It’s Swan Season!
Tag: missouri
Wilson’s Snipe on the Confluence Road
With everyone on Facebook posting their great photos of our Thanksgiving Snipe, I thought I would go ahead and process and share before they got lost and forgotten for months. The photo above is, in my opinion, the most pleasing way of capturing a shore bird. The back of most shore birds are often their most colorful and patterned side. I like to try and capture the from behind with their head turned so to see their eye and the length/shape of their bill.
I did not bring a wider lens on this morning, but I wish that I had. I counted 17 Snipe within a pretty close distance of each other in a section of sweet and soft mud.
In the image above one can imagine the depth they can get with those lance-like bills as they probe the mud for invertebrates. Check out the video below to get an idea of how these guys feed.
-OZB
Pawpaw Sphinx
Pelecinid Wasp
Parasitoids of insect larvae, the Pelecinid Wasp female uses her extremely large abdomen to thrust through soil to deposit eggs primarily on scarab beetles. I assume the family and genus names are derived from the Greek – pelicos, referring to the great size of the wasp. Females can reach lengths of up to 6 cm. No need to worry, these guys do not have stingers.
-OZB
Nesting Birds of Missouri – Red-bellied Woodpecker
Today I watched as park workers cut down this tree at Wild Acres Park in Overland, MO, a municipality in St. Louis County. I estimate they have removed nearly 75% of all standing dead trees in this park during the last six months. This tree, that provided shelter and food to a number of Woodpeckers, the tree I watched and photographed an Olive-sided Flycatcher this past spring, two dead oaks that I watched Great-horned Owls display and duet in numerous times over the past 6+ years, a tree that provided a place for a nesting Great-horned Owl, dead snags near the pond that provided perches to herons and wood ducks that were stopping to rest on their way to somewhere more worthy. Even if the trees must come down due to “safety”, I wish that they would see the benefit that these trees can bring while decomposing in a forest. Lately, they are even hauling away the carcasses.
The original plans for the park when first established seem to suggest that the park was conceived to provide wildlife with an oasis amidst a suburban desert as much as it was to be a benefit to the humans with similar desires. I find little evidence in recent years that the park management has goals to this effect.
Mulberries and insects were what was on the menu when I was at the nest tree to watch.
As seems to be pretty typical of species that provide bi-parental care, the ratio of female to male visits seemed to be ~ 3:1… 😉
I’m not sure what the next couple of years might show me in the park. It sure looks as though there will be fewer resources for feathered friends.
-OZB
Meet the Slugs – Skiff Moth
The highly variable colors and patterns of the skiff moth are hypothesized to mimic senescent/necrotic lesions on leaf surfaces. They often have paired white spots that are thought to mimic the eggs of the tachinid fly, a parasite that enters the caterpillar after hatching. These “egg mimics” are hypothesized to work by dissuading flies that may attempt to avoid depositing eggs on victims that were previously parasitized.
These guys remind me of the tornado chasing vehicles that were on those TV shows about a decade ago.
This one was photographed on my wife, Sarah’s finger at Shaw Nature Reserve.
Finally, I was able to photograph the adult during National Moth Night this summer.
-OZB
Meet the Slugs – Nason’s Slug
In my anecdotal experience of hunting for slug caterpillars over a six to eight week period this summer, the Nason’s slug (Natada nasoni – Hodges #4679) was by far the most abundant that I came across. This was particularly true in the drier, oak/hickory/pine hillsides of Hickory Canyon N.A. in Sainte Genevieve County.
This species is able to retract its spines, elongating them to their fullest with any notion of danger. These guys have pretty substantial spines and because the cats were so abundant, I found I was accidentally stung a few times while lifting vegetation. This was not a pleasant experience.
I really enjoy the colors and patterns this species displays.
The image below was one that I had previsualized and worked a good bit on to get it right. I used my plamp to hold the leaf and attached the plamp to a dead limb to position the leaf high enough to get the leaf and caterpillar back lit by the sun. I then used just a bit of flash to illuminate the ‘face’ of the caterpillar and the underside of the leaf. In cases where I removed the leaf to get a photo, I always placed the leaf securely back on the same plant.
-OZB
Derbid Plant Hopper
Derbid Planthopper – Derbidae – Apache degeerii.
Photographed 08-13-16 at Cuivre River State Park, Lincoln Co, MO.
Meet the Slugs – Stinging Rose Caterpillar
Arguably the most stunning of Missouri’s slug moth caterpillars, the Stinging Rose Caterpillar can most often be found on oak and hickory saplings. However, a number of other woody species (including those in the rose family) will also be used as host plants.
This is one of the species I voluntarily allowed to sting me – it wasn’t that bad, perhaps a mild ‘stinging-nettle’ type of experience that was gone in 30 minutes or so.
The image below shows a little of the variety of color and patterns that can be found in this species, this one showing more of a yellow/orange background. Some animals can be found that are completely yellow.
-OZB
Meet the Slugs…
I’m sharing three different slugs tonight. First up is arguably one of the more attractive of this group, the Crowned Slug.
Next up is the spineless, Yellow-shouldered Slug.
Last of all is the Purple-crested Slug. This is the only individual of this species I was able to find this year.
-OZB
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 