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White-tailed Kite in Ohio!
A White-tailed Kite wafts by my position yesterday. Bernie Master and I headed over before the crack of dawn to see this great (for Ohio) rarity.This is a species with a broad distribution, but...
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Nature: Giant water bugs vicious when it comes to attacking prey
Jim McCormac's finger provides scale to a giant water bug/Jim McCormacNature: Giant water bugs vicious when it comes to attacking preyColumbus DispatchJune 6, 2021NATUREJim McCormacOnce one learns...
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Backyard fawn, again!
Last year, I wrote about a White-tailed Deer fawn that I found in my backyard on May 23, shortly after its birth. You can see that post HERE, and two follow-up posts HERE and HERE.Here we go again. I...
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Cedar Waxwing
An adult Cedar Waxwing might be the epitome of feathered elegance. I photographed this one on June 8, at Cedar Bog, Champaign County, Ohio.
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Blue-winged vs. Golden-winged warblers: An interesting conundrum
A male Blue-winged Warbler along the Black River in Cheboygan County, Michigan on May 19, 2021. I heard the bird singing, and eventually managed a documentary shot on this dark, rainy day.I...
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Nature: A white-tailed kite spotted in Harrison County is a true rarity
A white-tailed kite drifts by our nature writer in Harrison County/Jim McCormacNature: A white-tailed kite spotted in Harrison County is a true rarityColumbus DispatchJune 20, 2021NATUREJim...
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A few moths, from two nights of fabulous mothing
A bizarrely shaped Brown Scoopwing moth, Calledapteryx dryopterata. It looks like some predator took a bite out of each wing.Sorry for the lack of posts over the past week. Deadlines called, in...
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A quartet of pennants (dragonflies)
A Calico Pennant, Celithemis elisa, tees up on an old rush stalk. The pure brown bokeh (background) is caused by the water of the pond.The pennant is obelisking - pointing its abdomen directly at the...
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Nature: Piping plover's nest offers hope for shorebirds' return
Nish, a male piping plover, incubates eggs in a protective enclosure at Maumee Bay State Park/Jim McCormacNature: Piping plover's nest offers hope for shorebirds returnColumbus DispatchJuly 4,...
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Shawnee Nature Safari - a superb conference! September 10-12, 2021
A typical autumnal scene in the nearly 70,000 acre Shawnee State Forest in Scioto County, Ohio, as photographed a few years ago. The forest is one of the most biodiverse locales in eastern North...
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Some King Skimmers
A while back, I posted about an epic dragonfly expedition undertaken by Jim Lemon and myself on June 29. That post focused on pennants, and you can read it HERE.We saw far more than pennants on that...
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Nature: Gray fox sightings continue to be rare in Midwest
A gray fox vixen strikes a pose in Fairfield County/Jim McCormacNature: Gray fox sightings continue to be rare in MidwestColumbus DispatchJuly 18, 2021NATUREJim McCormacOn March 6, 2011, I wrote a...
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Big bucks hit the backyard
I was pleased to glance into the backyard this morning and see this big buck. White-tailed Deer are regular visitors here, and I don't mind. Fawns have even been born in the yard, such as THIS...
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Two cool bugs
A Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes, taps nectar from Swamp Milkweed flowers. The butterfly is huge and extraordinary, the largest species found in Ohio. This one thrilled our field trip...
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Partridge Pea and its magical extrafloral nectaries
A showy snarl of partridge pea, Chamaecrista fasciculata, lines the sidewalk to my front door. This native member of the pea family (Fabaceae) is an annual, and easily grown. My yard - front and back -...
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Nature: Double-ringed pennants, other dragonflies, found in southern Ohio
A male double-ringed pennant/Jim McCormacNature: Double-ringed pennants, other dragonflies, found in southern OhioColumbus DispatchAugust 1, 2021NATUREJim McCormacJim Lemon spent his career in...
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Chaparral Prairie, looking splendid
As always, click the photos to enlargeChaparral Prairie State Nature Preserve is a riot of color right now. This snippet of the prairie is filled with Rattlesnake-master, Eryngium yuccifolium, Spiked...
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Remarkable Mimicry: Fly as Wasp
A huge - compared to other common wasps, but maybe not an elephant - spider wasp, Entypus unifasciatus, takes nectar from the flowers of a Rattlesnake-master, Eryngium yuccifolium.ASIDE:...
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Giant Stag Beetle in Ohio
A thoroughly impressive Giant Stag Beetle, Lucanus elaphus. Including the mandibles, a male like this can measure 2.5 inches in length (go ahead, hold your fingers that far apart :-) ). Males use those...
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Nature: Black vultures, once uncommon in central Ohio, are easier to spy
A pair of juvenile black vultures perch in a window of the barn in which they were born/Jim McCormacNature: Black vultures, once uncommon in central Ohio, are easier to spyColumbus DispatchAugust 15,...
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