A recent walk around Papscanee Island, on the same day I saw the American Robin’s nest, rewarded me with some cool pictures of insects. A Six Spotted Tiger Beetle is above, an insect with a confusing name not explained by the helpful people at whatsthatbug.com who identified it for me: This is a Tiger Beetle. [...]

The acquisition of a new field guide is always a joyous occasion, signaling either an impending journey or impending answers to old questions. By the latter, I’m referring to those unclosed cases that accumulate any time a nature lover ventures outdoors armed with a camera but not a clue. As you can imagine, my digital [...]

Along with the expected assortment of bird books for Christmas, I received a butterfly guide, specifically the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. Readers of this blog know that I, like so many birders before me, am developing a growing interest in the invertebrate life I encounter in my travels. Dragonflies and [...]

Though I’m interested in all aspects of natural history, my focus these days is (obviously) on birds. Still, I’ve always been very interested in invertebrates, particularly dragonflies. My usual practice is to take a picture of any fascinating specimen that sits still long enough to allow it in the hope that one day I’ll be [...]

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail I think hobnobbing with so many fantastic bug bloggers is getting to me because I find myself paying increased attention to invertebrates out in the field. I’m particularly enjoying butterflies, moths, and dragonflies, the species most bird watchers seem to be susceptible to. In some cases, these creatures are hard to ignore. [...]

The biodiverse expanse of the Everglades is a lepidopterist’s delight, serving up really sensational butterfly species. However, the non-avian critter that really caught my attention during my trip to Loxahatchee NWR was the big, beautiful Lubber Grasshopper. The Eastern Lubber Grasshopper (Romalea guttata or Romalea microptera) is fairly common throughout the southeastern United States, particularly [...]

Most residents of New York state, particularly those who can muster a glance at the treetops now and again, are familiar with the writhing, webby nests of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum), though few have a solid idea what they’re observing. I’m embarrassed to say that until recently, as in just a couple of [...]

We’re just about at that point in the winter season where I start daydreaming about glorious, sun-drenched days of summers past. The source of some of my favorite tropical, or more accurately, Neotropical memories is the trip Sara and I took to Belize in July 2003. Though we embarked on a week’s worth of thrilling [...]