Contact

Questions, comments, or inquiries about the blog, photos, or competitive text link ad rates should be sent to michael_motto[at]yahoo[dot]com

Recommended Links

• Night Vision

Additional Resources

My Observation Lists

Every bird watcher and nature observer has his or her "lists." Here are mine for Birds and Insects (left sidebar), and Travel, Mammals, Plants, Reptiles, Fish and Crustaceans (right sidebar), complete with pull down menus.

BIRDS

Categorized by genus/species, placed chronologically by common name

American Coot

Floating Crash Landing

American Crow

In Flight Call (AUDIO) Perched

American Flamingo*

Wading

American Goldfinch

Male Singing (AUDIO) Male / Breeding Plumage Male / Breeding Plumage 2 Male / Non-Breeding Plumage Female / Breeding Plumage Male Drinking Six Different Ones Parent Feeding Juvenile

American Kestrel

Close Up On Utility Pole Multiple Views Perched Floating With Rodent Eating Rodent

American Robin

Profile Profile 2 Profile 3 Worming Song (AUDIO) Juvenile Partially Albino Mother/Juvenile (VIDEO) Mother on Nest Juvenile on Nest

American Tree Sparrow

In Brush

American White Pelican

Multiple Views Flying Over the River With Cormorants

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle Profile 1 Bald Eagle Profile 2 Bald Eagle Soaring Adult and 2nd Year Juvenile Catching Fish Bald Eagle Eyes Bald Eagle Peering Bald Eagle Profile 3 Flying with Fish Bald Eagle Flying Eagle In Tree Eagle Soaring Eagle Mooning 2nd Year Juvenile In Flight 16 Silhouettes Juvenile Overhead Adult on Ice Adult Perched Mid-Air Scuffle Eagle In Flight

Baltimore Oriole

Male

Barn Swallow

Squawking Call (AUDIO) Yawn? (VIDEO)

Barnacle Goose*

Flying

Belted Kingfisher

Perched

Black-and-White Warbler

Perched

Black-Capped Chickadee

Perched Hanging Around

Black-Headed Gull*

Multiple 1st Winter Multiple

Black Vulture*

Frontal

Blue Jay

Attacking Hawk In Tree

Blue Tit*

Perched

Blue-Winged Teal

Breeding Male

Bobwhite

Broad-Winged Hawk

Soaring

Brown Creeper

Climbing Climbing 2

Brown-Headed Cowbird

Both Sexes Juvenile (VIDEO)

Brown Thrasher

Perched

Bufflehead

Both Sexes Males

Canada Goose

Multiple Photos Goslings

Canvasback

Group of Males Large Group

Cape May Warbler*

Multiple

Carolina Chickadee*

Perched

Carolina Wren

Perched

Cedar Waxwing

Perched In Crabapple

Chipping Sparrow

Perched

Common Gallinule

Multiple

Common Goldeneye

Male (Juvenile) Male (Breeding)

Common Grackle

Perched Foraging (VIDEO)

Common Gull*

Standing

Common Moorhen*

Standing

Common Pochard*

Male

Common Redpoll

Both Sexes

Cooper's Hawk

Juvenile in Flight

Dark-Eyed Junco

Frontal View Waiting

Dicksissel

Call (AUDIO)

Double-Crested Cormorant

In Flight Head With Pelicans

Downy Woodpecker

Clinging Foraging Pecking (VIDEO) Profile

Eastern Bluebird

Male Perched Perched

Eastern Goldfinch - See American Goldfinch

Eastern Kingbird

Perched

Eastern Meadowlark

Back Front Perched Nest / Eggs

Eastern Phoebe

Perched Perched 2

Eastern Towhee

Both sexes

Eastern Wood Pewee

Perched

Eurasian Blackbird*

Foraging

Eurasian Collared Dove

Walking

Eurasian Coot*

Floating Taking Flight

Eurasian Jackdaw*

Multiple

Eurasian Magpie*

Multiple

European Serin*

Perched

European Starling

Perched Multi-Colored On Stop Light Juvenile (VIDEO)

Fox Sparrow

In Brush

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

Blurry Photo

Gray Catbird

Multiple Views Perched

Graylag Goose

Walking Close Up

Great Black-backed Gull*

Standing

Great Blue Heron

Standing

Great Egret

Wading

Great Spotted Woodpecker*

Perched

Greater Flamingo*

Greater White-Fronted Goose*

Profile

Hairy Woodpecker

Clinging

Harlequin Duck

Swimming

Hermit Thrush

Foraging

Herring Gull

1st Winter Close 1st Winter and Adult 2nd Winter 3rd Winter Flying with Fish 1st Winter Flying

