Thursday, September 27, 2018

Early Spring Nugget



After hitting it hard on the birding front this spring, my time spent birding dramatically fell off during the summer all the way through this fall migration. 

Being my first full green season in my new home, much of my "free" time was occupied with cultivating my yard to be more enticing to birds and pollinators. The other portions of my "free" time gravitated toward orchids, butterflies and insects. All in all I have to say, birding mostly in my backyard for last 4 months has had the benefit of adding several bird and insect species to my yard list.But I'll save that for another post...


When I look back on the incredible spring birding I witnessed this year, these owls take gold as the best birding patch nugget of spring and likely all of 2018. Any day I see an owl is a damn good day.


What was thought to be one, turned out to be three!


Ah the owls. Relatively uncommon owls. Fortunately it seems these owls escaped the circus that can often ensue around such captivating birds.

Most of the images I captured were digiscoped including this video of the owls preening. For the most part, they appeared oblivious to my presence.


Well except for this stink-eye... 


Here's lookin' at ya!

Winter is coming...but not before fall vagrant season is upon us! There's nothing like a juicy vagrant to fire up the birding adrenaline!

Soul Soothing

I can think of nothing more soul-soothing than the enveloping rays of the sun bidding farewell at the end of a satisfying hike through a desert, marsh or bog.

Spring Green SNA, Sauk Co, WI 12Sept2018
Being more of a night owl than an early bird, I often find myself in these moments....Among the din of crickets and frogs. Cleansed. Harnessing that ephemeral inner peace. Fleeting, but magical nonetheless.

Spring Green SNA, Sauk Co, WI 12Sept2018
September 12th I found myself at Spring Green State Natural Area for my second and likely final trip of the year. Strange yet sensible to have found myself here for only two visits for 2018.

One trip for Prairie Fame-flower...

Prairie Fame-flower, Spring Green SNA (west), Sauk Co, WI 5Aug2018
...and most recently, this second trip to witness September's Splendid Tiger Beetles.

Spring Green SNA bluff Splendid Tiger Beetle habitat, 12Sept2018
Undoubtedly the Splendids are something I look forward to each September, an exquisite reward for a moderately strenuous climb to the top of the bluff.

Splendid Tiger Beetle 12Sept2018
The journey to the top reliably yielded nuggets of Nature's goodness along the way. Oblique Tiger Beetles were numerous along the sand path en route to bluff. This species seems quite prolific in early September whether it be the desert of Spring Green or sandy terrain of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Oblique Tiger Beetle 12Sept2018
Few plants were flowering which is to be expected during this season of senescence. A smattering of Rough Blazing Star and Asters dotted landscape.

Rough Blazing Star, 12Sept2018

Aster species, 12Sept2018
They provided islands of nectar for a small array of butterflies including Eastern Tailed-blue, a species that was present on both my visits to the desert prairie this year.

Eastern Tailed-blue, 12Sept2018
Eventually to the top of the bluff I climbed. Inevitably as I approached my destination, a niggling angst of dipping invaded the serenity of my cognition. However my fears were quickly allayed when my peripheral vision detected the frenetic flight of a Splendid along the path. As I walked slow and methodical I spied another, and another, hooking me into the moment.

Splendid Tiger Beetle 12Sept2018

"Hello grasshopper!" ~Splendid Tiger Beetle 12Sept2018
These metallic nuggets of eye-candy endeared me for a good part of nearly an hour at which point I nudged myself to begin my descent back to the desert prairie and my car.

Splendid Tiger Beetle 12Sept2018

Splendid Tiger Beetle 12Sept2018
Surprisingly, as glorious as the Splendid Tiger Beetles were, the Virginia Big-headed Tiger Beetles I found in the desert below were the pinnacle insect for the trip.

Virginia Big-headed Tiger Beetle, 12Sept2018
Having only seen this species once before, I was elated to find several that cooperated for photos. This species is known for being crepuscular. So I had hopes when I set out for Spring Green in the late afternoon that I might reap the reward of witnessing these buggers scurrying along the path near dusk. I could not have wished for more, or four to be exact.

Virginia Big-headed Tiger Beetle, 12Sept2018
Brimming with Nature's goodness, I hiked the remaining southern stretch of the trail in near darkness. Intermittently I found my thoughts being deafened by a crescendo of crickets. However, through the din of Nature's sometimes shrill accompaniment, I heard a distant and unseasonable call of a Whip-poor-will from the bluff. And as darkness continued to eclipse me, with the rising crescent moon by my side, my soul felt blanketed in the soothing near absence of light, in the stillness of the moment.

Peace had settled into my viscera along with a salient sense of satisfaction. Farewell to my dearest desert prairie. Until next year...



Wednesday, September 5, 2018

More Cow Path!

Saturday, August 25th, following my last trip north for hummingbird banding, I stopped on a whim to search for northern Wisconsin tiger beetles. Heading south through Vilas county, I spotted some promising sand on my Google satellite map. I could have continued south to chase a Wisconsin life Swallow-tailed Kite. Instead I opted to take advantage of one of my last opportunities of the year to find Cow Path and Boreal Long-lipped tiger beetles. Plus I figured if the kite stuck I could chase it another day.

Cow Path Tiger Beetle (Cicindela purpurea purpurea) , Vilas Co, WI 25Aug2018
I highly desired to find a Cow Path tiger beetle since I had only seen this species on one other occasion a few years ago. My wager on tiger beetles paid off in spades. I found both Cow Path and Boreal Long-lipped tiger beetles along with a numerous collection of a few other species.

Cow Path Tiger Beetle (Cicindela purpurea purpurea) , Vilas Co, WI 25Aug2018
This entomological honeypot didn't just host Cow Path and Boreal Long-lipped tiger beetles, but also an overall abundance of tiger beetles that I have not witnessed before.

Vilas County "honey pot"
In addition to the two Cow Path tiger beetles pictured above, I estimated seventy Cicindela scutellaris lecontei (Festive),

Festive Tiger Beetle (Cicindela scutellaris lecontei), Vilas Co, 25Aug2018

Festive Tiger Beetle (Cicindela scutellaris lecontei), Vilas Co, 25Aug2018

Eighteen Cicindela formosa generosa (Big Sand),

Big Sand Tiger Beetle (Cicindela formosa generosa), Vilas Co, WI 25Aug2018

Big Sand Tiger Beetle (Cicindela formosa generosa), Vilas Co, WI 25Aug2018

eight Cicindela tranquebarica tranquebarica (Oblique),

Obliqued-lined Tiger Beetle (Cicindela tranquebarica tranquebarica), Vilas Co, WI 25Aug2018

and one Cicindela longilabris longilabris (Borel Long-lipped).

Boreal Long-lipped Tiger Beetle (Cicindela longilabris longilabris0, Vilas Co., WI 25August2018
The abundance of Festive tiger beetles made for a nice study of the variation in maculations seen on this species. Ten to twelve beetles were visible at a time as we methodically moved forward along a short stretch of sand two-track. Most were quite skittish, intolerable of close approach. Hence the doc shot quality of some of these photos. 

 A few butterflies and other insects were present as well. However I was too immersed in the tiger beetles to bother with identifying most of the other insects presents. I did find this obliging buffalo tree hopper right before my flash battery died.



And I even got the Swallow-tailed Kite the following day!