Coyote Pups

 Back in 2007 and we made one of our numerous trips out to Yellowstone. That year the weather was not very cooperative so we did not have as many good photo opportunities as we usually do when we go to Yellowstone. The bright spot of the trip was the coyote den that we found, along with numerous other photographers, out on Blacktail Plateau. Mating season for coyotes is from January to March. The female goes in heat for less then a week so timing is very important. The gestation period is about 2 month. The pups are born blind and helpless. They will remain this way for about 10 days. They will remain in the den for about 3 to 4 weeks.These pups have emerged and have probably been weened and are eating meat. The coyote pictures that I took that year have been the most popular pictures on my blog with nearly 40,000 hits. If you would like to see the rest of the series click on the link below.

Favorite Coyote Pups Post

Black Swallowtail

Eastern Bluebird

 There are 3 species of bluebirds found in North America, the mountain bluebird, the western bluebird and the eastern bluebird. Of the three the eastern bluebird has the greatest range, extending from the east coast to the eastern edges of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. They are found as far north as south eastern Canada and as far south as Central America. In the center of the North America their range overlaps slightly with the mountain bluebird. Both species vie for cavities for nesting with the mountain bluebird mostly dominating the eastern bluebird. It is the male bluebird that find and defends the cavity. He will bring nesting materials to the cavity in order to entice a female but it is all really a charade.

    

It is the female bluebird that actually builds the nest. The female also incubates the eggs alone, although he does help by providing food. Chicks are helpless when they hatch and the female needs to continue to brood them for about another week. The male must bring food for the whole family until the chicks can survive on their own then both parents need to hunt for food. Eastern bluebirds eat primarily insects,fruit and berries. A family will typically raise two broods per year with the second brood often wintering with the parents. Birds in the northern portion of the range migrate south as winter approaches. Often flocks of bluebirds will gather together during the winter to forage. Although in mild years it is not impossible to see eastern bluebirds here in Minnesota during the winter.

Cape Coral, Fl

Cape Coral is located on the Gulf Coast of Florida along the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River. The city was founded in 1957 as a master planned pre-platted community. It encompasses 120 square miles which makes it one of the largest cities, in area, in the state of Florida. The city also boasts over 400 miles of canals which is more then any other city in the world. Unfortunately the extensive canal system has had a negative affect on the environment and the tides. We found the city interesting and difficult to navigate, with all the canals, but the reason that we stopped in Cape Coral is because it is home to the largest population of Florida burrowing owls in the world.

 There are two subspecies of burrowing owls found in North America, the Florida burrowing owl and western burrowing owl. The western subspecies are more numerous and found through out much of the western half of North America. The Florida burrowing owls are the only burrowing owls that live in the eastern United States. The Florida subspecies also differs because they dig their own burrows unlike the western burrowing owls that use abandon mammal holes. It is estimated that Cape Coral has over 2500 burrows within the city limits. Burrows are marked by signs like the one above and since the birds are a protected species care has to be taken not to disturb them or their burrows. I am guessing that some people might think that it is a pain having burrowing owls in their yard but I know that I would pay extra to buy a house that had burrowing owls nesting in the yard. Maybe some day, like when I retire, but for now we only had spent about half a day and we were lucky and found an active nest that was very close to the road.

Least Skipper on Milkweed Flower

The least skipper is a small grass skipper that is found in the eastern United States and south eastern Canada. It is the smallest skipper in North America. Their range extends west to about the middle of the US. They are usually found in wet habitats that have tall grass. Places like marshes, and the edges of ponds, lakes and streams are great places to look for these small butterflies. They look very similar to the European skipper, which is an invasive species that is also found in the eastern half of North America. The hind wing of the least skipper is more rounded and the wing veins are more pronounced then those of the European skipper. The least skipper also has longer antennae that are black and white striped where the European skipper has shorter orange and black antennae. Least skippers are nectar feeders. They often feed on smaller flowers then many other butterflies do including different species of clover and vetch. In this case this butterfly has found the only open bloom on this milkweed plant.

Sexual Dimorphism

 Sexual dimorphism is the term that is used to describe differences between males and females of the same species. Sexual dimorphism can manifest itself in several different ways. There can be differences in size, color, shape behavior or more. Reverse sexual dimorphism is when a species exhibits differences that are opposite of what we as humans consider the norm.

 In the world of raptors the female of the species is larger then her male counterpart. Since in our world it is the male that is typically larger this is an example of reverse sexual dimorphism. It is hard to tell the difference in size from the pictures above but the female in the lower picture is larger. The merlin falcon, pictured above, is one of a small number of raptors that shows a form of sexual dimorphism. In the case of most raptors males and females have the same coloration. However in some of the smaller species the male is much more colorful then the female. This is not an uncommon trait with many different passerines (song birds) and ducks.  The reason for this is because the female needs to have some camouflage when she is sitting on the nest incubating eggs. Since the males job is not to incubate eggs but bring the female food he does not need the same camouflage. In larger raptors it is not necessary because there are few things that would mess with the nest of an eagle, red tail, great horned owl, or other larger raptor, but these smaller raptor, like the merlin, need to take care so that they do not become a meal for one of the larger raptors.

Reflections of Crex Meadows

It has been a while since I have gotten outside to take some pics. My life has been going through a big change recently and that has left me with less time to go out and have fun. Right now life seems a bit cold and cloudy, very much like a Minnesota winter, but hopefully with time things will turn out warm and sunny like the day I took this photo out at Crex Meadows.

