wildlife photography – A Thousand Acres of Silphiums

Long-eared Owls Finally!

The Long-eared Owl has been on my top most wanted list for adding to my photographed species list for nearly 15 years. During this past New Years Eve, I finally found that opportunity.

Long-eared Owls are a bit different in that they hold and keep winter roosting sites, sometimes using the same trees or a single tree for these winter roosts year after year. This was the case here, where we found five birds roosting in a couple of exotic pine trees. Unfortunately, all but the one pictured here were too far in the mix of branches to be photographed. I am sure happy to have this one.

I had heard that this species is particularly weary, flushing with the least provocation. I did not find this to be the case at all with this group. Yes, this was a hard to find location and they do not likely see many visitors. When we stepped from the car they did become aware, moving their heads back and forth to get better looks at us from between branches. But, with keeping low voices, slow movements and respectful distances, they got used to our presence fairly quickly. I was even amused that they began ignoring us, turning their backs to us, going back to sleep and having what seemed to me normal behaviors and interactions. We stayed until dusk at which point they began stirring, moving from perch to perch and interacting with one another. This was too dark for still photographs but I did collect a little bit of video that I hope to process and share someday.

I know this is a sought after species in our region. This roost is on private property in which we were invited. I will not be able to share the location information for this site. Thanks for understanding.

Sedge Wren – August 2022

birds, Nesting Birds of Missouri, wildlife, wildlife photography

A cooperative Sedge Wren from August of last year.

Insect’s of Horn’s Prairie Grove LWR

location spotlight, macro, native plants, Uncategorized, WGNSS Field Trips, wildlife, wildlife photography

Part of the Horn’s Prairie Grove LWR with obedient plant blooming in the foreground and joe pye weed behind.

The WGNSS Entomology and Nature Photography Groups had a splendid treat in July of 2022 when we jointly visited Horn’s Prairie Grove Land Water Reserve (LWR) near Ramsey IL. This 40 acre patch represents part of the less than 1% of the remaining southern till plain prairie ecosystem that was nearly wiped from the planet due to land conversion for farming. Even better, about 30 acres are original “virgin” prairie, (the largest intact remnant prairie in IL) meaning these spots were never touched by the plow. Even better still, at this location there lies five different types of prairie habitat: seep/wetland, dry hillside, mesic, black soil and savanna.

Keith Horn, owner and guide to Horn’s Prairie Grove LWR

The story of this land is interesting. The current owners, Keith and Patty Horn, purchased the land in 2001 as “junk land” from an old farmer who’s family had owned since the 1870s. They liked the fact that the majority of the land was in a “wild” state. The untouched 30 acres had been used as a wild hay field, being cut almost yearly. They had noticed some nice wildflowers in bloom but did not realize what they had until a few years into a wildlife habitat improvement plan that included periodic burning. Every year they noticed more and more species in bloom. They have sought help in identifying the plant species here and the current list is now at 619 species, including six native orchid species! Bravo to the Horns for identifying what they had and taking the steps to see their land improved. This remnant prairie could have been destroyed in the blink of an eye if it had fallen into the wrong hands.

Although most of us were simply thrilled to be in such high quality habitat, the primary purpose of the trip was to check out the arthropod life. Unfortunately, in late July, we were there on a truly miserable day of weather. The heat and humidity created a heat index that was well above the safety zone. This meant not many of us had the nerve to do a great deal of walking and searching, especially much after lunch time.

*Efferia aestuans*, the friendly robber (Family Asilidae)

*Calopteryx maculata*, an ebony jewelwing damselfly that was found on the forest and prairie edge.

Members of our group walking among the blooming *Liatris*.

A gorgeous *Poanes zabulon*, Zabulon skipper (Family Hesperiidae)

What I am calling *Wallengrenia egeremet*, the northern broken-dash (Family Hesperiidae)

Keith Horn (back) and Chris Brown (front)

We were lucky to find both Mydas fly species to be found in Illinois, but I was only able to photograph this *Mydas tibialis*.

Interested in making visits to interesting high-quality habitats like this? Then consider joining Webster Groves Nature Study Society! Visit http://www.wgnss.org to find out more.

Everyone’s Favorite Screech

birds, wildlife, wildlife photography

We don’t seem tired of shooting the Eastern Screech Owl…

With hours of waiting, you need to be ready for the brief seconds the bird may open its eyes.

It can be challenging to find a good window to get unobstructed views from the branches of the invasive bush honeysuckle that grows below the tree hole.

