Looking Back: May - September 2012

New Butterflies:

I photographed 19 varieties of butterflies that I had never seen before:  Appalachian Brown, Banded Hairstreak, Common Sootywing, Coral Hairstreak, Fiery Skipper, Giant Swallowtail, Harvester, Hoary-Edged Skipper, Hobomok Skipper, Horace's Duskywing, Karner Blue, Least Skipper, Leonard's Skipper, Palm Warbler, Peck's Skipper, Silver-Bordered Fritillary, Striped Hairstreak, Tawny-Edged Skipper, White Admiral, and a White M Hairstreak.

I can't pick a favorite from this list.  The Giant Swallowtail was a rare and beautiful sighting, and I saw only one and it happened to come right to my yard.  But.....I drove 2 hours to see the Karner Blue in its native habitat.  Besides those two, I climbed Blue Hill to see the White M and Coral Hairstreaks, both real beauties, and for a skipper, you can't beat the Hobomok Skipper which posed beautifully on a wet day.  It's too hard to choose!

Giant Swallowtail

White M Hairstreak

Coral Hairstreak

Karner Blue

Hobomok Skipper

Biggest Surprise:

I caught photographs of a fox that had just killed a squirrel.  That had to be my favorite surprise from this time period!  Second to that would be the day I walked on the Wellesley College campus and saw several white-tailed deer.  I caught a photo of two juvenile deer running side-by-side through a meadow.   Another highlight was seeing and photographing my first ever porcupine at Irving Nature Park in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.

New Birds:

I have seen more "first" birds  since April:  Black-Bellied Whistling Duck, Blue-Headed Vireo, Bobolink, Common Eider, Common Loon, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Towhee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Great Egret, Green Heron, Indigo Bunting, Least Sandpiper, Northern Parula Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Semi-Palmated Sandpiper and Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

Out of these, I'd say my favorite was the Green Heron.  What a strange-looking bird!  

My second favorite was the Common Loon, which we saw while on a loon cruise on Squam Lake in New Hampshire.

New Places:

This blog has taken me to more new places:  (1) Horn Pond in Woburn, (2) Ashumet Holly Wildlife Sanctuary, (3) Fannie Stebbins Wildlife Refuge,  (4) Wellesley College, (5)  Blue Hill Reservation, (6) Dunback Meadow, Lexington, (7) Karner Blue Butterfly Easement, Concord, NH and Eastern Point Wildlife Sanctuary in Gloucester.   See my "Links" page for web sites, where applicable.


Favorite Photo:

It's hard to pick one favorite, but I really like this Amberwing dragonfly photo.