"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
Ants and most flies that are abundant around my milkweed are nectar robbers – providing no pollination services for the plant. I do see flies from time to time that might carry a pollinia, and sometimes a lightweight like the housefly pictured above will get a leg or two stuck and be unable to free itself. That’s what these ants are waiting for. Here we see the ants beginning to dissect their prey while it struggles to free itself.
In nesting season, the Dunlin (AKA Red-backed Sandpiper) is the most strikingly colored of the calidrid sandpipers; however, as the name suggests, in winter this bird is downright plain, grayish-tan. Dun.
This species is considered to be one of the most abundant shorebirds in the world, but they are relatively infrequently seen as migrants in the Mississippi Flyway. Steve and I saw barely a handful this spring in Kansas.
The Dunlin are in the air and all,as by an invisible broom,
are swept into a perfect unison of movement . . .
thousands of leadership birds with the cohesion of one body,
supported from one pair of wings.
-H. J. Massingham
Thanks for visiting…
OZB
email: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com
At nearly 1300 described species in North America alone, the Long-legged Flies (Dolichopodidae) are ubiquitous, under-studies and totally unappreciated. Little is known about most of this group’s life histories and habits, especially as larvae. These guys are under appreciated because few know or applaud their function as key predators in backyard and agricultural habitats. Both larval and adult forms of dolichipodids eat a wide variety of pest insects, including other flies, mites, aphids, scale insects and beetles.
I have discerned three Long-legged species in the backyard and have been able to photograph the two pictured in this post. The most well known and common have the multi-colored, metallic luster of the insect in the first photograph, while the other is more earth-toned and with a pair of dark spots on its wings.
Many species in this family are known for elaborate mating dances, equipped with colored flags on their front legs that they use to seduce and entice potential mates. Sexual selection is even at work on the insects. No one escapes…
OZB
email: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com
One dream I have is to visit the tundra nesting grounds of the shorebirds in the arctic of northern Alaska and witness the territorial displays and nesting activities of these fascinating creatures. Probably the species I am most keen on observing would have to be the Pectoral Sandpiper.
The “Pec” looks like a larger, slightly better dressed Least Sandpiper, and are relatively common to see during migration in Missouri. It is when on the nesting grounds when this “pre-lek” species shows its true colors. Watch this video and this video. Their “thunder booming”, reminiscent of a Prairie Chicken, while in flight display is truly impressive and can be heard here:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/139702/embed?simple=1
As the above photo suggests, this is a species more comfortable with its feet in grass than on the sand or mud, such as typically found with other calidrids.
Well, see you in Alaska one lovely summer day. 😉
Thanks for stopping by.
OZB
email: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com
Anyone who has spent any amount of time studying flowers in the backyard garden has at some point noticed Syrphid flies. Known as hover flies, flower flies, bee flies and other names, this group is most well known for mimicking bees and wasps (Batesian mimicry). This small guy was captured feeding on my Ohio Spiderwort this spring.
This is quite the important group of insects. The Syrphids are major pollinators for numerous flowering plants, potentially as important as native bees in this service. Larvae in this group may feed on rotting vegetation and many species will feed on aphids and other plant pests. The rather large bee fly pictured above was found feeding on a Common Milkweed in the backyard.
Eating and making baby Syrphids… If it isn’t already on a T-shirt, it should be. I often find these guys doing the Diptera 12-step in my backyard. If we did that, we’d be thrown in jail!
Thanks for stopping by…
OZB
email: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com
The Snowberry Clearwing is a member of the Sphinx Moths (AKA Hawk Moths). Its name comes from the fact that one of this species important larval foods is the Snowberry plant. Sphinx moths are important pollinators and are often mistakenly identified as Hummingbirds or Bumble Bees due to their size and their habits of visiting flowers. Most Sphinx Moths are active nocturnally or at dawn and dusk, but the Snowberry Clearwing is diurnal. One Missouri favorite, the Missouri Evening Primrose of glade habitats, shares an obligate pollination mutualism with a species of Hawk Moth, meaning that no other animal can provide pollination services for this plant. This is a photography project someday in the future!
The caterpillars of these moths are known as “hornworms”, and they are just as fascinating as the adults. Included in this group is the Tobacco Hornworm, which is a notorious pest on tomato plants. A useful natural controller of hornworms are the parasitoid braconid wasps that lay their eggs on the developing moth and whose larvae then eat the caterpillar from the inside out.
Next time you are in the garden, take a closer look at that bumblebee or hummingbird. It might not be what you assume it to be!
Thanks for visiting…
OZB
email: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com
The Semipalmated Sandpiper is the “middle child” of the three trickiest of the peeps. At certain times of the year, it can be downright difficult to distinguish the “Semi” from a Western, but under most conditions it should be relatively straight forward telling this bird apart from the Least Sandpiper. Minor differences between the Least and the Semi include the Semi being slightly larger, slightly grayer and containing more white on its breast. The primary differences, however, can be seen in the legs. The legs of the Semi are black and its toes are partially webbed, contrasting with the clean toes and yellow-green legs of the Least.
The Semi is a long-haul migratory bird. These little ones winter throughout Central and South America and nest in the arctic and high arctic regions of North America. To reach these nesting grounds, these birds will fly nonstop for up to several thousands of miles, only stopping at important staging grounds such as the salt flats of Quivira.
Thanks for visiting.
OZB
email: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com
Found rarely in Missouri, the Yellow-headed Blackbird was a real treat for Steve and me to find in Kansas. I had seen one or two during our trip out west last September, but not in the numbers we were to experience this spring at Quivira.
Their habitat preferences, habits and behaviors seemed to me to be quite similar to the more familiar to the easterner – Red-winged Blackbird. Most will not agree, but I found the song of this species to be preferable to the Red-winged.
We found a couple flocks that were surprisingly large. Containing a goodly number of Brown-headed Cowbirds, we watched these flocks roll across the wetlands as the clouds rolled with the winds across the big skies of Kansas.
Thanks for looking.
OZB
email: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 