theater, natural history and conservation, the utterly mundane, and Etruscan 8-tracks
Sunday, more of the same heat. We managed about 3-1/2 hours at Leopold’s Preserve before packing it in. Team leader A.J. did find a few Bar-winged Skimmers (Libellula axilena) for us. We also turned up some puzzling spreadwings; here’s a Lestes in need of a species ID. I still struggle with distinguishing Calico and Halloween Pennants.
I decided to forgo my high boots in the interest of keeping cool, and I brought a couple of American Dog Ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) home with me as a result.
Continuing with his series of workshops on troublesome butterfly ID, Rick Borchelt took us to Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Kent County, Maryland on a hot and muggy Saturday. The refuge isn’t that far as the crow flies, but we drivers must either cross the swoopy Bay Bridge, then curl around to Chestertown to get across the Chester River, or take the long way around via Elkton.
Zebra Swallowtails were common to abundant. The headline observation was an Aaron’s Skipper (Poanes aaroni) on the same milkweed inflorescence as a couple Broad-winged Skippers (P. viator). I also got a lucky dorsal view of a Delaware Skipper (Anatrytone logan).
In non-butterfly news, I met the also-common Seaside Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax berenice).
Rick’s wrapup post includes a singularly unflattering picture of me (not that it’s difficult to accomplish) in full anti-solar gear.
Overall, fledging success has been good, but we have had direct observations of Black Ratsnakes in three of our sixteen boxes, plus an additional box from which all the eggs removed/consumed by an organism unidentified. From this week’s report:
Snakes alive! Yet more Black Ratsnake activity in the boxes. We checked box #7, which was hatching on 26 May, and estimated 9 fledglings. Box #6 had reports of snake activity in the period of 26 May to 2 June. Nevertheless, we found 9 WODU eggs in the box, but they were not yet being incubated. Box #1 now has 14 eggs incubating, with an estimated hatch date of 4 July. And N. and I. found a snake in Box #3. Too much drama.
So we have four remaining boxes with possible activity: #6, #1, #3, and #60 (estimated hatch 24 June).
Let’s do a work day on Sunday, 6 July to cover those four boxes, 8:30 AM as usual. Again, we won’t need to whole team: let me know whether you can come. We’ll try to keep cool.
The nesting season for our Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers has been a bit topsy-turvy:
Good news, bad news, what’s new? We have at least 3 new Wood Duck clutches started in the past 10 days or so. So part of the bad news is that we’ll probably be working in July. More bad news is that we lost at least one clutch to predation, and another to abandonment. Back on the plus side, 3 boxes hatched out in the past week, for a total of 6 for the season. And C and N found young in Box #7, which will make 7 boxes.
For our next work day, we’ll only need to check 5 boxes: #2, #7, #6, #1, and #3. Let’s set that date as Sunday, 8 June. We won’t need the full complement of the team. Let me know if you can make it on the 8th.
Then, depending on what we find on the 8th, we might go in late June or early July….
Vielen Dank!
I took my first birding trip with Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT), running up the coast from Wilmington, N.C. to Norfolk, Va. Kevin Burke was our excellent guide, always making sure that everyone got on the bird at hand—not to mention handling the driving (always ready to give an extra lift not on the tour), lodging logistics, and finding tasty restaurants. We were five participants; here’s Kevin in the lead of the other four on the beach near Oregon Inlet.
I rode Amtrak to get to Tidewater, but since the tour was one-way, I needed to bridge the gap between the cities. I hopped a Greyhound/FlixBus for the first time in decades. While the coach was quite comfortable, I needn’t have paid for a double seat because there were few riders. As I expected from the barebones stop at Union Station here in D.C., most bus stations these days are tragically spartan, with no options for food or toilets. We pulled in to parking lots and abandoned gas stations. Here’s one exception: a spiffy new transit hub in Greenville, N.C. Ha! Closed on Saturday.
Sunday was our first day out birding. Kevin had scouted a little-known corner of pine forest where Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Dryobates borealis) could be found, answering its wake-up call at 07:15. At Orton Pond, a very cooperative Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) turned up, as well as an American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) that slunk through the water. Down the road my first lifer for the trip arrived, Bachman’s Sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis).
After lunch, I started to learn the handful of seaside plants, among them Coastal Water-pennywort (Hydrocotyle bonariensis), American Sea Rocket (Cakile edentula), and Saw Greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox).
The next day, Kevin improvised a ferry trip to Shackleford Banks, where I found a beautiful new tiger beetle for me, Eastern Beach Tiger Beetle (Habroscelimorpha dorsalis) (woot!) (likely ssp. media), and a robber fly that predates on the tiger beetle, Sand Hammertail (Efferia albibarbus) (woot-woot!).
