Lack of Warblers, Plenty of Dragon/Butterflies

Due to a number of forces that conspired against me (whether, scheduling, internships), I somehow managed to not see a new species of warbler for myself this May. That might not be a big deal for many experienced birdwatchers, there are a number of seemingly common and easy to identify species that I have managed to not see in 2 springs of birdwatching, including Chestnut-Sided, Magnolia, and Black-Throated Green & Blue Warblers, plus American Redstarts. Some of this must be chalked up to my inability to go birdwatching naturewatching in many spectacular places for long periods of time. Anyways, enough ranting, here's a show case of some of the wildlife I have taken decent pictures of the last 4 weeks (mostly Odes, Leps, and Herps{and mostly at Ames Nowell, Burrage Pond WMA, and Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanct.}).

We'll start with Ames Nowell: (As always, click the images for larger because they're all uncropped, because that's just how I roll)

Canada Goose

There were 2 Canada Goose pairs with a total of 11 chicks between them (4 & 7) on May 6th, though I haven't seen any sign of the chicks since then (?)

Canada Goslings

On the 24th I found this freshly emerged Baskettail dragonfly all shriveled up under a bush. It's probably a Common Baskettail but it's hard ID Baskettails even when they're not all shriveled up.

Freshly emerged Baskettail sp.

Later in the same day I was swarmed by several Common Baskettails (99% sure), which was very convenient because I was under gnat-attack at the time, though some came pretty close to nailing me in the face.

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail again

I stumbled across this Toad, but (s)he has stumped me as far as an ID goes. Here in Massachusetts we have American Toads and Fowler's Toads. Fowler's Toads, among other things, have 3 or more warty bumps in the largest brown spots and have an unspotted belly, but this guy/gal didn't give me a good view of his belly, and his spots seem to be inconclusive. For now I'm going to go with just Toad species, Bufo sp., but I'm always open to corrections.

Mystery Toad

Coming into this year, there were 2 species that I really wanted to get great pictures of during this year. One is a picture in situ of a Black-Fingered Mud Crab (any of the 4 species around here) and the second is a male White Corporal (one of my favorite dragonflies, if not my favorite). I saw several of the bright white males last year at my local Ames Nowell several times before I started bringing my camera with me, and so I never got a picture of them. White Corporals are a restricted range species, being found in a narrow band from Virginia in the south to Nova Scotia, and there are only a handful of pictures of them, with only one picture of a male not in the hand on Buguide.net.

White Corporal (either immature male or female)

I did come across several White Corporals on the 24th, despite being eaten alive by gnats. I believe both of these individuals whom I got pictures of are immature males (females look very similar), with one appearing to have a forewing that hasn't dried out yet. I haven't had much chance to get back to the location where I saw these 2 to try to photograph them in their shiny white garment, but I will try again asap. From what I gather from books and my our observations, they have a very brief flight period. I can almost literally hear the clock ticking in my head.

White Corporal (I think the right forewing hadn't dried out yet)

So while I didn't quite get the picture I was hoping for for one restricted range species, I did manage to get several pictures of what I'm fairly certain (I'd say about 97% or so) are New England Bluets, both male and female, the following being a female.

New England Bluet

 Ames Nowell has plenty of duskywing butterflies, but duskywings seem to be extra skittish, so getting close enough to get decent pictures with my easyshare camera is particularly difficult, but all the more rewarding.

Dreamy Duskywing

 This picture of a Juvenal's Duskywing, and the others not posted taken right before and after it, is one of the best pictures I've taken so far, though not quite as good as my photo from last fall of an American Lady butterfly.

Juvenal's Duskywing

After a very noteworthy day at World's End (more on that in a later post) I decided to quickly see if there were any White Corporal males by the waterfall at Ames Nowell. No dice, but there were however several Dusky Clubtails (again, ID'd to the best of my ability, but with Dragonflies {especially drab clubtails} I guess you never know) and a possible Blue Corporal, though the one time I had an opportunity to get a picture of one it was too far for a remotely good picture and too close even for my 7X50s.

Dusky Clubtail

Dusky Clubtail

Dusky Clubtail eating a wasp

Also near the waterfall was a Dot-Tailed Whiteface, along with a few more New England Bluets and a Skimming Bluet

Dot-Tailed Whiteface

Well I guess this post will only be about Ames Nowell, and Burrage Pond, Oak Knoll and World's End will just have to wait 'til another time.

