This afternoon I hiked a section of Hubbard County Park in Flanders in pursuit of a particular osprey nest which I was unsuccessful in finding.  I did, however, find two previously unknown (to the NYS natural heritage program anyway) populations of Sabatia stellaris (salt-marsh pink), a small pink flowering plant that is fond of brackish marshes and is on the NYS endangered list.  I previously had found a location near my house of this species which was unknown to the NYS natural heritage program two summers ok so this was a nice find.   Unfortunately the mosquitoes were unbearable so it was a quick few shots and then I left.  More photos (probably of the population that's closer to home) to come.

This Fowler's Toad was spotted on the other side of the property... it probably is a yearling as it was not the size of an adult. 

And some sunsets from Patchogue after a wild storm tore across the island:

And across the river:

Summer Seals, Batches of Bugs and other east end treats.

The last few weeks have been full of seal releases by the Riverhead Foundation, the local rescue and rehab group tasked with rescuing and helping marine mammals back to life.  They are a wonderful not for profit organization with lots of dedicated volunteers and some skilled biologists (some of whom are in the Gulf helping rehab dolphins and sea turtles affected by the oil spill).  The first one I attended a few weeks ago featured a very curious grey seal named "chance" who gave me a great chance to get up close shots.  (Chance is featured above as well)

and one more

This past weekend featured another Grey Seal who bolted into the water, and a Harbor Seal who appeared a little nervous before slipping into the water.

Here is the Harbor looking a bit more hesitant...I don't blame him.  He landed in the hospital after surviving a shark attack!

Finally in the water

A trip to 'Tern Island" in Moriches Bay proved worthless as a Tern photography venture as we missed the fledge date and all of the birds were gone.  However, the milkweed has grown throughout portions of the island providing a good opportunity for Monarch Caterpillars (which, believe it or not I've never seen before).  Without even looking I spotted about a dozen of these guys munching away which is quite impressive.  So aside from the islands value as bird breeding habitat, the monarchs will be happy with our efforts as well.  Unfortunately for the milkweed however, the Oleander Aphid (little yellow specks) has exploded on this island (likely due to the heat/drought conditions) covering every single plant.  The Lady bugs which feed on the aphids simply can't keep up.  

Milkweed bugs on their namesake plant

And here is the lady bug doing its part:

Now here is another female Diamondbacked Terrapin I spotted crossing Dune Rd. (this time returning from laying eggs).  It clearly has had a run in with something bigger than it in its past (Car? Raccoon?) with its notched shell and cracked jaw, but it seemed relatively healthy (though quite nervous to come out of its shell!)

Yesterdays visit to Pheasant Meadow didn't yield much beyond ticks and mosquitoes, but this Pearl Crescent Butterfly obliged me on some blooming milkweed.

And lastly, a landscape shot (what?!?).  This time it's sunlit clouds from Squires Pond along the Peconic Bay last night.  I ran out of the water (I had been swimming) in hopes of photographing the golden cloud on the left side of the image but by the time I got my camera from my car it had largely dissipated.  The remaining clouds and color were still quite attractive though.

Tomorrow I am off on a Whale Watching trip out of Montauk so hopefully my next post will be filled with Whales, Dolphins and maybe even a Shark (or Sea Turtle, I'd be pleased with either).  

A Turtle and a Deer with some Bugs mixed in

This week has been pretty varied when it comes to non-bird wildlife.  I found plenty of insects in my yard and at the bay along with a Diamondbacked Terrapin (above - only the 4th time I've seen this species) and some white-tailed deer (below).

Seaside Dragonlets are the only dragonfly species in our parts that live in salt marshes.  They are also a favorite meal for the Purple Martin.  Below is a female (note the yellow).

This Ruby Meadowhawk was patient for me after work one evening:

A Pearl Crescent Butterfly fed on flowers in my yard:

and an American Copper utilized the same plant the following day:

A milkweed bug clung to a blade of grass early in the morning:

And a few more shots of the Diamondbacked Terrapin on her way to lay eggs:

Full body shot...

