Rainbow Bluet

Dubois writes, "seeing this strikingly colored bluet for the first time is a notable experience!" This common damselfly has been a nemesis odonate for me--I have been searching for it since I first started paying attention to these insects two years ago. Well worth the wait--what a tropical-looking species!

According to Montana Field Guide, larvae feed on various aquatic insects (like mosquito larvae) and adults cosume about any small flying insect they can capture, including "mosquitoes, flies, small moths, mayflies, and flying ants or termites." I found this male on Monday in tall grass along the large pond at St. Olaf College where Scott K. found them earlier during the day. The species is found from southern Saskatchewan, Montana and Colorado east into New England and southeastern Canada.

Blue Dasher

Last year I blogged on the Blue Dasher dragonfly. Last week Blue Dashers were abundant at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Dakota County, Minnesota. Above is a male Blue Dasher from last year. The photograph below, from this year, threw me a bit, because I was unsure what to make of the red cap. Apparently the red is a trait of relatively young males.

Trying to learn to identify dragonflies over the past two years has been an interesting exercise. I have gained some insight into the learning process--repetition, repetition, repetition are the keys. A youthful brain might help too, but there is not much I can do about that.  Odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) are so variable! Sexes and age classes differ, regional variations, microscopic differences, and females appearing in separate colors or masquerading as males all complicate identification.

Chihuahuan Raven

My New Mexican brother is an accomplished herbalist and birder. When I complained that I lacked a photograph of a Chihuahuan Raven, my brother replied that, although difficult to distinguish from Common Ravens, he had it figured out. As you drive north of Silver City, look for Chihuahaun Ravens in dry areas at lower elevations near human habitation. Common Ravens are found higher in the mountains in forested areas. Bednarz and Raitt (2002) agree with my brother's assessment, although they warn that mixed flocks of both raven species and American Crows have been reported. These authors write that the "combination of large flocks in open plain and desert habitats [are] typical only of [the] Chihuahuan Raven."

Chihuahuan Ravens are found from parts of the American Southwest south to central Mexico. In a small, low-elevation town we found what appeared to be an all-black raven. "This all adds up to Chihuahuan Raven," said my brother. Imagine my surprise when I cropped and enlarged this photograph. Not only can you see white bases to the neck feathers (one of the key field marks to the species, marks that are usually hard to see), the lower breast and undertail feathers are also have white bases. I have not seen mention of these later attributes.

The biology of the Chihuahuan Raven is relatively unknown. This bird is social, found in flocks most of the year. They build groups of up to five nests in a single area, but the reasons for this behavior are unknown. Flocks of ravens defend their nests communally. After the nesting season, groups of up to 500 ravens roost together (Bednarz and Raitt 2002).

Spotted Towhee

After leaving Texas last March, Erika and I spent two days in New Mexico. We attended to some automobile maintenance and visited my brother. This Spotted Towhee greeted us to the state. Last year I blogged about the differences between Spotted and Eastern towhees (including links to their calls).

Spotted Towhees are territorial, as perhaps you can guess from this photograph taken by Erika. They are also monogamous. Both Eastern and Spotted Towhees usually forage on the ground, scratching simultaneously with both feet to search food under leaf litter (Greenlaw 1996).

Edward's Hairstreak

The Edward's Hairstreak is a common butterfly of the eastern United States. Caterpillars use oaks as host plants.  Adults sip nectar from various flowers, including goldenrods, sumac, white sweet clover, and, as you can see in this photo, milkweeds. This butterfly's larvae is tended by ants. The ants consume nectar from the larvae and, in return, protect the larvae (and adults) from predators (Ohio DNR).We found this hairstreak in Carleton College's Upper Arboretum (a few minutes after finding the Delaware Skipper of a recent post).

Red Saddlebags

I photographed this female Red Saddlebags on Sunday in Carleton College's arboretum. This dragonfly gets its name from the red wing-bases, which you can see in a male saddlebags in the third photograph that I took last March in the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. The species is found across much of North America, and south into northern South America. Red Saddlebags are less common in the north, but are known from southern Minnesota. This year saddlebags are appearing here in record numbers. Global warming? Natural cycles?

Delaware Skipper

Skippers are small, difficult-to-identify butterflies. The key to this Delaware Skipper is the black lines on the upper wings. Erika, Scott K., and I encountered this male in Carleton College's Upper Arboretum. The species is widespread across most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains where it is usually fairly common. Adults feed on pink and white flowers (milkweeds, mints, fleabane, and thistles, among others) while various grasses serve as hosts for the caterpillars (Butterfliesandmoths.org).

Ringed Kingfisher

You may recall that, last March, Erika and I swung down to Texas on our way to Olympia to greet a grandchild into this world. Texas afforded us great birding--we reported 141 species to eBird. This total was more than any other state we visited. Mitigating factors include more time devoted purely to birding and more time in the state. (Other totals include California, 104; Arizona 30; New Mexico 36; Oregon 33; and Washington 48.)

Leaving Eagle Pass, Texas, as we headed west, I turned to Erika (who was driving) and announced, "we REALLY need to make a U-turn!" On a telephone wire over Elm Creek perched a kingfisher on steroids. Turns out that is how Ringed Kingfishers hunt. They sit on an exposed perch, sometimes for up to two hours. They seldom hover like Belted Kingfishers (Brush 2009).

Seeing a Ringed Kingfisher surprised me. I thought that their United States range was restricted to the Rio Grand, and this impression may have been true when I first birded.  In the last 50 years, however, this species has expanded northward from Mexico (it also occurs well into South America). Now look at the eBird distribution map--the species occurs across most of southern Texas. Although their nesting biology is little studied, presumably Ringed Kingfishers' range are limited by their requirement of high dirt banks for nesting burrows.

Blue-ringed Dancer

Blue-winged Dancers are found across most the the southern United States and south into Mexico. Erika and I found this one near its preferred habitat, a vegetation-edged stream running through San Marcos, Texas. Paulson writes that wide habitat tolerance contributes to its being relatively common and widespread. Keys to the identification of this damselfly include its mostly black body and blue rings and abdomen tip.

Great Kiskadee

During our March road-trip, Erika and I listed Great Kiskadees across much of the Rio Grand Valley. We did not get a decent photograph until our last day at the Salinero bird feeders. Found through most of Central and South America, kiskadees in the United States are found only in southern-most Texas. Their range in southern Texas is expanding.

Kiskadees flycatch for large insects, but also consume a broader range of prey than any other flycatcher--fish, tadpoles, fruits--even rice and dog food (Brush and Fitzpatrick 2002). Hence their presence at bird feeders. Kiskadees are aggressive, and will harass monkeys, raptors, toucans or snakes. They are noisy birds. We heard them before we saw them at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. They exclaim, "kiskadee!", thus explaining their name.