Snake Caterpillar?
While transferring photographs from my recent Panama trip onto my computer, another quick pick jumped out at me. This large caterpillar was found by Dave Huth on our first night in Cocobolo Nature Reserve and the longer I watched it, the more its resemblance to a snake blew me away. The indication of scales in just the right places, spots suggesting nostrils, even the white ‘catchlight’ in its fake eyes…and it moves in just the right ways too! I know my Central American snakes pretty well, but even a cursory glance at this caterpillar tripped all sorts of alarm bells in my...
Read MoreMerry Christmas Eve
Merry Christmas Eve to you and your family and friends! Be sure to spend some time outside in the unseasonable air seeing if you can spot Santa’s sleigh up there in the “winter” nighttime sky…
Read MoreCommon Loons (Gavia immer)
There have been sizable groups of Common Loons (Gavia immer), with a few Red-throated Loons (Gavia stellata) occasionally mixed in, off Stratford, Connecticut lately. The waters of Long Island Sound have been a feeding frenzy for the species during this period with prolonged below-average temperatures, and some flocks like this have moved close to shore to dive for meals. On a dark and dreary day their grays blend in wonderfully with the water, making for exceptional camouflage. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreRough-legged Hawks Irrupting
This is a companion blog entry to the Winter Bird Forecast by Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Be sure to watch for our fifth forecast, coming soon! Wherever you are across the Northeast you have likely seen or read a report about a Rough-legged Hawk nearby this winter. This beautiful raptor, available in both a light and dark color morph, has irrupted across a broad swath of the upper parts of the Lower 48. The wintering specialty is at home in open and coastal areas such as marshes, grasslands, airports – hey, a lot of the same places the...
Read MoreMelanistic House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
This is one House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) I have never seen before! I took these shots last weekend, the bird being part of a group of well over 100 House Sparrows. The photos are very true to real life appearance and have not been heavily edited. Do you know why it is so dark? It appears to be melanistic which means that the dark-colored pigment melanin in the feathers was produced at higher than normal levels creating an abnormal color. The opposite is known as leucism where pigments are produced at less than normal levels or in an unexpected pattern. Melanism in small songbirds is...
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