Hooded Crow*

Multiple

Horned Lark

Foraging On Gravel Road

House Finch

Male Getting Sun Female Getting Sun Male Perched Female Perched Both Sexes Female Walking (VIDEO) Pair

House Sparrow

Male Perched Female Perched Male Nesting Waiting

House Wren

Perched With Birdhouse

Indigo Bunting

Juvenile

Killdeer

Standing Wading In Flight Running (VIDEO)

Laughing Gull*

Adult Molting

Lesser Black-backed Gull*

3rd Winter Adult/1st Winter

Lesser Scaup

Both Sexes Males Large Group

Lincoln's Sparrow

Melospiza Sparrows

Magnolia Warbler

Mallard (Domestic)

Pekin Duck

Mallard (Wild)

Mallard Male Mallard Female Mallards Flying Male and Dark-Billed Female Male and Female (breeding) Dark Head Flying

Mourning Dove

Perched Silhouetted

Mute Swan*

Standing

Neotropic Cormorant*

Sunning

Northern Cardinal

Female Perched Male Singing Male Perched Male Sunning Female in Tree Song (AUDIO) One-Eyed Female Juvenile Scruffy Male

Northern Flicker

Both Sexes (Yellow Shaft) Male Front (Yellow Shaft)

Northern Rough-Winged Swallow

In Flight Close Up

Northern Shoveler

Both Sexes

Orange-Crowned Warbler

Multiple Views

Palm Warbler

Brown (Western) Brown (Western) 2

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

In Flight Female Female 2 Male Male 2 Eating

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Clinging

Red-Headed Woodpecker

Eating

Red-Legged Thrush*

Foraging

Red-Tailed Hawk

Front and Back From Below Juvenile In Flight Adult in Flight Attacked by Blue Jay Profile Mid-Air Scuffle Flying Low

Red-Winged Blackbird

Female Male Male Sqwauking Male Call (AUDIO) Female Foraging

Ring-Billed Gull

In Flight In Flight 2 1st Winter and Adult In Flight 3 1st Winter in Flight Adult Posing In Flight 4

Ring-Necked Duck

Large Group

Rock Pigeon

White & Gray All-White Form Common Gray

Rook*

Multiple

Ross's Goose*

Profile

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Profile Profile 2

Ruddy Turnstone*

On the Beach

Scarlet Tanager

Male

Smooth-Billed Ani*

Perched

Solitary Sandpiper

Wading

Song Sparrow

Close Up Singing Singing 2 Multiple Views Silhouette Melospiza Sparrows Song (AUDIO) Perched

Spotted Sandpiper

Call (AUDIO)

Swamp Sparrow

In Brush Frontal View Melospiza Sparrows Buzzed

Tricolored Heron*

Wading

Tufted Duck*

Multiple

Tufted Titmouse

Profile With Icicle

Tundra Swan*

Profile

Turkey Vulture

Multiple Views

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Under side Multiple Views Hopping

White-Cheeked Pintail*

Close-up

White-Crowned Pigeon*

Perched

White-Crowned Sparrow

Posing Perched On Fence

White-Eyed Vireo

Profile

White-Throated Sparrow

Multiple Shots

White-Winged Dove

Wild Turkey

Multiple Shots Tracks

Wilson's Warbler

Multiple Shots

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Male Female

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Multiple Views

INSECTS, ARACHNIDS, MYRIAPODS & GASTROPODS

Categorized by family, placed chronologically by common name

Ants (Formicidae)

Reddish Carpenter Ant

Bee Flies (Bombyliidae)

Bombylius sp.

Blow Flies (Calliphoridae)

Green Bottle Fly Green Bottle Fly 2 Fly Stuck in Web

Brown Lacewings (Hemerobiidae)

Micromus posticus
Bumble Bees, etc. (Apidae)
Small Carpenter Bee Honey Bee on Crown Vetch Brownbelted Bumblebee Common Eastern Bumblebee

Carrion Beetles (Silphidae)

American Carrion Beetle

Cellar Spiders (Pholcidae)

In Basement

Centipedes, House (Scutigeridae)

Scutigera coleoptrata

Cicadas (Cicadidae)

Tibicen linnei

Common Sawflies (Tenthredinidae)

Nematus ventralis (larva)

Crane Flies (Tipulidae)

Giant Crane Fly Silhouette

Emeralds (Corduliidae)

Prince baskettail

Fireflies (Lampyridae)

On Day Lily

Flower Flies - See Syrphid Flies

Funnel-Web Spiders (Agelenidae)

Agelenopsis sp.

