by Grania
Reader Mark Otten from Ohio sent Jerry five beautiful photographs. He writes:
All of the attached photos were taken at Glenwood Gardens Park (a component of the Hamilton County Park District) in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio.
Male eastern (rufous-sided) towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus).
Field sparrow (Spizella pusilla).
Bumble bee (Bombus spp.) on gray-headed coneflower (Ratibida pinnata). I am not sure which species of bumble bee this is, but I think it is Bombus impatiens. Maybe one of your readers can verify the species. The lower one is the uncropped version of the photo.
Male tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor ). This photo was taken on a warm day soon after the young had hatched; which may be why he looks thinner than most tree swallows.
And bonus photo from Ben Goren: spot the butterfly and grasshopper. He says nothing about nightjars, though that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
Thanks Mark and Ben, those are wonderful.
I found the grasshopper quite easily, as for the butterfly, I think I found it but I’m not sure. 🙂
There is a moth right next to the grasshopper, if that helps.
So there is, partially hidden by leaves – but a moth is not a butterfly!
I would claim that a katydid isn’t a grasshopper either, but whatever.
Looking at it a bit longer, it could be that moth is a skipper, with its wings held open. I can’t make it out clearly enough to be sure either way.
I agree. It does look like a skipper.
Ben is getting lazy, naming them both spot like that.
What? A rufous-sided towhee? That’s one of the birds I had to learn to identify for my freshman biology class in er… um… 1974.
The bee has big compound eyes. Perhaps it is a male for that reason, or perhaps it is not a Bombus.
I see a spider web. Can anyone else find that?
I saw a few Tree swallows on a walk today. Love the male’s blue color.
I saw the katydid and then the moth once it was pointed out. I also saw LOTS of ivy leaves. Those were really easy!
I like the field sparrow’s song. What a bird should sound like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85eERW5jiGQ
Mark, lovely pics!
Ben, that was fun. 🙂
Interesting coincidence about the towhee…just this morning I was sitting on the patio, and a little brown bird was flitting around, bouncing off of stuff, including my shoulder. We later identified it as most likely being a local variety of towhee….
b&
Awww.
Being that clueless, it’s possible it was a fledgling as well. There are tons up here right now, but I suppose AZ birds breed on a different schedule.
I wonder how well a bird would adapt to being upside down, transported from the northern hemisphere to the south? I mean, of course, if you introduced it during the northern spring, it would be looking for a mate and expect to start nest building, but the locals would all be fattening up for winter. This would be complicated, of course if the locals are the same species, which, come to think of it might never be the case, since NZ has rather unique fauna.
I must admit to not having a clue as to what a towhee was until after Mike suggested it as a possibility and looked it up in the field guide — and it was my description of the bird’s behavior that gave him confidence in the ID, as I couldn’t really describe the visual appearance as much more than a generic little bird of no distinct color.
The wildlife at their place is very relaxed around humans. The cottontail will happily munch on the lawn if you sit quietly several feet away. This morning, there was an epic battle for the hummingbird feeder about six feet away from my head…between three hummers and an honeybee — and the bee was the most successful defender of the prize! And y’all’ve already seen the lizard that walked across Jerry.
b&
I’ve often heard its friendlier in the South.
Gorgeous bumble bee!