More Late Season Moths

Aside from the Yellow-collared Scape Moth I posted yesterday, I have been seeing a variety of other moths. Here are a few. All of these moths were photographed between September 23 and October 2.

I saw lots of these moths at flowers all around Cape May Point State Park and the Meadows. At first I thought they might be skippers, but when I photographed one (badly) and looked at the photos, I realized that they were actually diurnal moths. This photo are from a later attempt, which produced much better results. The moths were Soybean Loopers (Chrysodeixis includens). Even though there were a lot of these moths, they proved difficult to photograph since they rarely stopped moving.

I found two individuals of this species, Rubbed Dart (Euxoa detersa), inside one of the restrooms at Sandy Hook. The species is common in sandy habitats such as beaches and grasslands and flies late in the season (July-October).

I think this moth, which I photographed at the Meadows in Cape May, is also a Rubbed Dart. The species shows a fair amount of variation; while the one from Sandy Hook is dark gray, this one is almost white. That seems consistent with the example photos at BugGuide and the Moth Photographers Group, though most of their photos are of darker gray moths. The pale coloration makes sense for the habitat; if the moth had not flushed when I walked near it, I probably would not have noticed it against the sand.

I found the moth below at Willowwood Arboretum. Though the date is rather late for the species, I think it is a Veiled Ear Moth (Amphipoea velata). (Some sources list the moth in genus Loscopia.) None of the other species I considered seems to fit the wing pattern as well. EDIT: Seabrooke comments that this is probably a Bronzed Cutworm (Nephelodes minians), which makes more sense given the late September date.

Yellow-collared Scape Moth

Lately I have been seeing a few Yellow-collared Scape Moths (Cisseps fulvicollis). The one in the image above was photographed at Willowwood Arboretum; the one in the two images below was at Cape May Point State Park. Adults of this species are often present around flowers, particularly goldenrod, where they sip nectar. These brightly-colored moths mimic the appearance of wasps to discourage predators.

Yellow-collared Scape Moths are very similar to another moth species, Virginia Ctenucha (Ctenucha virginica). One character that differentiates the two species is that the Virginia Ctenucha has metallic blue on its thorax while the Yellow-collared Scape Moth has an all-black thorax. (Both have metallic blue abdomens.) Virginia Ctenuchas are also less likely to be active late in the season.

Shorebirds at Sandy Hook

There were lots of birders at Sandy Hook yesterday, perhaps inspired by the news of favorable weather for migration. I did not see many warblers (only 5 species), but it was clear that there was substantial movement last night. There were dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers, particularly along the Fishermen's Trail near the hawk watch bunker. At Plum Island, the birds were changing over to a winter cast – Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, White-throated Sparrows, and my first Dark-eyed Junco of the fall. Out on the beaches, most of the Laughing Gulls have moved on, and large flocks of Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, and Great Black-backed Gulls are taking their place. Winter waterfowl are not present in significant numbers yet, but it is only a matter of time until they are.

I enjoyed spending some time with the Sanderlings and Black-bellied Plovers at the end of the Fishermen's Trail. Sanderlings tend to cluster along the ocean's edge. As a wave recedes, they chase it to feed in the newly washed sand, and then they run back up the beach as a new wave breaks. When not feeding actively, they often loaf just a few feet from the waterline, as these Sanderlings are doing.

The dry spit where they were resting cannot have been very wide, perhaps two feet, with water on both sides.

As I was watching and photographing the Sanderlings, five Black-bellied Plovers flew in to join them. The birds all cleared away when a wave (probably amplified by the wake of a passing boat) washed completely over their resting spot.

Damselflies from Cape May

In addition to the masses of buckeyes and other butterflies, there were quite a few dragonflies and damselflies active in the marshes. Cape May usually sees a fair amount of southward migration from dragonflies, particularly Common Green Darners. Dragonflies are drawn to the cape for the same reasons that birds and migratory butterflies are: prevailing winds pushes migrants towards the coast, and southern New Jersey's geography funnels them towards the point. I was not very successful in photographing dragonflies because they insisted on flying around instead of perching nicely where I could shoot them. However, I did photograph a few damselflies.

