It is a Parasitic Jaeger

I saw my first Jaeger on Monday, Mar. 26, 2007. That story is published in my blog Long-tailed Jaeger in Texas. In that blog and the next two, Long-tailed Jaeger 2, Long-tailed Jaeger 3, I published all my photos and discussed why our tour group decided that this was a Long-tailed Jaeger and not Parasitic or Pomarine Jaeger. As you see from the title, we were wrong.

I can now tell you the story of the verification process:
The day after the tour, my husband and I went to Aransas NWR and while we were in the office, the volunteer told us that the office staff was abuzz with the news that a Long-tailed Jaeger or other jaeger had been seen in the refuge. Someone had reported this to Aransas. Also one person of our group had promised the captain, he would report this sighting to the Texas Birds Records Committee (TBRC).

So, naturally, I expected to get a request for the use of my pictures soon. But by Thursday, I became impatient and published my first blog with the other two a couple of days later. Still nothing, no one called or emailed me.

I thought that when an unusual bird was sighted, that the birders from all over the world would rush to come to see it. At least, that's what I read in the magazines. I did hear that the jaeger was not seen on later tours. So hot news this was NOT!

Finally in July, No one had yet sent any information to the TBRC. Well, I thought, I know how to get some answers for my self and sent my story and pictures to one of the leading ornithologists, who had helped me with identification in the past, and his reply in less than a week was this:

"I hate to bring your sighting down a notch but I think this is a Parasitic Jaeger. I'm certain it's not a Long-tailed, which should have the wing coverts and back distinctly paler gray-brown, contrasting with darker flight feathers above, no white on the underwing (flying and turning photo) and a shorter bill. I'm less certain that it is not a Pomarine, but I think the bill is too slender and the pale forehead is typical of Parasitic."

This was his opinion with just a quick look and I am not disappointed, because any jaeger is a life bird for me. (Just change the name on my list and website. It doesn't change the bird!)

Then the next day, I get an email from Darrin Welchert, biologist at Aransas NWR, requesting information. (Some one's ears were burning with these emails and pictures flying through the whatever and reminded them that there had been this HOT sighting in March.) I sent all my pictures to Darrin, who in turn sent everything to the TBRC. This was the middle of July.

A couple of times, I received emails from other birders, who read my blog or saw pictures on my website, telling me that this was not a Long-tailed Jaeger but I replied that I would correct everything when it was OFFICIAL.

This week I received an email from the TBRC eliminating it as a Long-tailed Jaeger with the following conclusion:
1) length of gonoys too short compared with length of bill basal to gonydal length
2) dark of forehead continuing down well below lores
3) mantle too dark
4) central retrices too short for a bird of this age
5) bird was overall too large
TBRC consensus was that it is a Parasitic Jaeger.

There you have it. It's official. I don't understand some of the above points but it's a Parasitic Jaeger. !

So what's next? Does this get published in some birding magazines? No, the Parasitic Jaeger is a regularly occurring species in the state of Texas and the TBRC will add it to its database of observations but that's that.

Does this mean, our sighting did not make history? We still did, because the Parasitic Jaeger is a first record for Aransas NWR and raises it's species list from 404 to 405. I still have my life bird. Aransas NWF has another species on its list. This remains an incredible birding experience and story.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds

Dragonflies or Odonata

I have been fascinated with dragonflies ever since a time I was birding at Saul Lake Bog, Kent County, MI in 2002. The meadows were full of dragonflies.

Banded Pennant - Celithemis fasciata (Skimmer Family - Libelludidae)

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Halloween Pennant - Celithemis eponina (Skimmer Family - Libelludidae)

Widow Skimmer - Libellula luctuosa (Skimmer Family - Libelludidae)

The next morning I was birding from my pontoon boat on the lake and managed to take a couple more dragonfly pictures. I was hooked!

Twelve-spotted Skimmer - Libellula pulchella (Skimmer Family - Libelludidae)

Blue Dasher - Pachydiplax longipennis (Skimmer Family - Libelludidae)

However, it was so difficult that I was not able to take more pictures worth keeping until this summer. I spent two mornings on my pontoon, pushed into the weeds along the shore, and have 5 different species. Dragonflies zigzag back and forth very fast in unpredictable directions. Some sit still for a few minutes but others never seem to rest. Then, since they are really quite small in a photo, you want to be very close the them, but they react to movement by flying farther away. And, of course, they have to pose in the right setting (perch, profile, sunlight, background) for an acceptable picture. (so many requirements, more than with bird photography)

Then, last week I learned a secret from James R Curry's book Dragonflies of Indiana. He captures many of his dragonflies in a net, cools them down to slow their movements, perches them in a suitable setting, and then takes his pictures. Now I know how an other photographer succeeds, but I don't think I will go that far. I'll just run my boat into the weeds and wait.

