Hummingbird Clearwing!
July 20, 2012
This just might be my favorite bug. Photographed last weekend at the Butterfly Garden.
I cranked the shutter speed up to 1/2,000th of a second. Not enough!
Maybe we'll see him on Saturday's walk!
July 2012
Dickcissel Photos!
July 19, 2012
Sean Sime located the Dickcissel this afternoon along the path at the Green Way entrance to the Celery Farm and was nice enough to share a couple of photos here.
Thanks, Sean!
More from eBird on the Dickcissel irruption here.
Rob Fanning Reports: CF Dickcissel!
July 19, 2012
Rob sez:
I was very pleasantly surprised to hear and eventually track down a female-type DICKCISSEL at the CF this morning.
I first saw the bird in flight and it landed in the hedgerow near the cul-de-sac for about 5 minutes before I lost it.
This is the first summer (June-Aug) record for the CF and only my 2nd record here.
It has been a very good summer for them in NJ w/ multiple records from around the state. This bird could very well have nested or attempted to nest locally--as it's quite on the early side for a migrant.
Good numbers of shorebirds continue to use the mudflats--today there were 30+ Least, 2 Semi Sands, 12+ Killdeer, and a Spotted.
4 Rough-winged swallows were buzzing over the lake and 2 Green Herons were also on the mudflats.
Great job, Rob!
Latest 'Bird Watcher': New HBO Special
July 19, 2012
My latest "Bird Watcher" column, in today's Record, is about the pleasures of birding as enumerated by Chris Cooper (in photo above at right) in the new HBO special, "Birders: The Central Park Effect."
I added a couple of my own thoughts after listing Cooper's "Seven Pleasures of Birding."
I included "seeing nuances that I never stopped to notice before — whether it's the exquisite turquoise eyes of a double-crested cormorant or the subtle feather patterns on a female gadwall."
Have you ever really stopped to think why you are attracted to bird-watching? Readers of the column are invited to share their thoughts.
Here's the link to my column.
(Pictured above, from the documentary: author Jonathan Franzen, Starr Saphir, director Jeffrey Kimball, and Chris Cooper. All four are mentioned in my Record writeup of the show (link to my Sunday article on the documentary is here).
Butterfly Walk Preview!
July 18, 2012
We did a little scouting trip to the Butterfly Garden on Saturday and came up with a bunch of great 'flies, including the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail above.
In all we had at least seven species, including many big boys.
Full list and many more pix follow.
Continue reading "Butterfly Walk Preview!" »