Marl Bed Flats, 8/14/2013

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Northern Parula
I drove out to Marl Bed Flats this morning hoping to find shorebirds.  I found none--not even a Killdeer.  I did have a pretty good time though.  I saw a juvenile Purple Gallinule, Coopers Hawk and a Belted Kingfisher. There were also many of the normal blackbirds, grackles and wading birds.

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Boat-tailed Grackle
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Green Heron
More of these hibiscus-like flowers are blooming here, and they look to me to be Saltmarsh Mallow, though I wasn't in a salt marsh. I wish I'd brought my diffuser for this photo.

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Saltmarsh Mallow?
Dragonflies where also there in abundance. I photographed a beautiful male Four-spotted Pennant.

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Four-spotted Pennant
As I was leaving, I found a butterfly I've never seen before. That didn't surprise me, since I'm pretty much a novice at identifying insects. I took a few photos with my point and shoot camera and then searched my Audubon Butterfly Guide and could not find this butterfly. The best I could find was a Northern White-Skipper. The only problem is that they aren't supposed to be east of Colorado. But I have a butterfly-expert friend who solved the mystery for me; it's a Common Checkered-Skipper or White Checkered-Skipper.  According to my friend, they are inseparable in the field, but the White Checkered-Skipper is more common here.

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Common Checkered-Skipper or White Checkered-Skipper
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Common Checkered-Skipper or White Checkered-Skipper

Comments

  1. Scott, great photos, as always. I've taken some butterfly photos but never captured their antennas - assuming that they all have them - is that ability to capture that something that is possible with my bridge camera?

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  2. After posting to you, I went to my photos and - gulp - I see those antennas now on the photos that I took .... WoW .... another enlightenment! I need to slow down more and be more present - pay more attention to those little details.

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