Silver-spotted Skipper
Here are a couple more photos of that Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) enjoying some Eastern Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) from last week. If only we could see what those eyes must see…
Read MoreBlue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
So, here’s the deal: if you sneak into our blueberry patch, eat our berries and get yourself caught under the netting, then you have to sit for a few pictures! Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), photographed by RTPI President Twan Leenders for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project.
Read MoreRed-spotted Purple
This is a Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) butterfly showing off some of those red spots on a leaf last week. The harsh and very bright mid-morning sunlight really washed the butterfly (and photo) out, so what you see is my work balancing those contrasts and tones a bit. Woodland edges are usually a good place to find them. I was only able to get a good ventral view, and the somewhat skittish individual never allowed me a dorsal photograph. I wish it would relax – it’s a Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) mimic and telling me it is poisonous, so why not shoot some...
Read MoreSmall White
Here is a Small White, or Cabbage White, (Pieris rapae) butterfly feeding on some Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) last week. This fresh individual afforded me the best opportunity to photograph one that I have ever had as it posed perfectly on the flowers. The non-native species may be common and invasive but boy, they certainly are beautiful little things! I had never seen one with so much bright yellow on it. And check out those eyes! Wildlife certainly looks different when up close. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreBank Swallow
Speaking of July migrant birds, here we have the Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia), a species you might not find in habitat near you during the nesting season but stand a good chance to spot on a wire or in a field on the way back south right now. They are our smallest swallow species which will help you pick them out from among the Purple Martins, Barns, Trees, Northern-rough Wingeds, or even Cliffs.
Read MoreHumped Bladderwort (Utricularia macrorhiza)
Gorgeous above the water surface, deadly below it – the Humped Bladderwort (Utricularia macrorhiza), and other bladderworts, use small submerged vesicles – bladders – to trap and digest small aquatic invertebrates to augment their nutrient intake in the wetlands they occupy. These are among the very few carnivorous plants found in the northeastern United States. Photographed by RTPI President Twan Leenders for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project.
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