Is it what I think it is? I ran it through the Merlin app, which had no clue...

A reader writes:

This is a problem we never had before. Any ideas why birds are pooping in birdbaths?

Name the bird and that red thing out the back.

Seen laying eggs in Mahwah.

How do you tell the difference between an Eastern Painted Turtle (native)  and a Red-eared Slider (invasive)?

This is all I could find in a hurry on the net:

http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/facts/painted_turtle_vs_red-eared_slider.html

My friend who saw the turtle writes:

"I should have measured the turtle before she disappeared.  Some of the candidates for ID have maximum length of 3 to 4.5 inches.  This turtle was definitely over five inches. 

"I didn't want to disturb her egg laying and so did not interrupt her and turn her over.  When I magnified photos I saw yellow on face and red stripes on front legs. 

What do you think?

In my last post, i mentioned I had seen a toad in Barbara's Bog and a Wild Turkey with poults in the Dead Zone.

Where are these places, you might ask. (Someone already did.)

They are on the Celery Farm trail map, created by the talented Deedee Burnside.

There's a map on the Fyke Nature Association website, here.

Barbara's Bog, by the way, was so named when it was a meadow. It may have been named after a woman who donated some land for the preserve, It is now woods.

The Dead Zone is just after you head north from the Celery Farm parking lot.

Few birds are seen there (hence the names), but there have been some memorable ones, including a Prothonotary Warbler and a LeConte's Sparrow.

(Thanks, Deedee!)