There be Dragonlets

Seaside Dragonlet is out in numbers in and around the marsh. This is the only dragonfly that can breed in a saltwater environment. A few have been out for some time now but there has been a noticeable increase in numbers in the past few days. This is a small dragonfly; the males are all black but the females and juveniles have varying amounts of yellow and can be quite striking.

Staying for the moment in the insect realm, I have been trying to identify a small hairstreak butterfly. This is one of those hairstreaks that does not open up when it perches so I have been able to get a good look only at the underwing pattern. This is a Banded Hairstreak type but there are several other similar species which are associated with oak, hickory and cherry, all of which we have in abundance.

Most of the Common Grackle and Red-winged Blackbird young have fledged and are scattered in loose, noisy flocks along the edge of the marsh, particularly in its upper reaches. The flocking up of these birds is one of the great natural displays in our area but because these are 'just' blackbirds, we don't tend to pay much attention. The only other notable bird note is the continued presence of White-breasted Nuthatches, easily detectable by their nasal honks. They tend to move with the Black-capped Chickadees and Downy Woodpecker in small feeding flocks.

In response to my question about what to call young Raccoons, I got several responses, some of which referred to the collective nouns for a rabble of raccoons (the actual expression is, curiously enough, 'a gaze of raccoons'). But the young 'uns are properly known as kits or cubs.

Eric Salzman