, but not seen again. It was then re-found by the same birder on Wednesday. Today, it was seen by many birders. This is the second record of this species in NJ. From how I've heard it, the story of the first sighting goes something like this: A birder was photographing a group of Mississippi Kites down in Cape May. Some weeks or months later he was sharing the photos with a well-known NJ birder and, lo and behold, one of the photos was actually a White-tailed Kite!


Interestingly, a White-tailed Kite spent over two months in Connecticut and was last seen in mid-October. I may or may not try for the bird this weekend. It's about 90 minutes from me and we've got some plans, so I'll play it by ear.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Stink Bug Protection

This fall, Facebook has been filled with comments about Brown Marmorated Stink Bug infestations throughout NJ and surrounding states. These little imported scumbags like to invade homes to seek warmth, slipping in through even the tiniest cracks. Yesterday I witnessed an epic battle between a spider and a stink bug on our porch. The spider won. This spider is for sale to the highest bidder as stink bug protection for your home.



Thursday, October 21, 2010

My Moth Light Brings All The Bugs to the Yard

Some people simply see moths as a pest that they want to keep away from their wool or as a visitor to their porch light. While most moths are not very colorful like their butterfly cousins, they are beautiful in their own way and are very interesting critters. In an effort to learn more about the moths in my yard, I invested a few bucks and created a somewhat portable moth light. Its only requirement is a power outlet and a place to hang the sheet. The idea is that the light attracts moths and other insects to a white sheet for easy viewing. Here are the materials I used:

  • 2 work lights with clamps. I happened to have these already, but they
    are about $5-7 at the hardware store
  • Black light bulbs – I got these CFL ones at Wal-mart (sorry Wal-mart haters, but no place else had them). If you could find a bigger bulb, you may not need two bulbs.
  • An old tripod – a new one would work too. I use this as a stand for
    the lights, so many things could serve this purpose.
  • A white sheet – 100% cotton is preferred because it glows best with
    the black light

IMG_4755 I set this up in our little condo “backyard” in Auust by stringing a rope between a fence and the house. I turned it on just as it was getting dark and waited a while. Even after 15 minutes, small micromoths started to come. Within 30 minutes, moths started to show up and some other insects too. Here is a taste  of what was seen. Thanks to Seabrooke Leckie for help with most of the IDs. Have you tried this yourself? I was amazed how easy it was.

5156 - Nomophila nearctica - Lucerne Moth -025156 - Nomophila nearctica - Lucerne Moth

 

9666 - Spodoptera frugiperda - Fall Armyworm Female - 02

9666 - Spodoptera frugiperda - Fall Armyworm (Female)

 

9669 - Spodoptera ornithogalli - Yellow-striped Armyworm PROBABLY9669 - Spodoptera ornithogalli - Yellow-striped Armyworm PROBABLY

 

 5552 – Galasa nigrinodis – Boxwood Leaftier Moth - 01 5552 – Galasa nigrinodis – Boxwood Leaftier Moth

 

Myodocha serripes - Long-necked Seed BugMyodocha serripes - Long-necked Seed Bug

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Big news!

In case you haven't heard, I've been asked to be one of the beat writers over at 10,000 Birds! I'll be covering topics mostly around NJ and butterflies, not necessarily mutually exclusive topics. I'm humbled to be part of the great company of writers that Mike, Corey, and Charlie have assembled. Look for my first post this Thursday.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Re-emergence

Like a butterfly stretching its wings for the first time after coming out of its chrysalis... or a baby bird cracking through its egg shell... ok, enough with that... Anyway, it's good to be back with my first blog post in MANY months. So what the heck have I been doing all this time? I've been spending most of the time with our son Julian who just turned one a few weeks ago. I also started a new job back in May which has been keeping me very busy. In between that I did a bit of birding and even a bit of "mothing." I'll have some posts about both of those things in the coming days. I'll also be reviving some old topics, commenting on some recent developments in the birding world, and maybe even have a few surprises very soon (no, not a second kid yet). For now, I leave you with a picture of little Jules from his "Very Hungry Caterpillar" themed birthday party.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Puerto Rico – Non-Avian Highlights

Birds weren’t all that we saw in Puerto Rico. There were many butterflies seen flitting about that I didn’t get photographs of. These included Great Southern White, Cloudless Sulphur, and Florida Purplewing. I did get one decent butterfly photo of a Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak.

mallow scrub-hairstreak

Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak

We found two funky-looking moths. The first flew into the restaurant during dinner in Maricao. It’s about the size of a monarch.

