Sundew Prairie II

I got to revisit Sundew Prairie last week. It was fun to see the seasons change from June.

Agalinus purpurea - purple false foxglove was one of the dominant flowers.

Bidens polylepis - tickseed sunflower was the other dominant flower.

Drosera intermedia - spatulate-leaved sundew has the scapes arising laterally before curving up.

Hypericum canadense - Canadian St. John's-wort was one of the several small St. John's-worts blooming in the sand.

Polygala polygama - Purple Milkwort

Agalinus tenuifolia - slender false foxglove was not as common as the other false foxglove.

Solidago rugosa - rugose goldenrod

Bulbostylis capillaris - dense-tuft hairsedge kept getting mistaken for Fimbristylis autumnalis.

Hypericum gentianoides - orange grass was an easier St. John's-wort to identify.

I'm a sucker for photos of Polygala sanguinea - purple milkwort.

I kept trying to identify Rhychospora capitellata from just the leaf color, with limited success.

Juncus brachycarpus - short-fruited rush was one of the many rushes present.

Juncus greenei - Greene's rush was a good looking rush.

Hypericum canadense - Canadian St. John's-wort

Hypericum majus - larger Canada St. John's-wort had rounder leaves.

Lycaena hyllus - Bronze copper

Gentiana andrewsii - bottle gentian has plaits between the corolla lobes that are distinctly longer than the lobes.

Palm Warbler

Spiranthes cernua - nodding ladies-tresses

Warbler Grab-Bag

Cape May Warbler - Arthur's, New Pal

Northern Waterthrush - Cicero

Palm Warbler - Schramm Woods, New Pal

Cape May Warbler - Arthur's, New Pal

Magnolia Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Magnolia Warblers are one whose song I have to relearn each year. Maybe this year it will stick. To me, they seem to say "1-2-3 E V" with a soft voice.

These guys were at Schramm Woods on Saturday, feeding in the understory about ten feet up. They were not overly concerned about observers as they made their way along their caterpillar inspection.

I love their necklace. Notice the caterpillar in the bottom picture.

Blackpoll Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)

Laney and I had just gotten back from our morning run when I heard a Blackpoll Warbler in our spruce tree. I quickly got my binoculars and started looking for him. Soon enough I found him, then a Palm Warbler, a Magnolia Warbler, and a female Black-throated Green Warbler. All were new additions to our yard list. (Which is now at 66 species.)

I took these photos later in the afternoon in my Pin Oak in the front yard. The Blackpoll (or two) has been hanging out all day, singing up a storm.

Here he is posing with a caterpillar he has caught. I am sure my oak appreciates it.

They are not the most colorful of warblers, but they are pretty dapper. They are kind of like a warbler dressed up like a chickadee.

Blackburnian Warbler

Blackburnian Warblers are one of the warblers that I love seeing. First, you have their rarity. I don't ever see many in a given year, and there are years when I don't run across one. Then you have their throat color. Baltimore Oriole orange is awesome, but it is fairly uniform. The color on a Blackburnian Warbler grades from yellow orange on the top and side of the head to flame orange on the throat. When the light catches it right, it is special.

This guy was feeding in a Red Oak at Schramm Woods. I probably spent a half hour looking for him and watching him. I kept hearing him in the top of the tree, but it took me a while to find a good angle. He was still a good distance, but occasionally I would get a good look. He was very active in the oak, but at least he didn't move from tree to tree.

If you can believe wikipedia, this warbler was named after an English botanist from the eighteenth century named Anna Blackburne. Sounds reasonable enough. She devoted herself to taxonomy, and sent Linaeus many specimens. She also has a beetle named after her.

In 1776, Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller published the first scientific description of many animals. He named the Blackburnian Warbler for Anna Blackburne.

You can see he has caught a caterpillar in the photo above. It seemed like he found many in the time I was watching.

He is an amazing work of art. I was glad.

Prothonotary Warbler

Joy and I saw this Prothonotary Warbler when we were canoeing on the Sugar Creek near Spring Lake. The sun was not in an optimal position for a picture, and it is harder than might be imagined to steady a camera while in a canoe, but it is fun to see this warbler.

Common Yellowthroat

This guy was singing for me this morning, hopping from perch to perch. Common Yellowthroats are common, but still gorgeous.

Lucy's Warbler

Lucy's clinging underneath a branch. You can see the nicely colored rufous uppertail coverts.

This is the more typical view of a warbler, silhouetted against the sky.

Showing off the rufous crown patch. Upside down was not a problem.

It is not too frequent that I get to add a 'lifer' warbler. When I noticed Lucy's were on the list for Pahranagat NWR, I kept my eyes and ears open for them. I found this guy gleaning on a massive old cottonwood tree in the valley. Yellow Warblers, House Finches, and Western Kingbirds were also singing, but it was easy to pick their song out. I saw more of them later along the Upper Pahranagat Lake. The trees were chock-full of Yellow-rumped Warblers, with a decent number of Yellow Warblers, and several Wilson's Warblers. (Common Yellowthroats were in the nearby reeds, rounding out the warblers.)