Upper Red Lake

Upper Red Lake is a beautiful lake located in north central Minnesota. I was up at the Big Bog State Recreational Area, which is very near to Upper Red Lake, last summer for a dragonfly event with the Minnesota Odonata Survey Project. I stayed up late one night to photograph the sun as it sank beneath the blue waters of the lake. Red Lake is divided into an upper and lower and is known for being an excellent fishing location. Red Lake is also known for a shooting incident in 2005 where a teenager opened fire in his high school and killed 7 people. A very sad affair that seems to be playing out too often. I think that the U.S would be a lot better off with less guns and more serene sunsets. 

Jewelwings

 Jewelwings are broadwing damselflies. Damselflies are different from dragonflies because all four of their wings are approximately the same size and shape. With dragonflies their front wings are a different size and shape then their hind wings. Broadwinged damselflies get their name because the base of their wings gradually broaden unlike other damselfly families whose wings connect to the thorax in more of a stalk shape.

Here in Minnesota we have only 3 species of broadwing damselfly. They are the American rubyspot, which is a metallic red in color, and the two jewelwings. The two species that we have look very similar with a metallic green thorax and abdomen. The difference is in the wings. The wings of the ebony jewelwing, top, are entirely black where the river jewelwing has wings that are black at the tip and clear at the base. Both of these species are usually found around rivers and they often share the same habitat. Jewelwings with a white stigma, white spot on the wing, indicate that the damselfly is a female.

Rough-legged Hawk

Downy Woodpecker

 

The downy woodpecker is the smallest woodpecker that is native to north America. They are found through out most of the United States, except for the arid regions of the southwest, and the southern half of Canada and Alaska.They look similar to the larger hairy woodpecker which is also common with in most of the same range. When comparing the two species side by side the hairy is noticeably larger. However when trying to identify a lone bird look for black spots on the white tail feathers. If there are black spots then it is a downy, it is easier to see an example of this on the lower picture. If you can not see the tail then look at the beak. If the beak is shorter then the width of the birds head then it is a downy. If the beak is about the same side as the head then the bird is probably a hairy.

Like most woodpeckers the downy woodpecker does not migrate during the winter. Most insect eating birds must migrate for the winter to an area where they can still find insects to eat. Woodpeckers use their specially designed beak to forage inside of trees where they can still find insects and insect larva during the winter. Because of their small size downy woodpeckers often are able to forage where larger woodpeckers can not, like thin branches and weed stems. Males usually take these prize locations first. It is easy to tell the difference between males and females because males have a red band at the back of their head, see top photo, where the females do not, see bottom pic.

Ding Darling NWR

 The J.N Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge sits on Sanibel island on the gulf coast of Florida. The refuge was created in 1945 by Harry S Truman and was originally called the Sanibel National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was renamed the J.N. Ding Darling NWR in 1967 in honor of Jay Darling five years after his death. Darling was a political cartoonist and environmentalist. He won two Pulitzer Prizes for his political cartoons which often supported environmental and conservation causes. Darling served on Roosevelt's President's Committee for Wildlife Restoration, also known as the Beck Committee. He also served as the director of the Bureau of Biological Survey where he championed the Duck Stamp Act of 1934.

The refuge consists of 6400 acres of mangrove forests, submerged sea grass beds, cordgrass marshes, and West Indian hardwood hammocks. This environmentally vital habitat was saved to protect endangered and threatened species as well as providing habitat for many species of migratory birds. Darling was part of the effort that stopped the state of Florida from selling the land to developers and is attributed with convincing Roosevelt to make it a national refuge. The refuge is a feeding, roosting and nesting area to over 220 species of birds including white pelicans, first pic, that migrate to south Florida for the winter. The refuge also provides habitat to other creatures such as alligators, crocodile, manatee and others. One creature that we found here that we had never seen before was the mangrove tree crab, above. The mangrove tree crab is the only crab other then the hermit crab that can climb trees. We found several of them on the mangrove trees, on the refuge, seemingly basking in the sun.   

Monarch Butterfly

The monarch is the state butterfly of Minnesota. It is perhaps the most well known butterfly in North America. The monarch is a member of the Danainae subfamily. Danaine are butterflies that larva, caterpillar, eat milkweed. The milkweed that the caterpillar eats makes them toxic to many would be predators. The monarch is one of the few butterflies that migrate south for the winter. In the fall they migrate in large numbers to southern California or central Mexico. During the winter large groups of monarchs perch in trees in a sort of suspended animation. Come February and March they awaken, mate, lay eggs and then die. The generation that hatches will move north where they will lay their eggs and begin the process again. Because of their migration monarchs are occasionally found in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Black Skimmer

 The black skimmer is the only member of the skimmer family found in the America's. They are primarily found in South America but some do live in the warm coastal waters of Central America and along the gulf coast of North America. If you look closely at the picture above you may notice that the bottom portion of this birds beak extends out further then the top. This is not an injured bird this is the way that skimmer beaks grow. When they hatch the top and bottom portion of their beaks are the same size but as they begin to grow the bottom portion grows longer then the top. The skimmer uses this adaptation to hunt. They primarily eat small fish which they catch by flying low over the water and extending the lower portion of their beak into the water. When the lower portion hits a fish they snap the upper part of the beak down on it and catch it. Because this form of fishing relies manly on touch the black skimmer often hunts at dusk or dawn and may even hunt into the night. Their are two other skimmers in the world the African and Indian skimmer. All skimmers hunt in the same manner. The black Skimmer is the largest of the three. This photo was taken at South Padre Island in south east Texas.

Wading Birds

There are many species of birds that can be quite territorial. Some species are territorial all of the time while most species are territorial only during the breeding season. Many species of wading birds are not territorial at all. In the picture above there are 3 different species all feeding together. The larger white birds with the pinkish red beaks and legs are white Ibis, the two with white and black backs and brownish heads are American avocet, and the small black and white bird is a black-necked stilt. Besides feeding together many of the wading birds nest communally with many nesting right next to each other. Often times two to 5 species will all be nesting in the same rookery.