Wildlife Observations: January 10, 2020
Great horned owl. Photo by Robert Scott
At dusk on December 31, as the sun literally set on 2019, repeated hooting in the Crum Woods drew my eyes to the tree canopy, and there sat a glorious great horned owl silhouetted against the sunset. A great horned owl is bigger than a football and has tufted ears.
Marc Williamson submitted a photograph of a previously unreported species: a group of black vultures, not the usual garden-variety turkey vultures, dining on a road-killed squirrel.
And Steve DiNardo reports that his cats Eddie and Lili reported a wildlife sighting: a mouse in the house. A not uncommon winter intruder.
Which brings me to a round-up of observations of species submitted since this feature’s debut in July, 2019. Readers observed the following number of species for the following animal classifications, as listed below: 11 mammals, 40 birds, 8 herps (reptiles and amphibians), 18 insects, 2 fish, and 1 crustacean.
A wake of black vultures. Photo: Marc Williamson
Mammals: short-tailed shrew, Eastern chipmunk, raccoon, fox, beaver, white-tailed deer, groundhog, meadow vole, Virginia opossum, Norway rat, Southern flying squirrel, Eastern cottontail rabbit.
Birds: hooded merganser, brown creeper, yellow-bellied sapsucker, great horned owl, turkey vulture, Eastern screech owl, golden-crowned kinglet, Northern flicker, Eastern towhee, belted kingfisher, hermit thrush, bobwhite quail, red-tailed hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, ruby- crowned kinglet, white-throated sparrow, black-throated blue warbler, palm warbler, red-eyed vireo, American redstart, common yellowthroat, magnolia warbler, black and white warbler, ruby-throated hummingbird, pine warbler, ovenbird, blackburnian warbler, black-throated green warbler, Eastern wood pewee, least flycatcher, blue-gray gnatcatcher, common nighthawk, bald eagle, wood duck, pileated woodpecker, great blue heron, American goldfinch, hairy woodpecker, chimney swift, Carolina wren, ruby-throated hummingbird.
Herps: common garter snake, ribbon snake, red-backed salamander, Northern water snake, brown snake, Southern leopard frog, painted turtle, ring-necked snake.
Mouse in the house! Photo by Steve DiNardo.
Insects: tomato hornworm, sulphur butterfly, monarch butterfly, buckeye butterfly, Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, carrion beetle, hummingbird clearwing moth, spotted lantern fly, black swallowtail caterpillar, Atalopedes campestris (moth), differential grasshopper, Cotinis nitida (green June beetle), giant swallowtail butterfly, orb spider, Chinese mantis, red-spotted purple butterfly, saddleback moth caterpillar.
Fish and crustaceans: largemouth bass, bluegill, crayfish.
Please continue to send your observations and photographs of wildlife species in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District area by clicking/tapping the button below.
