Category Archives: Yard

Picking back up after a bit of a break

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A break of more than a year, actually, so this post will be brief. Wouldn’t want to strain any under-used writing parts.

Birds

Common Yellowthroats are back in the yard—and some newcomers, all this past week:

  • Swainson’s Thrush (on the wire over the garage)
  • Black-throated Green Warbler, adult male
  • Palm Warbler

The Black-throated Green and Palm bring the warbler list to nine:

  1. Tennessee Warbler
  2. Orange-crowned Warbler
  3. Nashville Warbler
  4. Magnolia Warbler
  5. Black-throated Green Warbler
  6. Palm Warbler
  7. Mourning Warbler
  8. Common Yellowthroat
  9. Wilson’s Warbler

Lepidoptera

Newcomers this year:

  • Giant Swallowtail
  • White-lined Sphinx

In bloom

The short list includes:

  • Rose Turtlehead
  • White Turtlehead
  • Sweet Coneflower
  • Long-headed Coneflower (just barely)
  • Heath Aster (finally!)

I expect the New England Asters to have a few open blooms by the end of the day.

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.

Yard Checkered White

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There was a Checkered White in the yard late this morning. I almost missed it. Chuck and I were listening to “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” when I saw a white butterfly come into the yard. I always pick up the binoculars to check what always turns out to be a Cabbage White, and I thought “another Cabbage White—do I really need to use the binoculars on this one?” But I used them, it wasn’t what I thought, and here it is:

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Yesterday’s (7.23.2010) yard

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Last night roughly 40 Chimney Swifts were flying over 11th Street, a nice sight!

Dragons and Damsels

On the 21st and the 23rd there was a dragonfly in the yard that I’m almost certain is a teneral Blue Dasher, but one feature perplexes me: a shimmery, red cast in the wing in some light.

I’m too new at dragonflies to make the kind of knee-jerk identification I made of a Common Whitetail—I didn’t look closely enough to be sure it wasn’t a Widow Skimmer. Sigh. I’m learning.

Also in the yard were two Fragile Forktails and a bluet.

Spiders

There was what looked like a sheetweaver web in the Golden Alexander, but no sign of the spiders.