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Bonaparte's gulls have black beaks and more of the head is dark on the adults. I have always been uncertain when seeing a black-headed gull as to whether it is a Franklin's or Bonaparte's gull.  One of the key differentiators is beak colour.  Both 1st and 2nd year Bonaparte's gulls have black bills, while Franklin's gulls have reddish bills.  There are other differences as well, such as the white crescent around the eyes in the Franklin's, which is absent or relatively minor in Bonaparte's.  Franklin's gulls also have red legs that are darker than Bonaparte's. That's the thing about bird identification.  It comes down to specifics.  There is general information, such as type of bird (heron vs chickadee, for example), and then there is specific information that allows you to narrow down identification further.  I have written about my dislike of identifying gulls in the past ( click here to see what I mean ), so I won't go into my rant on the ...

Male Hairy woodpecker (left) and female with chick (right).  Lake Wabamun Provincial Park. Every once in a while, I come across a woodpecker nest with young birds in it.  This year it happens to be the nest of a Hairy woodpecker.  Both male and female parents have been sharing the task of feeding. I discovered the nest because of the frequent calls of the chicks.  Their repetitive calls expressing, "Feed me, I'm hungry!" to the harried parents (perhaps that's where the name comes from?)  Its name actually comes from the long, hair-like feathers that run down the center of the bird's back.  It took me a while to find the nest; it wasn't until I saw a parent fly up to the hole that I located it.  Something that surprised me was that the hole was in the trunk of a live tree.  I often find woodpecker holes in dead trees, but few in living ones.  I don't know how many chicks are present. Hairy woodpeckers can be found throughout most of Canada and...

Red-necked false blister beetle - Asclera excavata - photographed today in Clearwater, BC. A red-necked beetle?  I wonder why it wasn't in Alberta. This is a false blister beetle.  It doesn't belong to the true blister beetle family, such as the black oil blister beetle does, which I photographed a number of weeks ago.  However, it still has the potential to create blisters with the chemical cantharidin that it can release if disturbed.  The chemical gets released from its joints; it is actually contained in its blood.  The chemical doesn't affect the beetle, but is poisonous or fatal if ingested by many other creatures.   It turns out that cantharidin also affects many other insect species, so much in fact that it can be used as a pesticide.  The problem, of course, is that the chemical also affects humans adversely, and so its use is not widespread. I used to confuse false blister beetles with soldier beetles, you can see one on a blog I wrote ...

The silvery blue butterfly hibernates in its pupal stage. When temperatures rise in the  spring, the pupa matures and the butterfly emerges ready to carry on its business. What is  particularly weird is that the pupae are cared for by ants. The ants look after the pupae because it  releases an odour that the ants themselves produce. The larvae feed on lupines, those biannual pretty blue flowers that pop up in the spring. As the  plant ages, it becomes more toxic. This is why the species pupates in the spring; it allows the adults  to mate early and lay eggs on lupines that are just starting to develop. Silvery blues have a wide range; they span across the entirety of Canada, including all the territories.  They can also be found down into Mexico. Thanks for reading. Eric Svendsen      www.ericspix.com

 

A species of clown beetle -  Gnathoncus rotundatus The beetle I wrote about in my last post was a carrion scavenger.  The clown beetle, also associated with carrion (I found it in the same dead bird as the one mentioned), feeds on the invertebrates that feed on the carrion.  Both the larvae and the adults are predators.   When an animal dies, its carcass becomes a site that attracts many species of insects.  These include flies and beetles, which are broadly grouped together as necrophages (another term for scavengers).  These organisms are important in facilitating the breakdown of dead animal tissues.  They often lay their eggs in the same place.  The larvae hatch, feed on the decomposing organic matter, and pupate into adulthood. Clown beetles feed on the larvae and adults of these necrophage insects.  Clown beetle larvae, known as grubs, attack and consume these scavangers.  They are confined to the rotting corpse as it is both...