A Thousand Acres of Silphiums

Golden Eagle – 2024

Most of my outings over the recent holiday break were pretty slow. Probably due to the warmer winter season so far, finding birds of any sort has been problematic to say the least. I did have some fortune on a trip up to Pike County, Missouri on December 19th, when I found and got my best photos to date of a couple of Golden Eagles.

I am no expert in aging Golden Eagles and it seems to be a bit tricky even for those who are familiar. I believe this first bird would be considered an immature stage, likely between 1 and 3.5 years of age.

Another look at an immature Golden Eagle

This next bird I believe to be a full adult of at least five years.

Here is the same adult Golden Eagle getting into it with a Bald Eagle. This is something I have seen on several occasions when observing the Golden Eagles in Pike County.

Adult Golden Eagle and adult Bald Eagle getting familiar

Sometime patience really pays off. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to visit some places on multiple occasions to increase my chances at an opportunity like this. Hopefully we’ll be getting some real winter weather that will stick around and be able to get more opportunities this season.

-OZB

New Peregrine Falcon at Clarence Cannon NWR

Bird Species of Conservation Concern, birds, Nesting Birds of Missouri, wildlife, wildlife photography

I had the opportunity to visit Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge in Pike County a few times during my holiday break. During each visit, I encountered this first-year Peregrine Falcon in the same particular cottonwood tree that is usually popular with the area’s raptors.

“Wok Sape” a first-year Peregrine Falcon female

I was fortunate to get nice looks and photos that I could clearly see the band information on the left leg. Looking up the information on the Midwest Peregrine Society website, this appears to be a young female bird, named “Wok Sape.” She was hatched on May 21st of this year in Winona County, MN.

According to the Midwest Peregrine Society, the average dispersal distance of female falcons from their natal sites is 345 km (~214 miles). I am still waiting to hear back from the bander that the bird pictured here is indeed “Wok Sape.” If this is indeed the bird I found, then she has moved approximately 645 km (~400 miles) from her hatching location in about four months or so.

As raptors like to do, I watched as this young falcon was harassed a bit by a passing Northern Harrier as seen below.

A passing Northern Harrier passing close to young Wok Sape for close inspection. The Harrier tried to get as close as possible, attempting to land on a nearby branch, but eventually decided the falcon was too well concealed in the branches and left.

2024 Caterpillar Season – That’s a Wrap!

2024 Caterpillar Season, insects, Lepidoptera, macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

I believe this is the last I have to share from this year’s caterpillar season. Overall, I think this was a successful season and I had a lot of fun finding some cool species. I still have tons to learn and species to find. I’m hoping to continue this next year and hopefully get going on early season hunting. This is quite difficult because the spring and early summer are great for things like birds and plants as well. I need more Saturdays!

I’ll finish up with this fantastic late season walnut sphinx caterpillar (Amorpha juglandis) that I found at Onondaga Cave State Park in late September. I finally noticed that this genus name, Amorpha, is shared with one of my favorite groups of plants, the false indigos, like Amorpha fruticosa. I looked this up and Amorpha comes from Greek for “shapeless” or “deformed.” This genus of plants received this name due to their having only one petal on their flowers, unlike the rest of the Fabaceae.

Amorpha juglandis has been in a few other genera and now is placed in it’s own monotypic genus. I have not been able to find out which particular characteristic provides the “deformed” nature for the Amorpha epithet. If you know this, I’d be grateful to learn this.

2024 Caterpillar Season – Red-crossed Button Slug

2024 Caterpillar Season, insects, Lepidoptera, macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

Red-crossed Button Slug
Tortricidia pallida fam. Limacodidae
Host plant: red oak member (Quercus sp.)
Dates found: 14, Sep, 2024
Locations Found: Kaintuck Hollow, Phelps County, MO
Notes: Although we supposedly have two other button slug species in Missouri, this is the only one I’ve been able to identify. Very common.

2024 Caterpillar Season – Silvery Checkerspot

2024 Caterpillar Season, insects, Lepidoptera, macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

Silvery Checkerspot
Chlosyne nycteis fam. Nymphalidae
Host plant: yellow wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia)
Dates found: 30, Jun, 2024
Locations Found: Young Conservation Area, Franklin County, MO
Notes: This species overwinters as third instar caterpillars.

