A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird rests in southern Texas on his way north for the breeding season. This photo was taken a few years ago in April.
Image of the month – January 2024
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Image of the month – December 2023
This is one of my favorite photos of 2023. Some species of ants guard planthoppers (and their eggs). In return, the ants get to eat the sweet honeydew excreted by the planthoppers as they feed. Here is a planthopper, her eggs, and their ant guard, all on some goldenrod.
Image of the month – November 2023
The white-tailed deer is the most common deer species in the United States. This individual was one of several behind my house on an 18-degree morning this month.
Image of the month – October 2023
Hermit Thrushes (Catharus guttatus) are the last of their genus to migrate south in the winter. This individual is one of several that have been feasting on pokeberries in my yard for the past couple of days.
Image of the month – September 2023
A cabbage white (Pieris rapae), a member of the family known as the whites-and-yellows, feeds on smooth blue asters (Symphyotrichum laeve) at sunset.
Image of the month – August 2023
A black swallowtail caterpillar sits on some dill. The dill is glistening with raindrops which appear as soft circles in the background. Black swallowtail caterpillars feed on dill and its relatives, including Queen Anne’s Lace, fennel, carrot, and fennel.
Image of the month – July 2023
Here’s a paper wasp working on its nest. Paper wasps make small nests that are not fully closed off, as can be seen here. Some species of paper wasp can recognize other individuals of their species using facial recognition.
Image of the month – June
A male Eastern Bluebird sings aggressively and waves his wings while perching on a cattail. When I took this photo four or five male bluebirds were chasing each other all around my yard, sometimes making contact with each other in midair. This individual only stayed on the cattail for a few seconds before he was chased off by a rival.
Image of the month – May
Another spring photo for May. Here a Great Egret sleeps while standing over its nest and nestlings. A slight breeze ruffles the egret’s feathers, making its aigrettes, or plumes, easily visible. Great Egrets build stick nests in breeding colonies. A single stick from this individual’s nest is just visible poking out from the leaves in the lower left-hand corner.
Image of the month – April
Since this first post is taking place in April, here is a photograph full of signs of early spring in southern Maine: a Common Grackle and some pussy willows in a light snow. The willows were full of grackles calling and displaying to each other and this male has his head pointed up because he is about to call.
As with many birds, the winter ranges of Common Grackles are shifting along with climate change. Though they are generally short-distance migrants, a few individuals can now be found in Maine year-round, though the bulk of their population moves at least a little further south for the winter. Common Grackles are some of the earliest birds to return in spring in large numbers to Maine.