Tag Archives: camouflage

Katy-did-did-did

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Love moments in the garden with Charlotte and her eagle eyes! The fabulously camouflaged  Fork-tailed Bush Katydid seen here was poised on a Common Milkweed leaf. Katydids mostly eat foliage, but they also eat dead bugs and insect eggs (was he planing on eating the freshly deposited Monarch eggs?).One quick, easy way to distinguish katydids from grasshoppers when out in a field is by looking at their antennae. A katydid’s antenna is super long and seemingly very delicate, sometimes as long, and possibly longer, than its body. Grasshoppers antennae are shorter and thicker.

Differentail Grasshopper

Fork-tailed Bush Katydid

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT AT 50 YEARS OLD!

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This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. In its first 50 years, the ESA has been credited with saving fully 99% of listed species from extinction, thanks to the collaborative actions of federal, state, and local agencies, Tribal governments, conservation organizations and private citizens. Read here for some very notable successes. 

Bald Eagle Soars Over Gloucester

From the US Department of Interior, “The Act has saved hundreds of species from extinction and continues to protect and preserve some of our most beloved animals and plants. It has also helped to create a better understanding of how human activities can impact the environment and how we can work together to protect it. Perhaps most importantly, this anniversary is a reminder that conservation efforts are essential for stemming the worsening impacts of climate change, protecting biodiversity and preserving our planet for ourselves and future generations.”

Did you know that when the ESA first listed the Piping Plover, in 1985, there were fewer than 4,000 breeding pairs nationwide? Today, in Massachusetts alone, we are currently hosting over 1100 nesting pairs. Our PiPl Friends at the New York City Plover Project were recently featured in “Ten Stories of Hope: The Endangered Species Act at 50” a new report by the Endangered Species Coalition. To read more about Plovers and all of the stories of hope,  you can download a pdf of the article here.

Building on the success of Piping Plovers in recovery, please consider making an end of the year tax deductible donation to our ongoing documentary funding efforts for The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. Your contribution goes directly to the cost of finishing the film and is absolutely invaluable!

Donate here to our Network for Good online fundraiser .

We are deeply appreciative of every gift given, small and large. For large contributions, your name and organization’s logo is prominently displayed at the beginning and end of the film, with opportunities for up to 30 second promotional spots.  Please feel free to call or write with any questions regarding sponsorship. 

With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – Lauren Mercadante (New Hampshire), Jennie Meyer (Gloucester), Alice and David Gardner (Beverly), JoeAnn Hart (Gloucester), Kim Tieger (Manchester), Joanne Hurd (Gloucester), Holly Niperus (Phoenix), Bill Girolamo (Melrose), Claudia Bermudez (Gloucester), Paula and Alexa Niziak (Rockport), Todd Pover (Springfield), Cynthia Dunn (Gloucester), Nancy Mattern (Albuquerque), Marion Frost (Ipswich), Cecile Christianson (Peabody), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Donna Poirier Connerty (Gloucester), Mary Rhinelander (Gloucester), Jane Hazzard (Georgetown), Duncan Holloman (Gloucester), Karen Blandino (Rockport), Duncan Todd (Lexington), Sue Winslow (Gloucester), Amy Hauck-Kalti (Ohio), JoAnn Souza (Newburyport), Karen Thompson (San Francisco), Carolyn Mostello (Rhode Island), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂

The art of camouflage – one-day-old chicks

BUTTERFLIES AND BIRD POOH, SAY WHAT?

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Red Admiral Butterfly with wings folded, resembling tree bark.

Birds are an adult butterfly’s number one enemy and over millennia, butterflies have evolved many different strategies to avoid being eaten.

Monarch Butterfly and Tropical Milkweed

Some butterflies, like Monarchs, taste terrible, because the caterpillar’s food plant milkweed has toxic and foul tasting substances. The Monarch caterpillar has evolved to withstand the poisonous milky sap, but a bird that attempts to eat the caterpillar may become ill, and even die. The vivid black, yellow, and white stripes of the caterpillar, along with the brilliant orange and black wing pattern of the adult butterfly, are forms of aposematic coloring. Their bright colors warn of danger to would be predators.

Great Spangled Fritillary with iridescent spots.

The wings of other butterflies, like the Great Spangled Fritillary and Blue Morpho, are patterned with iridescent scales. The iridescence creates little flashes of light when in flight, which confuses predatory birds.

The friendly Red Admiral employs the strategy of mimicry for protection from birds. When its wings are folded, the butterfly is perfectly camouflaged against the bark of a tree trunk. And if that isn’t protection enough, the outer margins of the wings resemble splodges of bird poop!

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Have you ever had a butterfly land on your arm? It was probably a Red Admiral. The word friendly is often used to describe these beautiful butterflies but, it isn’t really friendship they are wanting. Red Admirals are attracted to the salt in your perspiration and will alight to have a sip of sweat.