The first is a forktail. I think this is a female Rambur's Forktail based on the orange thorax and the lack of a black shoulder stripe.

The second is a species I have posted here before, Familiar Bluet. I saw quite a few of these around Cape May Point State Park and the Meadows.

The third is one I have not identified yet. The posture suggests a spreadwing, but the markings suggest a bluet, possibly Familiar Bluet. I would be inclined to go with markings over posture, but I am going to try to find some more information before settling on an identification for it.

Loose Feathers #258

Bushtit / Photo by George Gentry (USFWS)

Birds and birding news

• A fossil penguin was recently discovered in Peru with intact feathers on its left wing. The feathers were preserved sufficiently for scientists to determine that the penguin had gray and brown plumage rather than the black and white familiar from modern penguins. For more on this discovery, read the blog posts at Laelaps and Not Exactly Rocket Science.
• Raptors can use one of three types of soaring to save energy while they are hunting or migrating: slope updrafts, thermals, or wind.
• Desert-nesting Bald Eagles in Arizona, a population still classed as endangered, increased their breeding population over the past year. There are now 104 breeding adults, and 44 eaglets fledged in 2010.
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service decided that the Gunnison Sage Grouse deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act but that they are precluded from protecting it because other species are more deserving.
• Climate change poses a significant risk for long-distance migratory birds since it may upset the timing of when food is available on their breeding grounds and stopover habitat.
• Birds native to New Zealand produce a smelly wax for preening; the scent is pungent enough to attract predators.
• The new president of Audubon is visiting the relatively new Debs Park in Los Angeles, an urban nature park. The park offers family nature walks in Spanish.
• The oldest Whimbrel in the world was banded in 1986 and was found breeding this year on the same island where it was banded. 
• New colonies of the Baudo Oropendola – and endangered species – were found in Colombia. The discovery raises the known world population of the species from less than a dozen to almost one hundred individuals.
• Birds in urban areas are exposed to more predators than birds in rural areas, but the greater number of predators does not increase the amount of nest predation.

Birds in the blogosphere

• Birding Dude: Floyd Bennett Field Blue Ribbon Panel Meeting (Queens)
• Tetrapod Zoology: The Cretaceous birds and pterosaurs of Cornet: part I, the birds / part II, the pterosaurs
• Round Robin: Do Siskins Move in Straight Lines?
• Sibley Guides: Bill size, not shape, distinguishes Cackling and Canada Goose 
• Punctuated Equilibrium: Fossil virus leaves evolutionary footprints in songbird DNA 
• ILBIRDER: Sparrows of Fall

Oil spill

• A progressive think tank argues that BP's oil spill could have been prevented with better regulation and enforcement.
• Gulf Coast Oil Spill: Addendum to Part I: An Interview with LSU Ornithologist Dr. James Van Remsen About the Gulf Oil Disaster
• Gulf Coast Oil Spill: Part 2: An Interview with LSU Ornithologist Dr. James Van Remsen About the Gulf Oil Disaster
• The Coast Guard is worried about the potential for an oil spill from Cuba's deepwater drilling.
• BP will pay $15 million for Clean Air Act violations at a Texas City facility.

Environment and biodiversity

• Reintroduction of gray wolves significantly changed the ecology of Yellowstone National Park. Elk numbers are reduced, and they tend to be more wary. That in turn allowed many streams to start flowing again, and the beaver and pronghorn populations have increased.
• The California Energy Commission issued a response to comments on the Ivanpah solar development.
• Heavy rains cause sewer overflows in New York City because the system is too antiquated to handle the volume of sewage and storm water.
• Twenty-two percent of the world's plants are at risk of extinction, with species in tropical rainforests having the greatest risk, according to a survey by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, the Natural History Museum, and the IUCN. Another third of the species surveyed are too poorly documented to evaluate. 
• Montana and Idaho want to hold a hunt for gray wolves even though the species is federally endangered. According to a study, the hunt in Montana would halve the state's wolf population.
• 'Tis the season for brown marmorated stink bugs. The bugs try to find shelter within houses as the weather gets cooler.

Carnivals

• Circus of the Spineless #55
• I and the Bird #135
• Berry Go Round #31