2022 Kansas Trip – Long-billed Dowitcher

birds, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, wildlife, wildlife photography

We didn’t have a great deal of diversity in the shorebirds during this early season trip to the “central coast,” but, we had great numbers in the early migrating species like the Long-billed Dowitcher. There may have been some Short-billed Dowitchers mixed in here but none that we could confirm identity. The LBDO uses the central flyway predominantly while the SBDO primarily moves along the coasts during spring migration.

Some Winter Songbirds (Mostly Sparrows)

birds, wildlife, wildlife photography

Here are a few songbirds I’ve photographed over the past couple of winter seasons.

Northern Cardinal

Swamp Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Sarah’s Birthday Caterpillar Hunt – 2022

macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

Sarah and I traditionally conduct a caterpillar hunt on the weekend of her birthday in mid-September and 2022 was no different. This year we headed to Meramec State Park. I had recently heard of a short trail that covered the lush river bottom and contained hundreds of pawpaw trees. My hope was to find caterpillars of zebra longwing butterflies – a cat that has been elusive despite my many attempts at finding a late instar to photograph. We wound up short of this goal again, but we did find quite a few interesting species. I know Sarah will want me to mention that she did indeed win the day by finding more cats than I did. 🙂

*Ceratomia undulosa* (waved sphinx) in the family Sphingidae. This impressive cat was found feeding on an ash (*Fraxinus* sp.).

Although we strike out on the zebra longwings, searching through pawpaws still yield results with other specialist feeders, such as this lovely *Dolba hyloeus* (pawpaw sphinx).

Perhaps because they are so conspicuous, we often have luck finding the cats of the beautiful *Apatelodes torrefacta* (spotted apatelodes moth) in the Apatelodidae family. These come in two flavors – vanilla white and the more pleasing lemon chiffon pictured here.

Perhaps my favorite find of the day was this husk of an unknown caterpillar species having been preyed upon by larvae of an Eulophid wasp, likely an Euplectrus species. These wasps are ectoparasitoids that ride on the backs of their caterpillar hosts. When reaching their final stages in development, they spin webs and pupate within, using the remains of the caterpillar and their webs as cover.

Getting the lighting just right on these was challenging. Here, I tried my best to position the flash to illuminate the number of pupae residing beneath the remains of this poor deceased caterpillar.

Of course we are always on the lookout for larval members of the Limacodidae, or “slug moth” caterpillars. We found lots of saddlebacks (*Acharia stimulea*), including the two seen here. I’ve come to see how widely generalist this species is, having found them not only on numerous woody plant species, but in completely different environments, from dry upland woods to corn fields to humid bottomland forests like the one we were in on this day.

The monkey slug (*Phobetron pithecium*), purposed to be a mimic of tarantula exuvia, never ceases to fascinate me. Like the saddlebacks pictured above, the monkey slug also contains spines that deliver a toxic punch upon contact.

Here you can see the monkey slug’s appendages rising above the leaf it is feeding upon. The problem with being a generalist caterpillar is that these species need to be able to deal with a variety different toxins that reside in the mature leaves of their many host species. This is believed to be the reason it takes the larvae of the Limacodids so much longer to develop compared to similarly-sized caterpillars of other taxa. This comparatively longer development time may also be the selective force that helped drive the development of the stinging spines that are used to defend against parasitoids and other predators.

2022 Kansas Trip – American Bittern

birds, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, wildlife, wildlife photography

Found near the road at Quivira NWR, this American Bittern cooperated a bit until it slinked back into the grasses.

2022 Kansas Trip – Blue-winged Teal

birds, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, wildlife, wildlife photography

It’s about time I begin posting more from our Kansas trip from last April. The Blue-winged Teal is one species that is easy to find at Quivera NWR and Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area. Dave and I had some great light on this evening. We set up low and waited for the Teal and Shovelers to drift by.

Mississippi Kite Nest – Summer 2022

birds, Nesting Birds of Missouri, wildlife, wildlife photography

Many thanks to Chris Brown and his family! They had the incredible fortune of having a Mississippi Kite nest in their front yard this summer. The nest wasn’t really viewable from their house but with great luck, the chick after having left the nest, picked a branch right outside Chris’s son’s window to sit and wait for the parents to bring in food. At this point Chris invited me over on a couple of occasions to watch and photograph. Thanks for the use of your room, Avery! Unfortunately, these couple of days I began coming down with Covid-19 symptoms, inadvertently exposing the Browns and cutting off my time there. Thankfully, none of them picked it up during my visits. Here are some of my favorites of the parents bringing in cicadas and dragonflies.