Calico Pennant - Celithemis elisa (Skimmer Family - Libelludidae)

Halloween Pennant - Celithemis eponina (Skimmer Family - Libelludidae)

It is one thing to manage a good photo, now I need to read, identify and learn more about dragonflies. Oh yes, there are damselflies too! (that is another story) It took me five years to identify the next photo and then only with the help of Kurt Mead, author of an excellent little book Dragonflies of the North Woods.

Prince Baskettail - Epitheca princeps (Emerald Family - Corduliididae)

The references and gear I used for this blog are:

Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
Dragonflies through Binoculars
North American Odonata Website
Odonata Central Website

Butterflies

On Sunday, I saw a Common Buckeye Junonia coenia on my New England Asters. It co-operated for me by feeding for more than an hour, so that I could watch and photograph (until I could not edit any more images - over 50). My daughter says I saw one in her insect collection 20 years ago but I have not seen one again, until now. It sure is pretty.

All summer I have been taking pictures of butterflies in my garden. The Monarch Danaus plexippus remains a favorite, especially when it poses on my butterfly weed.

At Luddington State Park, couple of weekends ago, I saw a Monarch caterpillar on its favorite food, a milkweed plant.
I took the next picture on the Keweenaw Peninsula, in Upper Michigan last summer. I thought I was taking a picture of a Monarch and it wasn't until I was reviewing my photos, that I recognized that it was not a Monarch at all! It was a Viceroy Limenitis archippus which mimics the Monarch. I have never before seen a Viceroy in the field. Notice the black bar across the hind wing on the Viceroy.

I also took some pictures of the Red-spotted Purple Limenitis arthemtis feeding on my Purple cone flower. Again, I did not know what butterfly this was. While reviewing my pictures, I remembered a similar butterfly that I had seen in Texas this spring. When seen from the side as in these 2 photos, the Red-spotted Purple is similar to the Pipevine Swallowtail Battus philenor. Their ranges overlap only along the Gulf states in southern US, but I don't keep range maps in my head (that's why I own books). Now that I have worked with my photos so much, I hope to remember the differences between these butterflies.


I don't know if you have the same problem as I have: that it doesn't matter how many times I have studied the flower, butterfly, or bird in a book, it is not until I have see it live in the field that I can remember its identification marks and recognize it the next time.

Happy butterflying! (Yes, it will become an accepted verb soon!)

The references and gear I used for this blog are:

Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
Kaufman Focus Guides - Butterflies
Butterflies through Binoculars The East
Butterflies of the Great Lakes
Caterpillars of Eastern North America
Caterpilliars in the Field and Garden

Summer Insects

It has been 2 months since I last wrote a blog. I thought it would be easy to publish a short piece about the pictures that I have taken. Instead, I went to visit my 2 grandchildren, not once but twice, and would go today in a heart beat.

Next, I have spent a lot of time working in my garden: I dug up all my bearded-iris and they are waiting for a soil test and then need to be replanted; I dug up all my narcissus and daffodils, which were planted 10 years ago, and now the bulbs were so close together, they could not produce blooms any longer. These I have replanted. Lastly, I also ordered 300 tulips which will arrive in a couple of weeks for planting. Next spring, my garden should look fabulous (I hope).

I did take some pictures though. I always notice birds whenever I am outside but bird-photo ops are not so frequent. Like many birders, I am interested in butterflies, dragonflies and interesting insects or bugs. Here are a few I saw recently.

A couple weeks ago, I saw a small brown and white moth on the ceiling in the hallway of my home. I caught it in a small jar and took it outside to photograph. But I bumped the jar and it escaped. I researched it on line and identified it as a Grape Leaf Folder Desmia funeralis. However, the next day, I saw it on the side of the house near the door and this time I got my picture. I am pretty sure it was the same moth still near the door it had entered the day before. The interesting thing about this moth is that it usually hides underneath the grape leaf.

