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Pleasing Picture-winged Antlion
Here's something you don't see every day, or at least I don't: Pleasing Picture-winged Antlion (Glenurus gratus). This huge - 4" wingspan! - insect is a southern species, near the northern limits of...
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Swallow-tailed Kites in Ohio
Typical agricultural land just north of Somerset, Ohio, in Perry County. I was at this spot last Thursday, August 18, to view a pair of very special birds. The following shots were all made from this...
View ArticleMoth/Native Plant talk: Saturday, August 27, Franklin Park Conservatory
For anyone interested, I'm giving a talk entitled "Gardening for Moths" at the Franklin Park Conservatory this Saturday at 3 pm. While moths are the focus, the talk is really about using native flora...
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Willow Flycatcher in flight
A Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii), post launch. A 1/1000 second shutter speed was not nearly fast enough to freeze its wings as the bird rows hard after launching from a shrub. Warren County,...
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Hummingbird guards hibiscus
I had a meeting at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers visitor's center at Caesar Creek Lake in southwest Ohio's Warren County yesterday. We convened to plan the 2023 Midwest Native Plant Conference, and...
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Bell's Vireo, and its enigmatic history in Ohio
A Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii) sings its charismatic song of scratchy gurgled phrases from the cover of a small Chinkapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii). "Thicket Vireo" would be an appropriate name for...
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Warblers feeding on joe-pye
A male Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) shifts position in a Red Elm (Ulmus rubra). I encountered a mixed foraging flock of warblers this morning not far from where I live, in Franklin County,...
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Wild Ohio program: Newark Public Library, 9/14 at 1 pm
A bit late on this - sorry - but I'm giving a program this Wednesday, September 14 at 1 pm at the Newark Public Library in downtown Newark. The talk is loosely structured on the book above, and is a...
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Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks nest in Ohio: First record!
A Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) emerges from pondside vegetation with nine chicks in tow. They represent the first documented nesting record in Ohio. This was my first look at...
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Goldenrod Stowaway Moth, and the time it can take to tell a pictorial story
A field painted gold with the showy inflorescences of Tall Goldenrod (Solidago altissima). Not Canada Goldenrod (S. canadensis), as nearly everyone calls this stuff. The tale of these two look-alike...
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Nature: Hot dog! The hickory horned devil is one giant caterpillar!
A hickory horned devil in a hotdog bun for scale/Jim McCormacNature: Hot dog! The hickory horned devil is one giant caterpillar!Columbus DispatchSeptember 18, 2022NATUREJim McCormacA hidden army...
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Caterpillar attacked and killed by predatory fungus
Here's a bizarre and terrible fate. A caterpillar is encased in Metarhizium fungus, which ultimately will kill its host. This cat was still mobile but is not long for this world. The fungus will soon...
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Monarch migration
As always, click the photo to enlargeThe boughs of a Norway Spruce drip with resting Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). There were about a thousand butterflies present here during my September 11...
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Cedar Waxwing: A late nester
An adult Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), looking elegant. This one was part of a small flock at Magee Marsh in Lucas County, Ohio, yesterday. I was there looking for warblers and other...
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Kinnikinnick Fen
A meadow at Kinnikinnick Fen on a fine September day. I visited this 154-acre Ross County (Ohio) preserve back on September 23 and was impressed with the large fen meadows and attendant botany. The...
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Bushy Aster
Bushy Aster (Symphyotrichum dumosum), in its rich prairie habitat at Castalia Prairie, Erie County, Ohio. I visited here on September 29 and was pleased to renew acquaintance with this rare (in Ohio)...
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Tree Swallows in flight
As always, click the photos to enlargeA juvenile Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) rockets by my position. I made a trip to the western marshes of Lake Erie on September 29 and saw many migrant...
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Marsh Wren
A Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) peeks curiously from its typical milieu, a dense stand of cattails. Like most wrens, they are busybodies and quite curious about anything going on, including...
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Nature: Jack-of-all-trades - John Leonard Riddell's legacy still blooms in...
Ohio goldenrod (foreground) and Riddell's goldenrod/Jim McCormacNATURE: Jack-of-all-trades - John Leonard Riddell's legacy still blooms in Ohio botanyColumbus DispatchOctober 16, 2022NATUREJim...
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Great Plains Ladies'-tresses
Not much time to post of late, nor run afield to produce new imagery. I am in the final stages of a book project - more on that in a later post - and deadline-driven tasks have taken much time of...
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