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Songs And Streaks
Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia), year round residents with streaked feathers and hearts full of song.
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One Of My Irruptive Migrants
This morning nearly caught me doing cartwheels. Almost. But certainly a moment of great joy. I spotted a Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis). One of my favorite birds. But because they are irruptive migrants, I don’t see them every winter. Absence, indeed, makes the heart grow fonder. Irruptive migration is when a species of bird depends…
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Aposematic Coloration
Aposematic coloration. Conspicuous marking or coloring that is meant to send a signal to a potential predator that its possible prey may be at least distasteful or at most poisonous. So many examples. A color technique used by butterflies, skunks, snakes, frogs, bees, wasps, and so many others. This butterfly, above is a perfect example…
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They All Descended Upon The Eastern Red Cedars
It happened today. They all arrived. The Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). All the family. All the friends and neighbors. They’re quite affable and bring along everyone. Often birds of other species too such as the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), will arrive in equal numbers, creating quite the crowd. Both the Cedar Waxwings and the Robins…
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Green Stink Bug
Green Stink Bug (Acrosternum hilaris) surely, if you live in an area with Brown Marmorated Stick Bugs coming into your abode, day and night, SURELY you know that this is NOT the BMSB. The Green Stink Bug is not often seen around here, but I’ve known that it is native to this continent, so I…
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Red
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) eating the red berries of Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida). Nuts, seeds, and berries. Favorites of Cardinals.
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Phoebe in a Flowering Dogwood Tree
Look closely. In a near perfect camouflage, an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), is sitting in a Flowering Dogwood Tree (Cornus florida). Though it would seem the perfect spot for a little bird to stock up on some berries, this Phoebe feeds on insects and arthropods. They’ll also dive into water to catch minnows and other…
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Pawpaw Tree
The Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba), is not the winner of the category “most spectacular color in the woods” during autumn. But it does have a wonderful fruit if you can beat the bears to that fruit. Bears love those Pawpaws. There are many Pawpaw trees here in the mountains, including ones that I’ve planted here…
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Best Autumn Ever (?)
No telling if that is accurate. Who’s to say after all? But I think it is. And this tree? A Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) against a cloudless azure sky. Yellow in so many shades, screaming yellow to butterscotch. One of many wondrous spectacles through the forest as autumn reaches its peak.