This record is to supplement this other record of a live beetle by Tom Schultz:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202082887
This specimen was collected by the late Skip Choate on Grassy Key on 18 June 1977.
Unfortunately this species no longer occurs on the Keys but might again if weather brings more in someday... look on the bay side on rocks.
Green-backed male with juvenile plumage (white throat)
Not sure what is going on but this is the fourth birder that I know of who has had a phoebe perch on their binoculars or on their person at Commons Ford.
Strange behavior. It landed on the (hot) roof then froze in this position for 2-3 minutes. Then it had its head sideways, then sat, then flew off.
Oh yeah :)
At first a black speck on the horizon (with a Common Loon). And then that bright bill.
Same bird as this observation (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209396820 ).
It shows a yellow wash underneath which, I believe indicates that it's a female.
Awful screenshot from the Farallones webcam of this continuing rarity
Video on iNat: https://youtu.be/3pP0IDCoSk4
Pin is where the bird was hanging out in a willow. We were standing at a distance watching it, on the trail at the overlook of the "lagoon area" halfway down to the lake from the trailhead
As demonstrated here, butterflies that perch head down have a peculiar posture for defecating.
Dead Specimen-
I found this beetle in a restroom inside of a store. It was on its last breath, so I brought it home to document it. Of course, eventually it met its fate within time.
I saw this salamander and another smaller one in my garden, several times, during the winter.
Busy raiding column crossing the trail with many pupae and cocoons. Followed it "upstream" but couldn't find the nest being raided.
Phidippus sp. (jumping spider) with Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata), Chaumont, NY
In the spring of 2003 at Valley View site in Yosemite Valley my wife saw a female Harlequin Duck. None had been seen in the valley for apparently 80 years. The following March we saw a pair from Pohono bridge. Later, park naturalists found the female was raising some young. We found her each spring through 2006 but no nesting was noted. We have not seen a Harlequin there since.
In the spring of 2003 at Valley View site in Yosemite Valley my wife saw a female Harlequin Duck. None had been seen in the valley for apparently 80 years. The following March we saw a pair from Pohono bridge. Later, park naturalists found the female was raising some young. We found her each spring through 2006 but no nesting was noted. We have not seen a Harlequin there since.
Ascalapha odorata
Auke Bay, 12 mi N of Juneau, Alaska.
A female Black Witch Moth found October 4, 1957 at Auke Bay, 12 mi N of Juneau, AK
Photo by: Steve Henrikson, Curator of Collections, Alaska State Museum
Spangler, P.J. 1957. A record of the black witch, Erebus odora (Noctuidae), in Alaska. The Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society, 11(6): 205.
https://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1950s/1957/1957-11(6)205-Spangler.pdf
Ascalapha odorata - Female
nr. Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
August 18, 2006
Collected on a rocky headland jutting out into Hudson Bay near Churchill, MB, by the Barcode of Life Initiative.
This specimen represents the northernmost Black Witch Moth ever collected
I put this into 4 separate observations.
The story is, I was metal detecting in the mountains while waiting for the 4th of July drone light display and stumbled upon this poorwill. I dropped my metal detector and followed it through the woods to get a picture (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/124902166). I finally got a picture and when I went back to get my metal detector, right next to it I noticed 2 tiny eggs (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/124902168). Since I was there anyway I took a quick photo and then left it be. It was with 2 or 3 other individuals. I then found a feather I am guessing belongs to this species (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/124902167) and a couple minutes before the drone display I recorded an audio clip (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/124902172). This was perhaps the best 4th of July I have ever had because I am thankful they are trying something less destruction of explosive noise pollution and air pollution. The explosions from South Lake Tahoe's fireworks display made the forest quiet and as usual went on so long I got bored.
I spooked away whoever was sitting on it. I’m 100% sure it was a nightjar of sorts, 80% sure it was a poorwill because of the white corners on the tail as it flew away.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) Mill Creek, Mono County, California, USA, 9 July 2009
Feeding on crustacean (crab or crayfish). In corner of old concrete stock tank with no outlet — prey may have been caught and unable to climb out.
Drama. These guys all normally get along pretty well, but here a squirrel decided to start something and nearly got kicked in the head as reward. Moments later they were back to munching sunflower seeds side-by-side again.