Photo by Chris Bosak Monarch on milkweed, Brookfield, CT, summer 2019.
It’s been a great year for monarchs, at least in the meadows I’ve been walking in. That is particularly good news because of the dire predictions about the monarch population that surfaced a few years ago. From what I’ve read, monarchs are more plentiful this year on both their summer and winter grounds. Let’s hope that trend continues for this iconic species.
Here’s a monarch all covered in pollen.
Photo by Chris Bosak Monarch covered in pollen, Brookfield, CT, summer 2019.
Photo by Chris Bosak
Eastern tiger swallowtail, Brookfield, CT, summer 2019.
Here’s the first of many butterfly photos I took this week during walks at Happy Landings in Brookfield, Connecticut. The vast meadows are home to a great number and variety of butterflies.
I’m kicking off the Birds of New England unofficial Butterfly Weekend with this shot because the butterfly’s wings are still perfectly intact. Many butterflies have wings that are damaged due to predators, weather or any other number of factors. These wings are as yet unscathed.
Photo by Chris Bosak A least sandpiper seen in New England.
This moment existed only because of the heavy rains we experienced last week. The body of water was small, shallow, algae-ridden and not at all something to behold.
OK, it was a puddle. No more, no less … your typical run-of-the-mill puddle.
Until a least sandpiper showed up and transformed the puddle into an exotic waterscape. The small shorebird was migrating south earlier this week and saw the puddle as the perfect place to rest and perhaps find an easy meal.
It had flown in from somewhere up north and was on its way to points south. But for a few hours anyway, home was a puddle in New England.
The bird paid little attention to me as I watched and photographed it for several minutes. Migrating birds can be like that. They are intensely focused on fueling and resting for their long journey.
The funny thing about the sighting was the location of the puddle. It exists on and off — depending on the weather — at a dirt parking area that Continue reading →
Here’s a shot from the close-up meadow series I did for the Darien Land Trust five years ago. I came across many strange things during my time in the meadows that summer. It’s amazing what you find when you tune out everything except your immediate surroundings.
Treehoppers, not to be confused with planthoppers, are often called “thorn bugs” because of their appearance.
I posted last week about seeing a family of pileated woodpeckers looking for insects in my backyard. Also last week, I had a chance encounter with another one of my favorite woodpecker species: the northern flicker.
I was drawn to the backyard as I heard a flicker noisily issuing its alarm call over and over. It turns out, a cat was walking through the yard and several birds were scolding the feline. The flicker, however, was by far the loudest and most agitated. There were most likely young flickers around but I didn’t see them.
Flickers are handsome birds with an interesting assortment of colors and decorations. Note the bib under the neck and spots on the chest and belly. The bird shown in the photographs is a female. Males have a black “mustache.”
The northern flicker is made up of two subspecies: yellow-shafted flicker and red-shafted flicker, which were once considered two separate species. Here in New England, we have the yellow-shafted variety. The name comes from the yellow feathers on the underside of the tail and wings.
Photo by Chris Bosak A young pileated woodpecker knocks on a fallen tree trunk as it looks for insects, Danbury, Conn., summer 2019.Photo by Chris Bosak A young pileated woodpecker knocks on a fallen tree trunk as it looks for insects, Danbury, Conn., summer 2019.Photo by Chris Bosak A young pileated woodpecker knocks on a fallen tree trunk as it looks for insects, Danbury, Conn., summer 2019.
Photo by Chris Bosak A pileated woodpecker knocks on a fallen tree trunk as it looks for insects, Danbury, Conn., summer 2019.
I heard a loud banging from my side yard the other day. I assumed a neighbor was doing some work involving a hammer as noises echo and carry far in the small lake community in which I live.
Like any good, nosy neighbor, I stepped onto the deck to see what was going on. The noise was coming from the edge of the woods and it wasn’t a neighbor with a hammer at all, it was four pileated woodpeckers looking for a meal. The main noisemaker was the adult male who was banging away on a tree trunk that had fallen to the ground many, many years ago. He was perched on top of the trunk and a young male was a few feet away on the ground watching his dad go to work. An adult female and another youngster (I couldn’t tell the gender) were working on the trunks of nearby standing trees.
Twice, the adult male found an insect or worm and stretched its neck toward the youngster to offer the morsel. The youngster, of course, accepted. The daddy pileated woodpecker worked its way along the fallen trunk and eventually flew to the nearby trunk where the mother was busy looking for meals. The young male took his father’s place atop the fallen trunk and started pounding some holes of his own. I couldn’t tell if he was successful or not, but he certainly learned a thing or two by watching his parents at work.
Male and female pileated woodpeckers have red heads. Only males have the red “mustache” extending from the bill.
Here’s one of the adult feeding the youngster. I was a fair distance away and didn’t want to get closer and risk breaking up the family group, hence the poor quality of the photo.
Photo by Chris Bosak A pileated woodpecker feeds a youngster, Danbury, Conn., summer 2019.
Photo by Will Bosak A cicada emerges from its nymph exoskeleton on a tree in Danbury, Conn., summer 2017.
Here’s the second species for my new “stranger things” series. Cicadas are best known for the tremendous amount of noise they produce, but they are also quite strange-looking creatures. A few years ago, my son Will and I were lucky enough to stumble across a cicada emerging from the exoskeleton that had protected it during its nymph stage.
Finally, here are some more photos from Birds of New England.
Photo by Chris Bosak A cicada emerges from its nymph exoskeleton on a tree in Danbury, Conn., summer 2017.Photo by Chris Bosak A cicada climbs a blade of grass in a meadow property of the Darien Land Trust, summer 2013.
I would never turn down the opportunity to write a story about New England moose, even if the subject is a bit somber. So when The Keene Sentinel asked if I would do an update story on the moose’s decline, I happily obliged.
Moose are my favorite New England wildlife watching target. Unfortunately, winter ticks and brain worm are taking a heavy toll on moose throughout New England.
With an intense heat wave gripping much of the country, including New England, and many people confined to their air-conditioned homes, it seems like an opportune time to start a new series of photos called “stranger things.”
I’m stealing the title from a popular Netflix show, of course, but this series of photos will feature strange-looking creatures found in New England. I have plenty of fodder in my basement and yard, but I will venture into the field for some shots, as well.
I’ll start with the dobsonfly, a large and intimidating-looking insect. I noticed this one the other day clinging to the side of my house near my deck. This is a female dobsonfly as it has a small mandible. Males have large mandibles and look even more fierce.
Like most intimidating-looking creatures in New England, dobsonflies are harmless to humans — although I’ve read that females can inflict a painful bite if provoked.
Birds of New England.com 