Semester over, rains begin

Now that the college semester is over, I was hoping to go birdwatching several times this week all over southeastern Mass, especially at Plymouth Beach and World's End in Hingham. Unfortunately the weather has not cooperated, so here is a selection of photos I managed to take during the few times I was able to go out during the hectic end of the semester. As always, click the pictures to see the larger version.

One of the biggest surprises of my first full year of naturewatching last year was that I did not see a single salamander. Determined to put an end to that, in late April I went outside with my trusty flashlight and camera on a misty cool night, desperately hoping to see salamanders and maybe a Ring-necked Snake. Little did I know last year that there were indeed salamanders right under my nose in my own backyard.

The first night I found 3 Red-backed Salamanders, and found 2 the following night. They were surprisingly easy to spot in the open, but disappeared under the clovers and grass with ease. It's a little alarming how well they are hidden; I'm now worried about stepping on them whenever I walk in my backyard, especially on misty/rainy nights. I tried to use the flash as little as possible so as not to blind them.

In early may I went to Ames Nowell State Park again, as well as Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary several times (more on those trips later), where I managed to get a picture of two Spring Azures mating. Not sure about the exact taxonomy of these two (is anybody?) but I believe that they are two different forms. 

Spring Azures mating

In addition to about 15 Spring Azures, I also saw 3 of the smaller Eastern Tailed-Blues, one of which cooperated with me in the photo department.

Eastern Tailed-Blue with wings open

Eastern Tailed-Blue

None of the Cabbage Whites or sulphur butterflies that I've encountered have been even remotely cooperative. At both Ames Nowell and Oak Knoll, the dirt/leaf liter trails had many duskywing butterflies, which I have to say are some of the most skittish butterflies, or indeed any animal, that I have come across, possibly only losing to Seaside Dragonlet dragonflies in the skittishness contest. However, patience did pull off on one occasion:

Juvenal's Duskywing

On the bugguide.net page for Horace's Duskywing, it says that "Juvenal's Duskywing has gray scaling on the forewing" which fits this individual, so I'm fairly certain that above butterfly is a Juvenal's Duskywing.

Here's hoping the weather gets better so I'll have much better pictures to share and adventures to tell about. 

More Common Garter Snakes at Ames Nowell

I really need to start waking up earlier to get outside around 6-7, instead of not getting around to going out until 1. At least the snakes bailed me out today during my brief afternoon excursion to Ames Nowell State Park. I encountered 4 Common Garter Snakes today, including a young snake that was waiting in ambush near the leaf litter pathways of 2 Least Shrews, or what I'm fairly certain were Least Shrews due to their 1" size, short tails, and faint squeaks. To fully appreciate these pictures, click to enlarge and then zoom in, as they are uncropped.

The young Common Garter Snake stalking the Least Shrews

The second Common Garter Snake of the day...

...in the exact same spot as the one I saw last week.

I'll have to try to compare the markings to see if it's the same individual

3rd Common Garter Snake, found next to a large boulder...

...that I briefly pestered for a few good pictures

And finally a 4th Common Garter Snake escaping my gaze over a log

I did manage to see my first Pine Warblers of the year, after getting a mild case of "Warbler Neck", and got a very, very brief look at a Spring Azure butterfly, which was not cooperative when it comes to taking pictures. In the nest box area at the north end of the pond, there were still no Tree Swallows, though I did count 15 Painted Turtles basking there.
I can't wait for butterfly season to get fully underway and for dragonfly season to start...

UPDATE: I am now convinced that the shrews that I saw were not Least Shrews, as their range apparently does not quite reach this area of Massachusetts. As a result, I don't know what species of shrew they were, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say Northern Short-tailed Shrews, but if that's the case then they must have been young. Guess I blew the ID on that one, but in my defense, the information on mammals, especially small mammals, isn't as comprehensive as the information available on say birds. Oh well, better luck next time.

Great Pond & Great Blue Hill

This past Friday I went to Great Pond in Randolph (also called the Braintree Reservoir I think) for a few hours, and then made my way north to the Blue Hills, taking the red path to the top of Great Blue Hill from the Trailside Museum. At Great Pond, I saw the usual assortment of ducks: Canada Geese, Mallards, Bufflehead, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Greater Scaup (plus unindentified scaup), in addition to my first Northern Flicker of the year, and a female Wild Turkey.

