Author Archives: sarahemily
Greater or Lesser?
Check your bird books to see if you agree, but based on the bill and the relative size of the bird compared to the nearby killdeers, I think the bird in the video — https://youtu.be/769yOjm50Eo – is a Greater Yellowlegs.
Great Blue Heron Fan-like Feather Display
When I first studied the photos and video clips depicting this feather display and bird behavior, I asked myself “What is going on here?” Although I have watched lots of great blue herons over the years, this is the first time that I’ve seen a great blue heron fan its breast feathers like... Continue reading »
Avian Sushi, Pied-billed Grebes, and Photo Ecology
The small flock (aggregation?) of nine or more pied-billed grebes in my Avian Sushi video https://youtu.be/n0kVChmNqhQ were fishing in an arm of Lake Eufaula just south of the Lakepoint Resort State Park about 5-6 miles north of Eufaula, AL, on 12/15/2016. On other days I have seen a similarly sized flock / aggregation of PBG fishing in... Continue reading »
Four-spotted Pennant
Based on my resources and interpretations, I think this dragonfly is a female Four-spotted Pennant (Brachymesia gravida). Some of the items to note are the four brown spots on the wings, the white stigmas (tiny spots on the leading edge of the front wings), the brown striped thorax, and the reddish-brown and black... Continue reading »
Fallen Limb
Based on the size of this fallen dead limb, the energy of impact must have been noticeable – and this spot would have been an unhealthy place to have been standing when this limb fell. Here are a couple of scenarios to consider. First, imagine that you were a deer munching contentedly on... Continue reading »
Decayed Post
Sometimes even the ordinary has the potential to be quite interesting. The decay in the top of this post has created texture patterns that have lots of potential to serve as subjects for the black and white photographer who arrives on scene when the light is “just right”. Photo subjects are where, and... Continue reading »
Cat-faced Pine
This and a few other remnant cat-faced pine snags can be found at the west end of the boardwalk in the Boy Scout Trail area at the Big Branch Marsh NWR near LaCombe, Louisiana. The USFWS folks there have a nicely done set of interpretative signs explaining the situation. Apparently either the land... Continue reading »
Bull Tongue
The bull tongue plants are named for the wide, long, linear nature of their leaves which presumably resemble the tongues of bulls. However, with my serious cowboy experiences limited to riding a broom-handle horse at a young age, I’ll have to leave the verification of this resemblance to others. Most Sagittaria flowers seem... Continue reading »
Hard Times for Dragonfly Larva?
This area was inundated from the fall / winter of 2013 to sometime in the late-spring / early-summer of 2014. When this area was inundated this spring (2014), there were lots of adult dragonflies buzzing about. On several occasions I observed dragonflies laying eggs and white ibis foraging for crayfish in the water found here.... Continue reading »
Black Ducks Near Portland, Maine