The evil eye

If I were a small Central Park rodent I wouldn't want that gaze fastened on me.

Photographer ELLEN MICHAELS [www.ellenmichaelsphotos.com] sent in this recent photo of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in the park.

Birding on Labor Day

Tennessee Warbler, photographed on 9/24/07 in Central Park by
LLOYD SPITALNIK http://www.lloydspitalnikphotos.com



Here's Pat Pollock's Labor Day bird report, as it appeared today on e-birds:

Site: Ramble & vicinity
Date: Monday, 9/1/08
Reported by Pat Pollock

The narrow path up from an arch (up from "Bankrock Bridge") on northside among berry trees & shrubs Tennessee Warbler - (tips from Starr & Rhoda)
Matthew & I stayed a long time and finally were rewarded with close, beautiful looks
Also, Ovenbird, Black-throated Blue w.'s, B&W, Magnolias, Common Yellowthroat, Redstart. 9/2/08 Tues., only saw Black-throated Blue w.'s
Wild Turkey was roaming the Tupelo Meadow 9/1, Cape May at Bow Bridge,
Phoebe at Upper Lobe, 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in Maintenance Field "meadow".

Night and Day [insects are the ones]

Night [in Shakespeare Garden on 8/30/08]Ailanthus Webworm Moth -- seen in the daytime throughout Central Park as well as at night at the black light


A tiny moth we used to think was Callima argentocinctella but now are appealing to a higher authority for IDing -- Hugh McGuinness.


Two-spotted Tree Cricket on the portable generator [It powers the black light]


A Shakespeare Garden gastropod


and Day [at the Mountain Mint near Sparrow Rock - 8/30/08

An uncommon wasp: Scolia bicincta

A common butterfly --Red-banded Hairstreak

Night and Day

After several years of night-time observing I'm beginning to make the transition to day. This week I spent several bright sunny afternoons with Nick Wagerik and the bug watchers at their various observation posts. Here are two highlights:

Ambush Bug on Black-eyed Susan at the Shakespeare Garden.
This small insect stays in one spot for hours, waiting for prey.

Dogwood Borer Moth [Synanthedon scitula] seen on Mountain Mint patch near Sparrow Rock. This insect is tiny - smaller than a penny. One of the Clearwing moths, this one uses protective mimicry as a defense. The Mountain Mint was buzzing with bees and wasps, and this little creature looked just like them. But it's a moth, and a new one for our Central Park list.



Now, back to last week's unidentified micromoths. Regular website correspondent Nan Holmes saw my photos and wrote:

Dear Marie,

Micromoths? How micro is micro?. Is there a definition to this or do we just mean very tiny?
And I wrote back, smart-alec style:

Well, my [non-scientific] definition of micromoth is any damn lepidopteran too small to be included in Covell.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Many apologies Nan.Two of the three turn out to be in Covell's Field Guide to Eastern Moths. After I posted the photos Davie Rolnick, one of the charter members of the Central Park Mothers [rhymes with authors] wrote in from MIT [he is just starting his first year there] with an ID to #3. Then Hugh McGuinnes provided IDs for the two two others, with one of them also included in Covell.

Below the photos I posted last week, now identified:

1.
Tufted Apple Bud Moth -- Platynota idaeusalis
Covell Plate 60 #16

2.
Scoparia species


3.
Elegant Grass-Veneer Moth -- Microcrambus elegans
Covell- Plate 64 #5

Flying creatures last Thursday

Flutter Fly [taxoneura sp.] at Turtle Pond
Photo by Charles S. Matson

Note: There's an informal insect study group that convenes near the stand of Boneset on the northern bank of Turtle Pond on most non-rainy afternoons. Quiet observers are always welcome.


Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Strawberry Fields
photo by Bruce Yolton http://www.urbanhawks.blogs.com

On 8/21/08 Bruce wrote:
For the next few weeks, anyone wanting to see a Central Park Hummingbird, just needs to find the Jewelweed [now blooming] on the south central edge of the Strawberry Field lawn and wait for a Hummingbird. They usually have a route they repeat every twenty minutes in the early evening, so with a little patience you're bound to see one.