This summer, I have seen more Honey Bees Apis mellifera than in past summers. I know that honeys bees are dying from unknown causes, so I am happy to see more of them. How could I not photograph this bee, searching for nectar on Purple Loosestrife which, despite its invasiveness, is a very pretty flower.

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Another bee that I found fascinating, is a Sweat Bee species Halictus. This is a small bee with yellow legs and was perfectly camouflaged on the Brown-eyed Susans.

Last weekend at Luddington State Park, MI, I saw a cicada fly by and land in a pine tree. It, a member of Tibicen species, was not hard to find. Cicadas are one of my favorite insects because of their song, and where I live, they usually start to sing between Jul 1 and Jul 14. Now summer is really here!


Later, on the sandy path, there was another interesting bug with a white and black pattern. According to Kenn Kaufman, this beetle always attracts attention. I had never before seen this beetle, a Cottonwood Borer Plectrodera scalator.

I took more bug pictures than bird pictures this summer.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:

Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars

Great-tailed Grackles

I have almost finished reviewing my 1,300+ images from our Texas trip and have loaded 350 new photos to my website. Now, there are some stories about these, I want to share.

Everywhere along the Rio Grande Valley and the Texas Coast, the Great-tailed Grackles were in their glory. The male of this species was in full breeding plumage, a blue/purple iridescence or lustrous and changing colors (definitely a kingly color). This particular male just held his ground next to the car as I approached. As a result, I captured his arrogance.


Everytime we sat down at our campsite at Lake Casa Blanca International State Park, Laredo, TX, a male grackle would come to proclaim that this site was his domain. He would stand on the picnic table, fluff all his feathers and send forth his song (loud ruckus) of high pitched notes. To finish his statement, he would puff up his throat and make a long, low growl of hisses, rattles and guttural noises. Then, he would repeat the entire sequence of song and display, even though no female or other male was in sight. So, I am sure this was meant to intimidate us.

Other times we would see several males posturing as if to say "I am king of this mountain here!" or "Don't we sound like the 3 tenors!"

I think that these displays are performed to defend territory or impress a female grackle. She does not have his beautiful colors but when you see her by herself, she has nice browns.

At Galveston State Park, TX, a male grackle put on a display and song. He was only about 15 feet away from where I was sitting in my lawn chair. This time, however, his statement was meant for several females nearby and one male. The funny thing was, all the females ignored him the entire time. Maybe, they heard and saw him but these females kept right on looking for bugs. This is my interpretation of these pictures:

To a female: "Don't you like my new song?"

To a female: "Look at me, aren't I handsome!"

To another male: "I am better looking than you."

To another male: "I am strong, regal and fierce." (This look intimidates me)

To both males and females: "Look at my tail, its the best!"

My husband and I sure enjoyed watching the Great-tailed Grackles and many times wished we had a video camera, so that we could capture their displays and songs (growls) on film to show you and, of course, to prove to you that these birds really do all these things.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:

Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds

Orange to Yellows

From Orange to Yellows:

Globemallow - Species unknown (Mallow Family - Malvaceae)

We have come full circle in colors but I had to show you my yellow wildflowers, too, though 3 of these photos are not wildflowers but rather tree flowers. (Did you know that most trees have flowers?)

The little yellow-orange balls on the Huisache are so cute. The white-yellow flowers on the Blackbrush really look like the bottle brush that I use to clean the hummingbird feeder. The flowers of the live oak were food for a huge flock of Red-winged Blackbirds.

Beach Evening-Primrose - Camissonia cheiranthifolia (Evening-Primrose Family - Onagraceae)

Blackbrush or Chaparro - Acacai rigidula (Pea Family - Fabaceae)

False Dandelion - Pyrrhopappus pauciflorus (Aster Family - Asteraceae)

Live Oak - Quercus fusiformis (Beech Family - Fagaceae)

Prickly Sow-thistle - Sonchus asper (Aster Family - Asteraceae)

Rough-pod Bladderpod - Lesquerella lasiocarpa (Mustard Family - Brassicaceae)

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Huisache - Acacia farnesiana (Legume Family - Leguminosae)

Dogweed - Dyssodia pentachaeta (Aster Flax Family - Asteraceae)

Coastal Plain Tickseed - Coreopsis gladiata (Aster Family - Asteraceae)

Neuces Coreopsis - Coreopsis nuecensis (Aster Family - Asteraceae)

Scarlet Pimpernel - Anagallis arvensis (Primrose Family - Primulaceae)

The references I used for this research are:
Texas Wildflowers by Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller
Peterson Field Guides: Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Native Plants of South Texas

Gray Tree Frog

Saturday, it was the annual summer garage sale around our lake. My husband and I went searching for items in our neighbor's junk that would be treasures for our grandchildren (after a cycle in the dishwasher). This day is also an occasion when neighbors spent time visiting and sharing stories. I found a gem (story not junk) that I want to share.

