This week is National Moth Week, including an event Tuesday night in DeKorte Park. Can you help identify the awesome silk moth above, photographed at Montauk this weekend?
More on Meadowlands Moth Night here.
More on National Moth Week here.
Photo by Ken and Sally Wiegand. (Thank, guys!)
Terry Doss took this cool dragonfly last week along the Marsh Discovery Trail at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.
Can anyone ID the species from the photo? (Courtesy of the Meadowlands Nature Blog.)
Fred's Field this morning featured both kinds of clear-winged moths (Snowberry and Hummingbird), several Viceroys and a Cabbage White that had the good sense to land on some beautiful yellow flowers.
Hummingbird Clearwing is above left. Click image to enlarge.
The Butterfly Walk is this Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
Monday's mystery was a two-parter. I think the first part was too easy, so no one answered the second...
Who dese?
Ever see them perch together?
The answer to the first question is a Black Vulture and a Turkey Vulture.
I had never seen just two of them perched together like this before, nor has Stiles Thomas.
Has anyone else?
On July 8, I asked:
Can you identify these two dragonflies, photographed last week in Fred's Field in the Celery Farm?
It was the first I was able to photograph one of 'em.
Turns out I only got one right. Or maybe I got confused.
The guy on the left is a Halloween Pennant, seen frequently in Fred's Field by the Green Way entrance. The second guy I took to be a Red Saddlebags. But Joe Lafferty (who ID'd the Halloween Pennant, said the guy on the right is a Calico Pennant. (Thanks, Joe!)
And when I thought I was getting a better photo of what I thought was a Red Saddlebags, Denise Farrell I.D.'d it as a Widow Skimmer, which I usually see along Phair's Pond. (And I thought skipper butterflies were hard to ID.!)
On closer inspection, you can see a difference. I guess the Celery Farm needs a dragonfly I.D, pamphlet. At least I do!
As part of my talk at the Christian Health Care Center today, I promised I would post some links I discussed.
The link to my free "Best of the Bird Watcher" e-book (above) is here.
The link to "Survival," my e-book on the Red-shouldered Hawks of Allendale, is here.
The Duke Farms interactive Bald Eagle e-book was designed by Mimi Sabatino and includes a ton of information about Duke Farms' Bald Eagles as well as the Bald Eagle's amazing comeback in New Jersey and beyond -- plus plenty of excellent links.
Also featured: Some great photography by Kevin Watson.
You can view it here.
The Bald Eagles in the Meadowlands & Beyond e-book -- a nifty collaborative effort --can be viewed or downloaded here:
Download BaldEaglesintheMeadowlandsBeyondSoft.
And don't forget the free Butterfly Walk at the Celery Farm the day before, Saturday, July 27.
Our annual Celery Farm Butterfly Walk has been moved back to Saturday, July 27, because of the hot temperatures forecast for this weekend.
(Could be more butterflies later in the month, too.)
The annual walk is held in memory of Tom Burr, the late Fyke member, naturalist, photographer, and friend.
Meet at the end of Green Way at 10:30 a.m. for a 90-minute stroll.
Dress for bright sun. Bring water and sunscreen. Rain cancels this walk.
Leader: the indefatigable Fred Weber.
For a sneak preview of the 9th annual Butterfly Day at DeKorte Park (details on that on a post tomorrow), I went on Bergen County Audubon's butterfly walk today.
The weather was hot and sunny, but we had lots of butterflies and a Snowberry Clear- winged Moth -- and so many Coneflowers, Bee Balm and other native plants.
Plus that always amazing view of the Manhattan skyline.
A list of the 14 species I saw follows.
Many Monarchs
Black Swallowtail
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Question Mark
Umpteen Red Admirals
A couple of Ladies that never landed long enough to I.D.
Broad-winged Skippers
Silver-spotted Skipper
Common Buckeye (at the very end)
American Snout (briefly)
Wild Indigo Duskywing
Summer Azure
Orange Sulphurs
Cabbage Whites
(Click image to view thumbnails.)
Each time I walk around the Celery Farm between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. nowadays, I see a few more butterflies and anther species or two.
Yesterday I saw three Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, including the one above in the Butterfly Garden (which is looking great, thanks to our volunteers).
The annual Tom Burr Memorial Butterfly Walk is Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Meet at the Green Way entrance.
I have a confession to make. I love butterflies but my favorite insect of summer just might be the Hummingbird Clear-winged Moth, a jaw-dropper if I ever saw one.
This guy just might be the most beautiful one I've ever seen -- earlier today in Fred's Field at Green Way.
I have been waiting for weeks for this guy (and for Great-spangled Fritillaries).
I hope the Clear-wing hangs around until Fred and Deedee's Butterfly Walk on Saturday. Would love to have a moth steal the show.
More about Hummingbird Clearwings here.
And speaking of moths, National Moth Week starts Saturday, More here.
Meadowlands Moth Night is next Tuesday at DeKorte Park from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Free to all.