I don’t care what you say, I actually like turkey vultures.

A dragonfly…

…and its eye

And this cute little hymenopteran (not sure which one specifically):

I think that if this photo could have a caption it would be “Grrr!”

New to my backyard and life list…

An Orchard Oriole

This is probably the earliest I have seen tiger beetles out and about…but they were out hunting this weekend in my backyard and I got a couple pictures of them.

Cedar Waxwings…

And young scots pine…

Tristan:

I am trying to figure out what is going on in this picture which shows wing expansion in a Conopid fly - do you have any idea what the structure on the head is?

That is an excellent photo and you found a fly that just eclosed from it’s pupal case. That structure is called the ptilinum, it aids the adult from breaking out of the pupal case. That structure is only used at the time of emergence from the puparium and is membranous sac that inflates and is pumped up with hemolymph using special muscles. After emerging, the fluid and the sac is retracted back in the head and the muscles degenerate.

You got to admit it, flies are pretty darn cool. Or I might just have an affinity towards them…

Well if sticky traps don’t fancy you…you can always invite a handsome jumping spider to the party.

But someone’s got to warn her that she can’t take the lazy way out and go for the flies already caught in the traps…

No worries though…she got out just fine.

Did a little birding this weekend. Not too many good pictures, but oh well, got outside all the same. I did 3 kinds of birding this weekend: marshes, hawk watching, and bird feeder watching.

From the marshes:
Maybe no one will notice I am not a Canada goose…

This “blue goose”, which is the blue morph of the snow goose, was the only one in this flock of Canada geese. They nest in the Arctic tundra.

Next, I got a nice glimpse of a blue-winged teal.

And a new bird for my list, ring-necked ducks.

Hawk watching:
I went up to Derby Hill, which I am told is one of the premier hawk watching spots in New York. When I got up there I spotted my first morning cloak butterfly of the season, though I don’t think anybody else noticed…

Nothing too impressive for the hawk watching yet, though it is a wee bit early. They should start really picking up in the next couple of weeks.

A red-tailed hawk

A red-shouldered hawk

And a ’sharpie’ or sharp-shinned hawk

Concerning other passerines, the blue birds are back…

And I had another first for my life list…a common redpole. Redpoles are an arctic finch that also nests in the tundra.