Tag: wildlife photography

Mississippi Kites in the Arkansas

Nesting Birds of Missouri, wildlife, wildlife photography

It is always nice finding your targets on a big photography trip but the icing on the cake is finding the unexpected. That is what happened here when Casey and spent some time at Moro Bay State Park in southern Arkansas. When speaking to a very friendly park ranger, he let us on to where a pair of these birds setup territory and were virtually oblivious to humans. These birds completely ignored us as they flew to and from their favorite perches, often flying mere feet over our heads. We watched the male handoff their insect prey a number of times and even witnessed a copulation, but those photos were ruined by branches.

False Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica)

wildlife, wildlife photography
Two subspecies of the false map turtle are found in Missouri. Minor differences in the color and pattern near the eyes are used to distinguish between the two. Unfortunately, I did not get the shots that would allow this determination. This photo was taken in St. Louis County.

Swamp Metalmark (Calephelis muticum) – Larvae

macro, wildlife, wildlife photography

I previously shared photos of adult of swamp metalmark (Calephelis muticum). This spring, after a couple or three years of looking for them on their host plant, Cirsium muticum (swamp thistle), I finally found the caterpillar of this vulnerable species of conservation concern.

A swamp metalmark (Calephelis muticum) caught shortly after depositing some frass created from its host plant, Cirsium muticum (swamp thistle).

Bizarre Creatures in My Garden

macro, native plants, Uncategorized, wildlife, wildlife photography

Here is a perfect example of ‘why native plants?’ in the home garden. This is the first year of our new native flower garden in front of our new house. This spring we spent a good deal of money and time getting the old exotic evergreen bushes out of the beds and planting a new garden consisting of mostly native forbs and a couple patches of grasses. After a long and cool spring, we are finally getting some heat units on these mostly gladey and xeric species and a few are starting to respond nicely.

These golden drops turned out to be eggs of a leaf-footed bug (Coreidae family)

During my daily deadheading of some flowering Coreopsis and other asters, I notice new things from time to time. The arthropods are beginning to come. Since the original razing of the land that this subdivision sets on some 45+ years ago, these plant and insect communities have undoubtedly been rare. While my 100 square feet of natives won’t likely make a big difference, hopefully more and more of us will ‘go native’

I originally noticed these eggs by observing this jumping spider. The concurrence is assumed accidental.

About a week ago, I noticed these golden drops on the leaf of a Liatris spicata (marsh blazing star). After taking a few photos in situ, I decided to collect the leaf and see what the hatch might be. I figured it was a hemipteran of some sort and after a little research, I narrowed it down to the Coreidae family, or ‘leaf-footed bugs.’ If you can identify these to any degree of higher specificity, please let me know.

Coreid nymphs within an hour of hatching.

After three or four days in a jar, all of a sudden the leaf was alive with the movement of spikey mechanisms. I took a few photos on their cradle leaf, then moved a few to a Coreopsis sp. bloom. Afterwards, I let them go to feed as they like on our plants, maybe to see them another day.

-OZB

Nesting Birds of Missouri – Black-and-White Warbler

Nesting Birds of Missouri, wildlife, wildlife photography

The Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) is another weirdo in the Parulidae family. It is the only extant member of the genus, Mniotilta, and it definitely stands out against the other wood warblers that we find in Missouri. Whereas other warblers flit about the leaves at ends of branches, through bush or along forest floors, gleaning for arthropods, the Black-and-white Warbler finds another niche. It forages by hugging tree trunks and inner branches, much like a nuthatch or creeper. The interesting genus name apparently comes from another of this bird’s behaviors. This name comes from the Ancient Greek mnion, meaning “seaweed”, and tillo, “to pluck”. Apparently, Black-and-white Warblers strip mosses and reindeer lichens to line their nests, which they make in mature forests across much of eastern and central North America.

The Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) can be an easy target for the bird photographer, often being seen exposed along inner tree branches.
A Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) refueling in the trees at Tower Grove Park in St. Louis.

-OZB