Maggie's Moments: 09/18/14

Thursday, September 18, 2014

You just never know

Somedays my camera can do no wrong and somedays I can get little right. Today was the latter, but a lovely day with a group of birders none the less. As you know, there is little that I enjoy more than being out, and peering in, at nature, so this day afforded me that great pleasure. The fresh north wind chilled our hands as we held binoculars and cameras, seeking and seeing sometimes. The real birders heard birds that I did not, knew birds that I did not, and saw birds that I did not! Nice sharp learning curve about to be engaged. Moreover, it is becoming readily apparent to me that a visit to an audiologist is right smartly in order!

So you think identifying meadowhawks is easy? Guess again. I think I have a red meadowhawk here, correct me please, if wrong.

http://www4.uwm.edu/fieldstation/naturalhistory/bugoftheweek/meadowhawks.cfm

"Meadowhawk dragonflies dominate the airways from mid-summer through late fall. Taxonomically, they are found in the Order Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and the skimmer family, Libelulidae. The BugLady likes to pretend that she can tell the difference between them, and happily labels and re-labels her Meadowhawk photos (some can only be identified “in the hand,” and photographs usually don’t adequately illustrate the “naughty-bits” that best distinguish species.). Feel free to disagree with her guesses, definitive identification may be well above the BugLady’s pay grade; even the White-faced Meadowhawks aren’t a slam-dunk. The excellent Beginner’s Guide to Dragonflies, by Nikula, Sones, Stokes and Stokes (great photos) says that some are so knotty to identify that the exact number of species is not really known.”

Porcupines are believed to have over 30,000 quills and they have a soft brown undercoat with long guard hairs. A major cause of death is falling from a branch as they struggle for tender shoots. The other is the automobile. Porcupines do not hibernate in the winter and their three season solitary behaviour changes. "Hinterland Who’s Who” informs that up to one hundred have been found in large rock piles. I see them in the winter in white pines but have never seen several together. Perhaps this year….