2024 Caterpillar Season – The Unidentified

2024 Caterpillar Season, insects, Lepidoptera, macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

With books, apps and internet sources, I think I did a fair job of identifying most of the caterpillars that came my way this year. There are still a few that I have not been able to identify, however. I placed the following on iNaturalist and Bugguide months ago, but so far no experts have given their opinions. If you have any ideas that could help, I’d appreciate to hear them.

This first cute little one I found at Englemann Woods N.A. in Franklin County, MO in late June. I wish I had taken more photos. I think this could be one of the punkies (fam. Nolidae), but it might also belong to one of the other spiney families.

This next one is part of a group I really loath to try to identify – nondescript green cats. I’ve gone through the guides numerous times but simply couldn’t find a perfect match. It most likely belongs to the Noctuidae family, but that doesn’t narrow it down very far. This was also found at Englemann Woods N.A. in late June and found on white oak (Quercus alba).

Next up is also a group that I haven’t gotten the hang of yet. This is likely a tiger moth (subfam. Arctiinae), but I’m not sure where to begin there. Found at Prairie Garden Trust on July 6th. Host plant not recorded.

Finally, a cat that I found in a leaf shelter of Vitis aestivalis at Kaintuck Hollow in Phelps County on July 13th. I believe this might be Herpetogramma aeglealis (fam. Carambidae) but it’s not close enough for me to be certain.

Clubbed Mydas Fly

diptera, insects, macro, WGNSS Field Trips, wildlife, wildlife photography

I missed getting photos of Mydas clavatus (fam. Mydidae) on group photo outings, I believe, for three straight years. I seemed to be somewhere else and my “friends” failed to let me know… 😉 Well, back in July, I finally got lucky and found this one nectaring on some Pycnanthemum at Prairie Garden Trust in Callaway County, MO on a WGNSS Photo Group trip.

These are downright fascinating insects. The larvae of mydas flies feed on beetle larvae that reside in soil or rotting wood. The adults, who are Batesian mimics of spider wasps (Pompilidae), apparently feed solely on nectar and can be found in the heat of the day skimming across the prairies to find their favorite flowers.

2024 Caterpillar Season – Locust Leafroller Moth

2024 Caterpillar Season, insects, Lepidoptera, macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

Locust Leafroller Moth
Sciota subcaesiella fam. Pyralidae
Host plant: honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
Dates found: 14, Sep, 2024
Locations Found: Kaintuck Hollow, Phelps County, MO
Notes: Often wraps itself inside leaf nests much like skippers.

2024 Caterpillar Season – Parasitized Inchworm

2024 Caterpillar Season, Hymenoptera, insects, Lepidoptera, macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

I found this unfortunate little geometrid caterpillar during a hunting session at work back in July. In these photos it is serving as host to some ectoparasitoid wasps in the Eulophidae family. I attempted to rear these but everyone succumbed in quick order.

2024 Caterpillar Season – Radcliffe’s Dagger

2024 Caterpillar Season, insects, Lepidoptera, macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

~~Splendid Dagger~~ Radcliffe’s Dagger
Acronicta ~~superans~~ raddcliffei fam. Noctuidae
Host plant: Not recorded
Dates found: 17, Aug, 2024
Locations Found: Schoolcraft Prairie, Washington County, MO
Notes: Edit – 2/Jan/2026. Science is learning and correcting our mistakes when possible. There have been no confirmed collections of A. superans in MO per Heitzman’s catalogue. The larva of A. superans looks quite similar to the penultimate instar of A. radcliffei, which I now believe this larvae should be labeled as. The primary differences are that A. superans will have black snowflaking on the head, whereas A. radcliffei will have this patterning in red. Another potential option is A. hasta, but I think less likely. All three are cherry/rose specialists. That said, it would not be out of the question for A. superans to be found in Missouri. If any who may have found this post has reason to disagree with my determination, I’d appreciate hearing from you.