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A cool robberfly, and a doppelganger
As always, click the photo to enlargeYou would not want to be a lesser bug and see this thing looking your way. It is one of the bumble bee-mimicking robberflies (Laphria thoracica [I should caveat my...
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Eastern Yampah (Perideridia americana)
Early morning light illuminates the lush understory of a small Pickaway County, Ohio woodlot. A spindly, white-flowered parsley stands front left, and that plant was my target on this day.It's been a...
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Visit to bald eagle nest reveals a different kind of "family"
A red-tailed hawk chick is flanked by two bald eagle chicks/Jim McCormacNature: Visit to bald eagle nest reveals different kind of "family"Columbus DispatchJune 19, 2022NATUREJim McCormacThese days,...
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American Woodcock
I found myself at Springville Marsh State Nature Preserve in Seneca County, Ohio, at the crack of dawn yesterday. This 267-acre preserve is about all that remains of the former Big Spring Prairie that...
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Six-lined Racerunner
This extraordinary lizard is a Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata). Race it does, allegedly being able to hit 18 mph. We can attest that they are fast. I'm at the Nature Conservancy's...
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Dickcissels in the prairie
A Dickcissel (Spiza americana) between bouts of song. The exuberant singers are everywhere at Kankakee Sands, a large prairie restoration project in northwest Indiana owned and managed by the Nature...
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Nature: Baltimore checkerspot butterfly sighting a rare and joyous occasion
A Baltimore checkerspot basks on a cool and sunny morning in Coshocton County/Jim McCormacNature: Baltimore checkerspot butterfly sighting a rare and joyous occasionColumbus DispatchJuly 3,...
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Kankakee Sands: A smattering of birds from a recent visit
A large tract of restored prairie stretches into the distance at the Kankakee Sands, owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy. I spent five days in and around this northwestern Indiana site at the...
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The Harvester, North America's carnivorous butterfly!
A gorgeous Harvester (Feniseca tarquinius), one of our most interesting butterflies. And in my opinion, one of the showiest. On a July 11 trip to a Hocking County, Ohio wetlands, it didn't take long to...
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Featherfoil makes a reappearance
A featherfoil floats in a Scioto County swamp/Jim McCormacFeatherfoil makes a reappearanceColumbus DispatchJuly 17, 2022NATUREJim McCormacAbout 1,800 species of native plants have been found in Ohio....
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The Common Yellowthroat, a creative singer
A Common Yellowthroat atop his singing perch, the unfurling leaves of Stiff Goldenrod (Solidago rigida). The masked bandidos sing a distinctive wichity-wichity-wichity song. Better yet is their aria,...
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Small Green Wood Orchids
A pair of Small Green Wood Orchids (Platanthera clavellata) in perfect flower on a mossy tree base. The larger one towered to about 6-8 inches in height. Not much is known about its pollination...
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Addendum to last post: Orchid/moth photo safari
My orchid-pollinating moth rig stands ready. In my last post, I shared photos of the beautiful albeit elfin Small Green Wood Orchid (Platanthera clavellata). As noted in that post, this orchid species...
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Hummingbirds and Royal Catchfly
A female American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) with a bill full of plant down. The vegan "wild canaries" are late nesters, with July and August peak breeding months. This one was building a nest in a...
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Nature: Everything's coming up rabbits, thanks to 2022 bunny baby boom
A young eastern cottontail in the writer's Worthington backyard/Jim McCormacNature: Everything's coming up rabbits, thanks to 2022 bunny baby boomColumbus DispatchJuly 31, 2022NATUREJim McCormacOne of...
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Cedar Bog photography talk and walk - this Saturday
The meadows of Cedar Bog as seen from the air. White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) ring the margins of the fen meadows. This extraordinary glacial relict habitat is unique to Ohio, and as a writer, I...
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Purple Fringeless Orchid
A stunning Purple Fringeless Orchid (Platanthera peramoena) grows in a rich bottomland forest. It and others were along the margins of an irregularly inundated overflow channel of a nearby stream.I...
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Nature: Local couple has created an ecologically-friendly yardscape rich in...
Josh McElhaney's yard, thick with a diversity of wildflowers/Jim McCormacNature: Local couple has created an ecologically-friendly yardscape rich in native floraColumbus DispatchAugust 7, 2022NATUREJim...
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Interesting yellow grasshopper
A thick growth of Partridge-pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) lines my front walkway. There are many other native plants in this bed, but few of them can match the Partridge-pea for pollinator allure....
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Green Mantidfly!
Mantidflies are bizarre entomological oddities on nearly every level, and in general they don't seem very common. Most of the ones that I see come into the lights at mothing stations, but every now...
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