Honey Bees - See Bumble Bees, etc.

Hornets - See Yellowjackets, etc.

Hover Flies - See Syrphid Flies

Ichneumon Wasps (Ichneumonidae)

Pimplidae

Jumping Spiders (Salticidae)

Phidippus clarus Phidippus clarus w/ Prey Phidippus audax Phidippus audax 2 Phidippus audax - subadult

Katydids (Tettigoniidae)

Short-Winged Meadow Katydid Short-Winged Meadow Katydid 2

Ladybird Beetles (Coccinellidae)

Twelve-Spotted Lady Beetle Twelve-Spotted Lady Beetle #2 Twelve-Spotted Lady Beetle #3 Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle Convergent Lady Beetle Multic. Asian L. Beetle No Spots Multic. Asian L. Beetle W/ 2 Spots Multic. Asian L. Beetle W/ 10 Spots Ladybird Beetle Larva

Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae)

Flea Beetle - dis. pennsylvanica Flea Beetle - dis. caroliniana Flea Beetle - dis. xanthomelas Spotted Cucumber Beetle Northern Corn Rootworm Spotted Cucumber Beetle 2 Spotted Cucumber Beetle 3 Potato Beetle Larva

Leaffooted Bugs (Coreidae)

Leptoglossus clypealis

Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae)

Red-Banded Leafhopper

Lightning Bugs - See Fireflies

Longhorned Beetles (Cerambycidae)

Orthosoma brunneum Batyle Suturalis

Mantid Flies (Mantispidae)

Wasp Mantidfly

Mantids (Mantidae)

Chinese Mantis / Close Up Chinese Mantis Eating Chinese Mantis Growing Up Chinese Mantis Full Size

Minettia Flies (Minettia)

Obscura

Narrow-Winged Damselflies (Coenagrionidae)

American Bluet Eastern Forktail

New York Weevils (Ithyceridae)

New York Weevil

Orb-Weavers (Araneidae)

L. Cornutus vs. Yellow Jacket L. Cornutus in Web L. Cornutus with Fly Banded Argiope Argiope aurantia Neoscona crucifera Mangora gibberosa

Paper Wasps - See Yellowjackets, etc.

Picture-Winged Flies (Ulidiidae)

Chaetopsis sp.

Plant Bugs (Miridae)

Lygus on B-E Susan Plant Bug on Marigold

Robber Flies (Asilidae)

Taracticus octopunctatus

Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae)

Japanese Beetle

Scentless Plant Bugs (Rhopalidae)

Box Elder Bug

Short-horned Grasshoppers (Acrididae)

Differential Grasshopper Red-Legged Grasshopper

Signal Flies (Platystomatidae)

Rivellia sp.

Soldier Beetles (Cantharidae)

Margined Leatherwing on Daylily Margined Leatherwings Mating Margined Leatherwing Podabrus sp.

Soldier Flies (Stratiomyidae)

Nemotelus kansensis

Spittlebugs (Cercopidae)

Dogwood Spittlebug (adult) Meadow Spittlebug (nymph) Meadow Spittlebug (black adult) Meadow Spittlebug (spotted adult)

Stink Bugs (Pentatomidae)

Spined Soldier Bug Euschistus variolius Euschistus sp. Chinavia hilaris

Swallowtails (Papilionidae)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Sweat Bees (Halictidae)

Agapostemon splendens Halictus ligatus Augochlora pura

Syrphid Flies (Syrphidae)

Tranverse Flower Fly Toxomerus marginatus Toxomerus marginatus 2 Toxomerus marginatus 3 Helophilus fasciatus Sphaerophoris sp. Eupeodes sp. Unknown Genus Unknown Genus 2

Tiger Moths (Arctiidae)

Isabella (Larva)

Tiphiid Wasps (Tiphiidae)

Myzinum quinquecinctum

Yellowjackets, etc. (Vespidae)

Paper Wasp - Polistes fuscatus Paper Wasp - Polistes fuscatus 2 Paper Wasp - Polistes dominula Yellowjacket vs. Spider