Category Archives: Sightings

Sightings in brief, 7.27.2010

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Damsels and dragons

Around 2:00 this afternoon while working on a project, I glanced at the window of my second-floor office and saw a tiny odonate hovering outside looking in. The abdomen was very slender, and the creature had the delicate appearance of a damselfly. Face, thorax, and abdomen all looked yellow-orange. I looked closely at the thorax and face thinking it might be a Citrine, but those parts of the body were the same color, or close to the same color, as the abdomen. I didn’t notice black on the segments, but there might have been some. The tip of the abdomen was slightly clubbed and looked slightly more intensely colored than the rest.

Butterflies

My first yard Pearl Crescent and a Tiger Swallowtail (yellow form) were flying in the garden. The swallowtail nectared on the several Swamp Milkweed plants.

Morning roundup, 7.22.2010

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[Butterflies and In bloom updated below]

First, sightings from yesterday morning and evening

Morning

A hummingbird visited the yard and nectared her way through various species, finishing with the single remaining Buttonbush bloom.

Evening

While I was wandering around the backyard late in the evening (around 7:45) a spreadwing flew in front of me and perched on a Swamp Milkweed leaf of the plant just northeast of the wild plum. Just as the one a few weeks ago did, this one had blue on S9.

I tried to get a photo, a stupid thing to do, as it spooked the damselfly when it seemed it was ready to roost for the evening.

Birds

The usual so far this morning. I’ve put the favored nectar feeder back up, so I expect to see more hummingbirds, or at least to have more frequent visits.

  • Northern Cardinal (1 male)
  • Carolina Wren
  • House Finch (1 male, 1 female/young)
  • House Sparrow (2 male, 11 female/young, including the individual I [so imaginatively] call “White Top”, who has been around just about a year)
  • Rock Pigeon (21)
  • Common Grackle (1 adult)
  • Mourning Dove (2)
  • American Goldfinch (1 male)
  • Chimney Swift (2)
  • American Robin (1 young)

Odonates

  • Fragile Forktail
  • Citrine Forktail

The Citrine didn’t let me get a photo of it. It seems to like the low vegetation.

Butterflies and Moths

One lone, battered Summer Azure was out early. This has been another bad year for yard butterflies.

UPDATE:
Shortly after I complained about the lack of butterflies in the yard a Little Yellow, a skipper (very bright, probably a Fiery), and a dark swallowtail flew in.

Others

Assorted flies and bees, which I’m not yet up to identifying.

It looks as though the Black-tailed Red Sheetweavers [that were in the Golden Alexander on the north side of the plum] were washed away by the rain on July 18. Various tiny orb weavers are scattered throughout the backyard—some are so small they’re nearly invisible.

In bloom

[Updated to include Switchgrass (how could I forget?), Butterfly Weed, 2 Coreopsis sp., Mexican Hat Flower, Joe Pye Weed, Petunia, Russian Sage, Nicotiana sp.]

Once again the summer bloomers have gotten out of hand, but it’s too late to do much about it without destroying tiny webs and eggs.

  1. Switchgrass
  2. Sweet Coneflower
  3. Mexican Hat Flower
  4. Purple Coneflower
  5. Buttonbush (one button)
  6. Royal Catchfly
  7. Rose Verbena
  8. Tall Larkspur
  9. Fame Flower
  10. Swamp Milkweed
  11. Common Milkweed (just barely)
  12. Butterfly Weed
  13. Joe Pye Week
  14. Duck Potato
  15. Canna
  16. Daylily
  17. Pink Coreopsis
  18. Coreopsis sp. (2 species)
  19. Leopard Flower (a volunteer I need to eliminate)
  20. Petunia
  21. Russian Sage
  22. Nicotiana sp.

Yard odonates

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I’ve begun taking a closer look at various insects that visit the yard and have been paying special attention to the dragonflies and damselflies. There has been a minimum of four species of dragonfly, including the saddlebags that fly overhead, and four of damselfly in the backyard.

At least four Fragile Forktails have been flying in the garden the past two days. These tiny beauties are surprisingly easy to see when you’re looking for them. The most exciting visitor so far has been a Citrine Forktail, which I’m told is rare in the Saint Louis area.

I haven’t yet uploaded the photo of the female Common Whitetail.

Damsels

  • Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile)—I think · July 14, 2010 · Backyard
  • Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile)—I think · July 14, 2010 · Backyard
  • Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) · July 19, 2008 · Backyard on aster

Dragons

  • Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) · June 19, 2010 · Backyard
  • Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) · June 19, 2010 · Backyard
  • Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) · June 21, 2010 · Backyard

Great Backyard Bird Count 2010, day 1

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I’m pleased to find that my energy and enthusiam for the things I like in life are returning now that I’m retired.

Yesterday morning after physical therapy (which I’m undergoing after having managed to injure the rotator cuff on my pitching arm), I went to Tower Grove Park, where I counted on the east side, just short of the central circle.

Within a few minutes of beginning I saw an accipiter, which I spent at least fifteen minutes on, trying to decide whether it was a Cooper’s or a Sharp-shinned. This was a small hawk, not much bigger than a kestrel (I exaggerate, but only slightly). If it was a Coopers’s, it was surely a male. Its nape looked pale, to me; I didn’t see clearly whether or not its hackles were raised.

It wasn’t a spectacular count; only 19 species. I was in the park from 9:00 to 10:40.

Tufted Titmice were absent until the end of the count, when I saw several. The last bird of the morning was a Hairy Woodpecker.

Here’s the list:

  1. Accipiter sp. (probable Cooper’s Hawk): 1
  2. Mourning Dove: 2
  3. Red-headed Woodpecker: 1
  4. Red-bellied Woodpecker: 2
  5. Downy Woodpecker: 2
  6. Hairy Woodpecker: 1
  7. Northern Flicker: 2
  8. Blue Jay: 2
  9. Tufted Titmouse: 3
  10. Carolina Chickadee: 2
  11. White-breasted Nuthatch: 2
  12. American Robin: 50
  13. European Starling: 8
  14. Northern Cardinal: 7
  15. Dark-eyed Junco: 20
  16. Brown-headed Cowbird: 1
  17. Red-winged Blackbird: 10
  18. House Finch: 2
  19. American Goldfinch: 3

Most of these are undercounted. As per the rules, I only counted as many as were in my field of vision at any time (with the exception of those that are sexually dimorphous).

I should mention that the Red-winged Blackbirds and House Finches were singing.