Least Terns (Sternula antillarum)
If Least Terns (Sternula antillarum) are dive-bombing you or screeching alarm calls then it’s a sign you may want to give them additional some room. Thankfully we have plenty of space on the beach for all of us to enjoy or, in their case, create a family. Pairs like this are starting to see their eggs hatching right now across Connecticut. Here’s hoping for temperate and mostly dry weather for the little ones. Why didn’t I put up a photo with adorable hatchling Least Terns? Because we have not had many successful nests in recent years and when we do even folks like Twan and...
Read MoreThe unique American Woodcock
American Woodcocks (Scolopax minor) are so very unique. They are shorebirds that live in the forest, foraging in the leaf litter, or old fields. They take flight in astoundingly graceful courtship displays each year around this date on the calendar when the evenings begin to warm up. As you can see in both this photo and the subsequent videos they have tremendously evolved features such as that enormous eye that seems like it can spot you at 360 degrees at all times and a body pattern that makes them almost invisible to our eyes, even up close. You may have already seen this video we posted...
Read MoreRed-eyed Tree Frogs
When I’m not engrossed in avian research my focus gets drawn to reptiles and amphibians. While visiting the Karen Mogensen Nature Reserve we found this nice population of Pacific phased Red-eyed Tree Frogs (Agalychnis callidryas). Around the main pool we found a few masses of eggs that were in various stages of development. The next find was particularly exciting for me – individuals in amplexus. That means during the courtship of this species the female carries the male on her back before copulation. We proceeded to find a few other individuals in the immediate vicinity....
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