Eastern Elliptio shell on the shore of Great Pond

I think the one on the right might have an injured neck

The Blue Hills were relatively quiet, although I did see 3 Golden-Crowned Kinglets (FoY) and a Red-Breasted Nuthatch (also FoY), so I decided to appreciate the great views of the surrounding areas that Great Blue Hill offered. I also saw my first American Red Squirrel of the year, who I spooked twice in the same spot, which must've been his home.

A very jagged piece of bedrock about halfway up the path

View of Boston from the tower on Great Blue Hill

View of Boston Harbor from the tower

I believe that mountain on the left is Wachusett Mountain

A big rock that I sat on looking out to the west

Pine cone of a Pitch Pine, which is common on the summit

A new pine cone of Pitch Pine

The Trailside Museum was buzzing with activity when I made my way down. White-Breasted Nuthatches, Black-Capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, American Goldfinches, Common Grackles, Rock Pigeons and House Sparrows were all very noisily hanging around the feeders, which were stocked with seed. The goldfinches were nearly completely yellow in breeding plumage, with just a few specks of brown left. Two pairs of House Sparrows were already starting to nest in the nest boxes next to the feeders, with the females bringing nesting material while the males sat in the box.

I can't wait until May, when Great Blue Hill while have Eastern Towhees and Gray Catbirds out the wazzoo, with Tree Swallows, Baltimore Orioles, Indigo Buntings, Prairie Warblers, and Brown Thrashers at the summit, plus dragonflies and butterflies that I'll hopefully be able to get some good pictures of.

Ames Nowell in April: Garter Snake Yes, Tree Swallows No

Hoping to see some Tree Swallows for the first time this year, I headed out to Ames Nowell State Park this past Saturday. Tree Swallows and Tyrant Flycatchers were the main birds I was hoping to see. I'm also now starting to be on the lookup for the early butterflies around here, especially the various elfin species. So I trekked over to the northern area of the pond where 8 Wood Duck nest boxes were set up 2 autumns ago. I didn't see any ducks use the nest boxes last year, however, a pair of Tree Swallows nested in one last year, and I figured this would be a good place to see my first Tree Swallows of the year. On the way to the nest box area, I stumbled across a Common Garter Snake right next to the pond. Because he was pinned against the pond with no where to retreat to, I was able to get a few decent pictures of him/her:

Close up of Common Garter Snake, Click picture for a bigger version

When I got to the nest box area, there were no Tree Swallows in sight, however there were 3 Bufflehead, 2 males 1 female, as well as a pair of Mute Swans. This was the first time I've seen Bufflehead at Ames Nowell in 2 years of birdwatching there. Surprisingly, there were also no Red-Winged Blackbirds calling in the marshes near the nest boxes yet.

Hoping to see a butterfly or Tyrant Flycatcher before the day was out (I slept in far later than I would have liked and so only went out around 1 pm), I journeyed back around to the western side of the pond, where unfortunately I did not see much. I'll have to check back in a week or two...

Dragonflies of 2010 Recap

Last year around June I started bringing my Kodak Easyshare camera with me when I was going birdwatching. I took a few good pictures of some butterflies, which I already posted about, as well as dragonflies and damselflies. Here's a recap of the dragonflies and damselflies that I managed to get decent pictures of. Hopefully I'll get much better pictures this upcoming year.

Harlequin Darner

Fragile Forktail

Eastern Pondhawk Female

Slaty Skimmer Male

Blue Dasher Female

Banded Pennant

Slaty Skimmer Female

Lancet Clubtail Female

Skimming Bluet

Violet Dancer, subspecies violacea of the Variable Dancer Argia fumipennis

Eastern Amberwing

Widow Skimmer Male

Sweetflag Spreadwing

Common Green Darner Female

Common Green Darner Female

Another Skimming Bluet from much later in the year

This is a terrible picture but it's the only one I snapped before it flew away, and a Martha's Pennant is noteworthy enough to include a bad picture of

And finally, an unidentified spreadwing damselfly

Stay tuned for a few more recaps of the pictures I took in 2010, then I'll be all caught up in time for spring.