Showing posts with label Carlos Avery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carlos Avery. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Carlos Avery Butterflies

And lest I forget Carlos Avery also had some butterflies for me to photograph that weekend.
Skippers are usually pretty hard for me to identify, especially since I am such a newbie. They are kind of like the sparrows are in the bird world, small, hard to see, and all look a lot a like. I think that this one is a crossline skipper but if you think that I am wrong please feel free to correct me.
The little wood-satyr is typically found in forest clearings or on the edges of woods, which is where I found this one. They fly in a bouncy pattern usually close to the ground, although they will also sometimes fly up into trees and perch on a leaf blade.
The pearl crescent is a very common butterfly, especially in the eastern half of the United States. They can typically be found in open fields as well as in flower gardens and on the sides of roads. One of the reasons that they are so common is the fact that they often have 3 or more broods per year.
The silver-bordered fritillary is common in the northern US and through out much of Canada. They are typically found in boggy areas, marshes or wet meadows.
The white admiral is found through out most of the northern part of North America as well as Europe. Their typical habitat is forest edges or along streams.
Although they look different the white admiral is actually the same species as the red-spotted purple.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Dragons at Carlos Avery

There were also quite a few dragonflies at Carlos Avery that weekend, bad for mosquitoes, good for me, although we could have used a few more of the larger types to help with the run away deer fly population.
The dot-tailed white face is fairly common in this area. They are one of the first dragonflies that we see in the late spring and are usually around until October.
The frosted whiteface are typically only found in the Great Lakes and the North East.
Their preferred habitat is vegetated ponds or lakes especially ones with a lot of floating sphagnum moss.
They typically hunt by perching on vegetation and waiting for their prey.
Female frosted whiteface looks much different then the male with only the white face and black abdomen sections looking the same in both male and female.
Although their habitat is typically around water I found most of these frosted white face in a small section of short grass near an intersection of two road. There is plenty of green ponds, pools and flowages in Carlos Avery so water is never too far away but I was surprised that these dragons seemed to prefer this open grass.
At first glance I thought that this was another frosted whiteface as I spotted him facing away sitting on the ground, but on closer examination I identified this dragon as a chalk-fronted corporal. The white on the front portion of the thorax is what gave it away, notice the male frosted whitefaces above have a black front thorax. The white front thorax is how the chalk-fronted corporal got its name, as they resemble corporal stripes. Another dead give away if you see one from the front is the lack of a white face. Chalk-fronted corporals like to hunt from a perch on the ground as shown above.
As usual there were quite a few twelve-spotted skimmers about. I am guessing that this one is a female because the males typically white areas between the dark spots on their wings.
Another dragon that typically hunts by perching on vegetation is the widow skimmer. This widower is a female. Males are typically a dusky blue with white patches that follow the black patches on the wing. Immature widowers look a lot like the female however the female usually have a black ting at the tip of their wings.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Another shot from Carlos Avery

Here is another shot I took while I was at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area this past weekend.
This eastern phoebe may be a distant relative of the first birds banded in North America. As a young man, in the early 1800s, John James Audubon tied silver thread onto the feet of phoebes, by his home, to track their migration. This was the first recorded banding in North America.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Sparrow at Carlos Avery

I spent some time at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area this weekend. Things were pretty quiet but I did get a few shots. Like this shot of what I believe is a Lincoln's sparrow. Lincoln's sparrows are usually pretty skittish and secretive so I may be incorrect on the ID.
Audubon named the Lincoln's sparrow after his friend Thomas Lincoln.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Strange bird at Carlos Avery

After 6 days of rain the sun finally came out for an extended period on Friday. Since it has been a while since I have birded Carlos Avery I decided to take a trip north after I got off of work. While driving through the park I spotted an unusual bird crossing the road in front of me. I got out of the car to get a closer look and a picture.The picture did not turn out that well because the bird was already in the woods by the time I got out of the car but from the picture I identified the bird as a Chukar. This confused me because from what I read Chukar where Eurasian game birds that were introduced to the US and had established populations in dry western states. Since I could not find any listing of these birds in Minnesota I turned to the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union to help me with the mystery. The overwhelming response that I received was that this was probably a captive bird that had escaped or been released.

Other species that I saw on my trip where a green heron

a pied grebe

And a northern harrier

It was great to get out in the sun and do some birding.