And then, mostly a travel day to Hatteras on two care ferries, but we did stop at a boat launch access road for another lifer and long-tormenting nemesis bird, Least Bittern (Botaurus exilis).
Wednesday was scheduled for a pelagic trip, but the weather had other plans, as the surf at Avon Pier illustrates. So once again Kevin cooked up some good birding, including a visit to Bodie Island Lighthouse. The Dancing Turtle in Hatteras is a good place for early morning coffee and pastries, but skip the bagels. (David’s new rule: Don’t order bagels in a shop without “bagels” in its name.)
Thursday we got out on to the water: we were advised that it would be “sporty” and “confused.” Indeed. For the first time in decades, I joined the Fellowship of Ralph. But after tossing all of my skimpy breakfast and coffee, and having a bit of a lie-down, I roused myself to photograph four lifers, including two storm-petrels, Wilson’s (Oceanites oceanicus) and Band-rumped (Hydrobates castro). Also spotted: several flying fish and a Portuguese Man O’ War (Physalia physalis)—surprisingly tiny. The captain of our boat could take a note from VENT on customer service and being welcoming.
Takeaways:
We wrapped up the tour, skirting the Great Dismal Swamp. Seven life birds for me; the group got skunked on Belted Kingfisher (?!). I have a thing for Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major).
Your Eastern North Carolina dialect word is preesht, that is, “I appreciate it,” otherwise, “thank you.”
I participated in another bioblitz organized by the Clifton Institute, this time at Sunnyside Farm & Conservancy in Rappahannock County. I visited the farm last year for a dragonfly count for the Institute. With several insect experts in the group, I was able to file 57 observations, including
Early in the afternoon, we took a break from chasing plants to observe technicians working with an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), one of the study subjects in the Institute’s long-running research project into this species’ ecology on farmland and restored prairie.
My report for April to the team:
Whew! I am caught up with my paperwork for the moment. Data and photos posted to Cornell, thank you. Six new clutches were started in April and are now incubating, 5 Wood Duck and 1 Hooded Merganser. On the downside, we clearly have two nests that have been abandoned and that we will clean out on our next work day. Nothing has hatched out yet, but I expect boxes #1 and #3 to be hatched by next time, as well as possibly box #6.
So, we’ve seen nesting activity in 11 of the 16 boxes, which is fairly typical. Plus that early arriving, fast shrinking Hooded Merganser brood that would have used a natural cavity.
Work days in May will be 11 May and 25 May (Memorial Day weekend). 11 May will go rather quick, because we have several boxes incubating that we will skip….
Arigatō gozaimasu!
Rick Borchelt led a field trip to Allegany County, Maryland, targeting early-flying elfins and azures. It was a great opportunity to see some new butterflies—Brown Elfin (Callophrys augustinus), Northern Azure (Celastrina lucia), and Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)—as well as to meet some shale barren-specialist plants. I learned why I’m confused by Summer Azures (C. neglecta): they have two broods in this part of the country, the first of them flying earlier than Spring Azure (C. ladon). And we picked up some moths along the way, including azure-lookalike Bluish Spring Moth (Lomographa semiclarata) and Double-lined Gray (Cleora sublunaria) (several at the Oak Barrel Cafe).
Fun plants included Shale-barren Ragwort (Packera antennariafolia), Shale-barren Pussytoes (Antennaria virginica), and Moss-pink (Phlox subulata).
It’s high time to wrap up the New Mexico trip reports.
Two trips to Randall Davey Audubon Center, just outside Santa Fe, turned up flocks of Common Ravens loudly kettling in the updrafts from the ridge, often in pairs. At times the birds swooped so low that I could hear wingbeats. Pretty cool.
I followed the loop trail just to where the ponderosa pines started to come in, at about 7425 feet. So I only got one observation, from a distance, and only good enough to ID to subsection. (I still remember the strawberry-scented pinebark from a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park a couple decades ago.)
Nice photos of Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) and Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea). More Rubber Rabbitbrush; I can understand why there was an effort to tap the plant for rubber—it’s all over the place.
Persistence pays: on my second visit I located Juniper Titmouse (Baeolophus ridgwayi) (honoring Robert Ridgway), another lifer for the trip.
Dripping Springs Natural Area, in the mountains east of Las Cruces, is a BLM property. When the birds don’t cooperate, take pictures of the landscape, eh? This is a view of the Organ Mountains from La Cueva picnic area.
I spotted a second butterfly species for the trip (it was February, so I was impressed): a trio of Sleepy Oranges (Abaeis nicippe) on Woolly Locoweed (Astragalus mollissimus). And a few snaps of Fishhook Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizeni).
