Things with Wings: Bobolink at BHCL

Friday, June 6, 2014

Bobolink at BHCL

I took my lunch break at Breakneck Hill Conservation Land today and enjoyed 60 degrees temperature, partly cloudy skies, and breezy conditions as I walked through the meadows. There were lots of butterflies flitting about, just above the tops of the grasses, as well as among the leaves of the trees.

Common Ringlet

Orange Rust (fungus)

From what I read, this is a common problem on brambles (including raspberries) in spring due to humidity, or possibly due to rain splash. The orange coating on the leaves is actually made up of spores of the fungus.

Green Lacewing

Blue-Eyed Grass

Peck's Skipper

Little Wood Satyr

One pair of Bobolinks may be preparing to nest at BHCL. Today, the Bobolink male was defending a piece of the meadow against passing dog walkers and other hikers by flying about 20 feet in the air above them, squeaking and popping and making those odd Bobolink noises (kind of like a pinball machine). He hovered above the walker, while giving his warning calls, then flew back down to another spot on the meadow.

When I left later on, the female flushed from the grasses and flew up into an apple tree. The male was close behind her and landed near her in the tree, too.