Flycatchers can be hard to identify; I believe this is an Eastern Phoebe but it was not displaying the characteristic tail flick that is common with the species.
Author Archives: Matthew
Northern Pearly Eye
Once you have learned to identify the most common butterflies, the real challenge begins: realizing when you have something completely new on your hands! At first I though this was a Little Wood-Satyr, but the brown line on the wing seemed too jagged and the time wasn’t right: here in the north, the flight of …
June Moth Roundup
Here is a sampling of the moth species I was able to photograph this month. To start off we have a tiny moth (that’s a blade of grass it is clinging too), known as Crambus agitatellus. It has no common name and few details are known about this moth, but it seems to be quite …
Poanes Zabulon
I find Skippers hard to identify, and the Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon) is no exception. I submitted this photograph to BAMONA for confirmation that it was in fact a Zabulon, and they confirmed it for me.
Bronze Copper
This is the best picture I’ve made of this small butterfly from the Lycaenidae family.
Pileated Problem
It’s a struggle for the Pileated Woodpecker to hold onto the suet feeder, and also maneuver his bill to reach the suety-goodness inside! That’s what happens when you are a woodpecker, and nearly the size of a crow.
Agrilus cyanescens
This invasive wood boring beetle is not considered noxious: although it can infest some landscape shrubs, it does not cause widespread death or destruction to our Northeast Ohio ecosystem.
Backyard Insect Roundup
After a rather overcast morning filled with yardwork, the sun came out in the afternoon so I grabbed my camera and looked for something to photograph. Birds were scarce, but insects were plentiful, with several species I had not seen before.
Painted Daisy
Tanacetum Coccineum a.k.a. the Painted Daisy, is native to Asia but looks great in our backyard.
New Life Birds
An outing to Chippewa Inlet Trail produced several new “life birds” for North America, which is rewarding and also a bit of a challenge now that I’m at 176 unique species. (At least, a challenge as long as I’m only birding in Ohio.) There was a group of shorebirds on a mud flat, and at …