Our neighbors DM and RAM have a nice yard with flowers and bird houses. Since we share an interest in birds, RAM showed me the 5 baby Black-capped Chickadees in a birdhouse next to the front door and the baby American Robins in the bushes by the garage.

Mama chickadee with food

5 baby birds in a nest with warm fluff

Then she said, "I also have a frog living in my little green outhouse on this bench" (next to the front door, too). She went on to tell me that this frog has been living at this outhouse address for 3 years. Once in a while, it goes away for a few days during the summer. In the winter, it probably hibernates nearby and then in the spring it comes back. Last summer DM and RAM even heard it's mate singing from the bushes. (frog singing is night time music)

I hurried home to get my camera.

While taking pictures, the frog wasn't too happy with my camera lense pointing at it, so it slipped down backwards into the outhouse seat and hid from me but not until I had my pictures!

Outhouse

My home!

White fluff on its feet is cottonwood fuzz


A two seater home!

My research tells me that this is a Gray Tree Frog, Hyla versicolor. It is a chameleon frog that changes its color to match the background. Two identification marks, a white spot under both eyes and yellow-orange markings on the inside of the hind legs, can be seen in the photos.

What an amazing frog!

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
The Calls of Frogs and Toads
Animal Diversity Web
Oklahoma Wildlife Department
Frogs and Toads in Color and Sound
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds
Camera: Canon EOS D60
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM

Orange to Blues

From orange to Blues:
When I was in 5th grade, I received my first set of Crayola colored pencils, a set of 8 colors. There, in that plastic case, were the colors of the rainbow and I could not stop looking at these incredible colors. They were also my tools for creating beautiful pictures. To this day, I want to capture the rainbow colors everytime I see them, only now, I try to do this with the camera.

Subconsciously, this love of color, is the reason why I started taking photos of flowers on this Texas trip. I saw the oranges first but the color that captured my eyes everytime, were the blues. When I was doing my identification research for these photos, I noticed that Texas thinks it owns this blue color. 5 of these flowers are named Texas something. I looked in my Michigan wildflower book, and there are only 2 pages with blue flowers. So I guess Texas does have something to brag about and the blue color of the spiderwort is incredible.

Yellow Flax - Linum rigidum (Flax Family - Linaceae)

Blue-Eyed Grass - Sisyrinchium dimorphum (Iris Family - Iradaceae)
This vivid blue catches your eyes everytime, everywhere

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Texas Spiderwort - Tradescantia humilis (Spiderwort Family - Commelinaceae)
What a beautiful color!

Texas Vervain - Verbena halei (Verbena Family -
Verbenaceae)

Guayacan or Soapbush or Texas lignumvitae - Guajacum angustifolium (Creosote-Bush Family - Zygophyllaceae)

Texas Baby Blue Eyes - Nemophila phacelioides (Waterleaf Family - Hydrophyllaceae)

Purple Dalea - Dalea lasiathera (Pea Family - Fabaceae)

Blue curls - Phacelia congesta (Waterleaf Family - Hydrophyllaceae)

Berlandier Lobelia - Lobelia berlandieri (Bellflower Family - Campanulaceae)

Texas Bluebonnet - Lupinus texensis (Pea Family - Fabaceae)

Scarlet Pimpernel - Anagallis avernsis (Primrose Family - Primulaceae)
Blue-flowered form of Scarlet flower.
Also known as Poor Man's Weather Glass because the flowers close
when rain is approaching.

Stay tuned for the final color, yellow, in this wildflower series.
(PS I still own a set of Crayola colored pencils today.)


The references I used for this research are:
Texas Wildflowers by Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller
Michigan Wildflowers in Color by Harry C. Lund
Peterson Field Guides: Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Native Plants of South Texas