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.

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.

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.

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

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

 

9666 - Spodoptera frugiperda - Fall Armyworm (Female)

 

9669 - Spodoptera ornithogalli - Yellow-striped Armyworm PROBABLY

 

  5552 – Galasa nigrinodis – Boxwood Leaftier Moth

 

Myodocha serripes - Long-necked Seed Bug

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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