El Salvador

Finally getting around to doing my El Salvador updates... I just updated my bird photo blog and here are the non-bird shots.  It was a little disappointing in terms of animals and diversity, but we were unable to go to Parque Imposible due to a washed out bridge which meant not getting a lot of photos.  I still saw a great diversity of butterflies though and quite a few lizards (though I wasn't able to photo any of them).  Above: Roca Sunzal, La Libertad, El Salvador

Above: A clear winged butterfly at "The Devil's Door" outside of San Salvador.  Below: A closeup of a butterfly in the mountains of Northern El Salvador

Same species:

Same spot, different species:

This spider was nice enough to pose while we wanted for La Policia to show up after the car broke down (which is when I obtained the above photos as well)

And one last shot of Roca Sunzal, a little later in the evening:

This and That

Hopefully I'll squeeze in 1 more update before my trip to El Salvador/Guatemala but rest assured, I'll have plenty of non-bird photos when I return from that trip later this month. (Above: Salt marsh Dragonfly)

Above: I discovered a glass eel along the shore of Sagg Pond in Bridgehampton.  This is the larval stage of the American Eel and is the largest glass eel I've ever seen (it was just shy of 6").  The glass eel is the form this fish takes after hatching and it floats from the Sargasso Sea for 1-3 years until reaching North America where it transforms into the more often seen eel as it meanders into streams and ponds and lakes.  It's amazing how clear they are and the texture is like rubber and as evidenced in the photo it's thin like a rubber band.  After a few photos, I freed it to the water where it slithered away.

The above flower is a round-leaved sundew which is a carnivorous plant.  The "dew" droplets are actually a sticky substance secreted by the plant to attract and help digest insect prey.  It's a very small plant with the photo representing about 1/2" in size.

The Turtle and the Strawberry

This weekend I was putting out some fruit for the birds (didn't get any takers) when I stumbled upon this Eastern Box Turtle (a relatively common sight in this area, though it is a species of Special Concern in NYS).  I wanted to take some photos of it with my macro so I put it on the outdoor table adjacent to the fruit.  I went to get my lens and when I came back he decided to have a snack.  I watched as he munched away most of the strawberry and was laughing most of the time.  If you have never seen a turtle eat, especially eat something bigger than it's head, it's an amusing sight.  Add to that all of the strawberry juice that was getting on his face and well I'm sure you'll laugh too.  After it had devoured most of the strawberry, I set it free in the yard and will hopefully stumble upon him again soon.  For those concerned about me "feeding" a wild animal, let me state that Eastern Box Turtles are incredibly omnivorous and will eat anything they can catch up to.  They even have the ability to eat mushrooms that are toxic to humans and the strawberry it ate on is just a giant version of the wild strawberrys that grow in my yard.

This turtle can be ID'd as a male due to its red eye (the females have brown eyes) ans is probably relatively young (they can live 60-80 years in the wild) based on its vibrant colors (older adults are much more dull).  I have entitled the photo below 'The Carnage' because of the blood red flesh and juice all over its face.

An extreme closeup of the eye:

He was a bit shy at first, but quickly warmed up to me and my camera:

A very messy eater....

BIG bite....

This is what a very happy Eastern Box Turtle looks like:

Now we go from cute to creepy.  This spider (ID unknown) was found unfortunately in my bedroom... but I was able to capture it and take it outside for a photo shoot before letting it go to the woods where it should be.  And yes, it was huge... the body alone was about 1" in size.

The "perch" that I photographed this spider on is an old odd shaped piece of drift wood I picked up a few years ago that has been sitting around in my yard.  I started off using just the macro 105mm, but added the teleconverter later to allow an even closer view (as if I needed one) of this spider.

Super closeup:

And I'll round this post out with some cute and furry groundhog photos.  This is from EPCAL and is (likely) the same groundhog I previously photographed in early April.

Doing its best prairie dog impression:

ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I really started laughing when I saw this photo after uploading my images to my computer: