Friday, February 27, 2015

Viceroy Hibernacula: Something about butterflies for a change


Ever wondered what butterflies do during the winter? A few migrate each year (like the Monarch), but most overwinter in our area, either as adults or larvae. The Viceroy, Limenitis archippus, has a nifty strategy to survive. When these caterpillars molt for the first time they begin monitoring daylight. They can sense when the days are getting shorter, and each caterpillar makes the decision whether to enter diapause (dormancy) or to continue developing. With the approach of fall, most will enter diapause and build hibernaculum; small cocoon-like structures that protect them during the winter.

I raised several Viceroys last summer and knew where I might find these dormant caterpillars.

This may just look like a dead leaf, but it has a little caterpillar inside! Well, probably, I didn't actually rip it open to check.

Yesterday I ventured out and found a half-dozen or so hibernaculum on a small willow near our farm. The key to finding them is to look for rolled-up, trumpet shaped dead leaves that are tied to the twig of a willow tree.



When the weather warms up in the spring, these caterpillars emerge ravenous, and do little but eat until they pupate and finally emerge as a butterfly.


The Viceroy caterpillar


The chrysalis


And the butterfly (Photo by Andrew)


The adult Viceroy is thought to be a Mullerian mimic of the Monarch. While not tasty itself, it mimics the pattern of the more poisonous Monarch, so as to not be eaten by birds and other predators.

If you want to learn more about raising butterflies, you should check out this very helpful site.  I successfully raised several species last summer and hope to try several new ones this year.

Joseph

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Landfill Report: February 20

We (Bryant and I) went to the landfill yesterday and had a pretty good day. When we got there all the gulls were sitting a couple hundred yards away and were positioned straight into the sun. We were contemplating how long we should stay, when they started coming in towards the trash pile to eat. Soon we had a nice gathering of them in close, although the lighting was still poor.  There was eventually enough cloud cover that we could pick out a nice variety of gulls including the following: 15 Thayer's Gulls,  5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls,  2 Iceland (Kumlien's) Gulls, and 2 intermediate Thayer's/Kumlien's. We also had a possible Nelson's Gull (Herring x Glaucous). Thoughts on this bird?
Possible Nelson's Gull:  Photo by Andrew

Possible Nelson's Gull:  Photo by Bryant
1st cycle Kumlien's Gull:  Photo by Andrew

1st cycle Kumlien's Gull:  Photo by Andrew

Adult Thayer's Gull:  Photo by Andrew
  Andrew

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Hoskinson's Sandpit Report: February 17

Today I went to the sandpit for about 3-1/2 hours.  When I got there it was fairly pleasant.  There were a lot of gulls loafing around about a hundred yards out and I saw a couple of adult Thayer's.  I was beginning to think that though there were chances of rain for the afternoon they might have been inaccurate, when Joseph called and said that "it's snowing and raining at our place and probably will be there soon.''  This inspired me to search for shelter, which I found in the form of a metal trailer of sorts.  It snowed for a little while and after it stopped I could look at the gulls again.  The same intermediate 2nd cycle Thayer's/Kumlien's that we saw on the 12th had flown in, but it was too far out to get more conclusive pictures.  The wind had really kicked up and was blowing very hard, making it very difficult to I.D. the sitting gulls.  After a while a bunch of gulls flew in and among the Herring and Ring-billed  I saw my first Lesser Black-backed of the day.  By now I was getting pretty cold so I called mom to see when she was coming by to pick me up.  She said it would be another hour.  Wow! By the time she got there I was really cold, and had only seen one more Thayer's as compensation.  Overall this was one of the worst days as far as gull numbers that I have had this year with only about four Thayer's, two Lesser Black-backed, and about five hundred of both Ring-billed and Herring.

Lesser Black-backed Gull.  Photo by Andrew

Andrew

Friday, February 13, 2015

Reno County Landfill report: February 12

 Bryant, Andrew and I spent the afternoon at the Reno County Landfill and the adjacent sandpit. We had, shall we say, an amazing time. We pulled up to the sandpit and carefully scanned the 1000 or so gulls sitting on the water. A 3rd cycle Lesser Black-backed was the only bird of interest for a while, but then Bryant spotted a very pale gull coming in. We looked at it carefully for the next few minutes and it concluded that it was probably a 2nd cycle Iceland. That would be the second one in three days! We moved around the sandpit and got better looks, though no good photos. It eventually flew off towards the landfill so we headed over there.

We promptly found several 1st cycle Thayer's and a few more LBBG of various ages. I happened to glance over at some other gulls and spotted a 1st cycle Kumlien's standing just a short distance away! We cautiously approached within about 20 to 30 feet and got some great photos before it flew off. Although we will have to find out for sure on the 2nd cycle, we probably had two Kumlien's Icelands in one day! This is still a review species in Kansas with only about fifteen previous records.


Note the pale, patterned tertials and white primaries

2nd cycle Kumlien's /Thayer's? Thoughts on the ID?
Other highlights were: 10+ Thayer's Gull (these really need to be taken off the eBird filter), 7+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls (2 adults, 1 4th cycle, 2 3rd cycles and 2 1st cycles), A hybrid type, possibly GBBG x HEGU or very atypical Herring, Both a Ring-billed and a Herring with one dark, presumably defective eye and one banded 4th cycle Herring (I didn't notice it till I checked my photos on the way home). A total of five gull species for the day, my personal record!

One of the many Thayer's Gulls.This one is perhaps a bit darker than typical.

3rd cycle LBBG

3rd cycle LBBG

Hybrid Great Black-backed x Herring or aberrant Herring? Your thoughts are welcome on this. Photo by Andrew

Hybrid Great Black-backed x Herring or aberrant Herring? Your thoughts are welcome on this. Photo byAndrew

Banded 4th cycle Herring Gull
 Joseph

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

First cycle Iceland (Kumlien's) Gull

Yesterday I went to Hoskinson's Sandpit in Hutchinson.  Upon arriving, one of the first gulls I identified was an adult Lesser Black-backed!  Over the next hour there was a constant stream of gulls coming from the landfill including a couple adult Thayer's.  I also had a Killdeer, which is the earliest I have ever had one.  During the last fifteen minutes that I could be there, I looked up and to my surprise saw a very pale gull flying over!  I quickly put my binoculars on it and saw right away that it was either a very pale Thayer's or a Iceland(Kumlien's).  I frantically took several pictures before it started to circle higher and higher.  I quickly called Bryant, who was at piano lessons in town, but it disappeared out of sight about two minutes before he got there.  We rushed over to the landfill, which was in the direction it had disappeared.  When we got there we scanned the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of the gull.  We were beginning to despair when Bryant yelled," There it is!"  Sure enough, there it was, circling high over head.  It disappeared out of sight about a minute later.  When we got home we looked over our pictures, but we were not sure enough to call it a Kumlien's.  So we sent it to Jon King, the ebird reviewer, and he agreed that it is a Kumlien's!  This is about the fifteenth record for Kansas of an Iceland Gull.
Iceland(Kumlien's) Gull
Iceland(Kumlien's) Gull

Andrew

Cook Inlet Gull

On Tuesday the 3rd of February, I went to a local sandpit to watch gulls for a couple of hours.  Aside from the usual Herring and Ring-billed, I had one adult Lesser Black-backed and at least six Thayer's.  Towards the end of my stay I had a interesting second cycle Gull come by.  I first thought it was a Nelson's Gull (Herring x Glaucous), but was not at all sure so I sent it to the ebird reviewer for our area, Jon King.  He then sent it to Chris Wood and Marshall Iliff who both agreed it was a Cook Inlet Gull, which is a Glaucous-winged x Herring Gull hybrid.  This is the first record for the state, but is probably largely overlooked due to the problems in identifying them.
Cook Inlet Gull

Andrew

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Who we are, the birds around here

Welcome to the Reno County Birdmen
 
This blog was created with the goal of chronicling our wildlife observations. We (Joseph, Andrew and Bryant Miller) are avid birders, wildlife watchers and amateur photographers. 
     
Since our uncle first took us birdwatching in 2009, we have found that Reno County is a great place to bird, and its proximity to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge has proved helpful for chasing rarities that show up there.

Nobody expected this Red-necked Stint to show up at Quivira in 2012.
We successfully located it the next day and got great looks at this
stunning Asian rarity. Photo by Bryant.
Reno County is located ideally in the center of the state for a variety of habitats, and the county list shows it! From Chuck-will's-widows and American Woodcocks nesting in the eastern part of the county to Cassin's Sparrows in the west, Reno currently has 328 species on its checklist, which is the 14th highest total in the state! We have discovered that some species formerly not on the checklist (Chestnut-collared Longspur, Sprague's Pipit, and Black-headed Grosbeak to name a few), were actually regular, and in some cases, common migrants.We get both eastern and western migrants here on a regular basis. This leads to cool species combos, like finding both Mourning and MacGillivray's warblers in the same grove in the same morning. Or perhaps Lark Buntings and Black-and-white Warblers.

A good example of an eastern stray, this stunning male Cape May Warbler we found at Quivira was the first record for the refuge!

I (Joseph) have also been keeping track of the birds I see in a 25 square mile block around our farm. So far my neighbor Dwight, his son Anthony and I have found 245 species of birds in the last few years. That's bigger than the lists of forty Kansas counties!


Lately we have all become obsessed with gulls as well. Luckily for us the gulls from Cheney Reservoir commute every day up to a sandpit near the county landfill. So far this winter we have found at least 7 species of gulls and a couple of intermediate and hybrid birds as well. Andrew photographed a gull last week that eBird staff confirmed was a "Cook Inlet Gull" (a hybrid between Glaucous-winged and Herring gulls). That's a first state record! A hybrid, but still exciting. Gulls never fail to fascinate me, they can have so much variation within a single species and even age.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to posting on this blog and hopefully improving my writing skills in the future. Thanks for reading our blog and check back soon!           

Joseph