Thank you to all the local iNat folks concurring with and correcting my IDs! I ratcheted my lifetime ratio of species to observations back up to 1:2. (Just in time for EDRR season.)
Seven new birds for my list, bringing my ABA Area total to 440. Plus one for next time: at White Sands, a Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis) with photographs good enough for an observation, but I can’t say that I saw the bird well enough to count it for my list. My list, my hike, my rules.
A postscript to my visit to Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park: Interpretive signs on the observation blind solicited photos of the local birds, so I submitted a couple of my best iNaturalist shots. Sid Webb added my Greater Roadrunner and Northern Harrier to the current poster. Thanks, Sid!
Continuing to bounce around the state, let’s go to White Sands National Park next.
I did the short walk on the Playa Trail, and then across the road I did the longer Dune Life Nature Trail (pic). I spotted a Southern Checkered White (Pontia protodice) (I was so surprised to find a butterfly in February that my first thought was that it must be a moth) and what turned out to be Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis). The sparrow would have been a lifer, but I can’t really say that I saw enough of it to make my own identification. So we’ll get it next time.
Much sand in my boots (sorry, cleaning staff!).
Also in the central-to-south part of the state is Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
I was too late in the season to find the cranes. The loop road is generously wide, a good thing with cars stopping at random to look at critters. 70 degrees and sun, but some cooling breezes off the impoundments. I found my first ever real live for-sure Coyote (Canis latrans). The birding highlight was seeing a small group of geese out of the water, drifting into the grass. Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) AND Ross’s Goose (Chen rossii) side by side! C. rossii is REALLY much smaller.
An update on our nest boxes:
Another short report. Two new clutches; still only the one (box #4) incubating, but it’s possible that boxes #6, #1, and #67 will be incubating by next Sunday.
I will bring some kit to refresh the painted number on box #1.
We have a discrepancy in report for the species in box #1. Hopefully we can sort that out next Sunday….
In April, we’ll go to a fortnightly cycle. When we meet this coming Sunday, we’ll decide which Sundays to work in April. giving consideration to holidays and other events.
Thanks thanks!
About a hour and a half east of Santa Fe is Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area (look sharp for the tiny sign for County Road 016-Loma Parda County Road, which leads to the parking area). The Juniper Trail is easy to follow across the grassland, marked by cairns; the cairns are a bit of a challenge to find when the trail follows the rocky cliff edge overlooking the Mora River.
I found twittery groups of Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), a better observation of Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma woodhouseii), and Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides). And a first (for me) observation identified by scar only: Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana).
(You may have gathered that these trip reports are not in chronological order.)
The NPS’s driving directions to Chaco Culture National Historical Park read, in part, “13 miles (21 km) of rough dirt road (CR 7950). The 4.5 miles (7 km) before entering the park are very rough.” (Empasis added) “Very rough” means almost constant washboard conditions, 1 to 2 on my 5-point impassibility scale, mercifully little in the way of ruts, rocks, or potholes. This is not a place to drop in for a casual visit.
But O, it’s worth the drive. As the gravel road gives way to pavement within the park boundary, you’re confronted with Fajada Butte.
The centerpiece of the park is the (reconstructed) remains of Pueblo Bonito, a ginormous complex of what once comprised 600 rooms and 40 kivas, according to the NPS brochure. It’s so vast that trying to capture it in a photo or two seemed futile. So I snapped a Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus) instead.
Hungo Pavi is of a much smaller scale. I was taken by the rhythm of small windows and openings for the roof supports.
Casa Rinconada is a large kiva, roofless but otherwise restored to grandeur.
Turning Maria back to base, I abruptly stopped for a small herd of Wapiti (Cervus canadensis).
The next day, I visited another unit that is managed with CHCU. Aztec Ruins National Monument is much more accessible by vehicle, and more interactive, if you will. A walking path takes you through the fully rebuilt Great Kiva, as well as a series of rooms—it’s not a walk for the claustrophobic.
On the grounds just outside the monument, Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) were keeping an eye on things.
And then on to Navajo Dam State Park, for a stop that wasn’t too fruitful, before moving on to Santa Fe. But I did find a second species of ground squirrel, Rock Squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus) and a life bird, Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma woodhouseii).
From this week’s nest box report:
Ice on the ponds, so we made like the icebreaker ships.
Predictably, we already have one Hooded Merganser nest started, with 6 eggs.
We used nearly all of the chips in the shed, and what’s left we’re going to use to top up a couple boxes next week. So we’ll need a new package of chips in several weeks for replenishing boxes that hatch early this season.
Your coordinator took a tumble climbing out of the new pool by the tower, significantly scraping his dignity….
Thank you, and see you on the 9th!