Funky Moth1

The second was found at Casa Cubuy in El Yunque. This one was about 3” long.

funky moth2

Lizards are plentiful in Puerto Rico. The most common are of the Anolis genus like the one below.

lizard2

We also saw this interesting lizard in a tree. Maybe someone out there knows the ID. It’s probably another anole! (Update - might be Puerto Rican Crested Anole)

lizard

This concludes all of the Puerto Rico posts I had planned. It was a fantastic trip!

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Puerto Rico Bird List

Here is the complete list of species seen. Asterisk denotes an endemic.



DUCKS, GEESE, AND WATERFOWL
West Indian Whistling-Duck
Blue-winged Teal
White-cheeked Pintail
GREBES
Least Grebe
BOOBIES AND GANNETS
Brown Booby
PELICANS
Brown Pelican
FRIGATEBIRDS
Magnificent Frigatebird
HERONS, EGRETS, AND BITTERNS
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
IBISES AND SPOONBILLS
Glossy Ibis
NEW WORLD VULTURES
Turkey Vulture
OSPREY
Osprey
HAWKS, EAGLES, AND KITES
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
FALCONS AND CARACARAS
Peregrine Falcon
RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS
Sora
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Caribbean Coot
SANDPIPERS AND ALLIES
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Dunlin
TERNS
Royal Tern
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Rock Pigeon
Scaly-naped Pigeon
Plain Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Zenaida Dove
Common Ground-Dove
PARROTS
Monk Parakeet
CUCKOOS
Mangrove Cuckoo
Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo*
Smooth-billed Ani
OWLS
Puerto Rican Screech-Owl (heard)*
NIGHTJARS AND ALLIES
Puerto Rican Nightjar (heard)*
HUMMINGBIRDS
Antillean Mango
Green Mango*
Green-throated Carib
Antillean Crested Hummingbird
Puerto Rican Emerald*
TODIES
Puerto Rican Tody*
KINGFISHERS
Belted Kingfisher
WOODPECKERS
Puerto Rican Woodpecker*
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Lesser Antillean Pewee
Puerto Rican Flycatcher*
Gray Kingbird
Loggerhead Kingbird
VIREOS
Puerto Rican Vireo*
SWALLOWS
Caribbean Martin
Barn Swallow
Cave Swallow
THRUSHES AND ALLIES
Red-legged Thrush
MOCKINGBIRDS AND THRASHERS
Northern Mockingbird
Pearly-eyed Thrasher
NEW WORLD WARBLERS
Northern Parula
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Adelaide's Warbler*
Prairie Warbler
Elfin-woods Warbler*
Black-and-white Warbler
BANANAQUIT
Bananaquit
TANAGERS AND ALLIES
Puerto Rican Tanager*
Puerto Rican Spindalis*
BUNTINGS,SPARROWS,SEEDEATERS,ALLIES
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Black-faced Grassquit
Puerto Rican Bullfinch*
TROUPIALS AND ALLIES
Yellow-shouldered Blackbird*
Greater Antillean Grackle
Shiny Cowbird
Greater Antillean Oriole
Venezuelan Troupial
SISKINS, CROSSBILLS, AND ALLIES
Antillean Euphonia
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow
WEAVERS AND ALLIES
Orange Bishop
WAXBILLS AND ALLIES
Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Bronze Mannikin
Nutmeg Mannikin
-------- STATISTICS --------
Species seen - 86