billhubick's Favourites

Found in moist leaf litter on edge of expansive wetland/swamp. Photo 2 shows flagellum with 11-12 articles (exact count difficult to determine). Body length of 7 mm. excluding uropods (Photo 3). Keyed out using Shultz, J.W., "A guide to the identification of the terrestrial Isopoda of Maryland, U.S.A. (Crustacea)", ZooKeys 801: 207–228 (2018).

Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) foreground, 2nd photo. 1 Common Greenshank and 6 Greater Yellowlegs were foraging together in Twin Lakes (a vernal pool) at corner of Border Rd. and Addington Rd. in FONM (no car access). Link to Greater Yellowlegs observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/188944663

Ebird Checklist Checklist S153118843

Common Greenshank is large "shorebird, common in Europe and Asia. There it seems to fill the same niche as our (USA) Greater Yellowlegs; it is not too different in appearance, and it even sounds similar. Common Greenshanks show up in small numbers on the Alaskan islands, mostly during spring migration."
Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/common-greenshank

Ebird: Common Greenshank is a "large wader with a slightly upturned bill. Note overall grayish plumage with white belly and greenish legs. In flight, appears dark above with a broad white stripe up the middle of the back. Slightly larger and lankier than Common Redshank. Usually seen as singles or small groups. Listen for mellow “tewtewtew.” Feeds mainly by striding in water, picking and sweeping with its bill. Breeds across northern Europe and Asia; migrants and wintering birds in Africa, southern Asia and Australia occur in varied wetland habitats."
Ebird with species description, range map and sound recordings: https://ebird.org/species/comgre/ and https://ebird.org/explore

Xeno-canto Bird songs, sound recordings, and species range map: https://xeno-canto.org/species/Tringa-nebularia

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017 (species not listed)

Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society

Merlin Bird ID (great app available for Iphones) by The Cornell Lab (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species) https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

Comprehensive Feather I.D. tools and more: https://foundfeathers.org/resources/

Found Feathers (Worldwide): https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php

The Cornell Lab (Birds in U.S. and Canada) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ (enter common name)

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Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) are in the Sandpipers (Scolopacidae) family. They are a large 36cm (14 inch), migratory shorebird with golden yellow legs that forages on mudflats and in shallow pools and marshes, often in loose mixed flocks with Lesser Yellowlegs. It is more likely to be seen in larger, more open habitats than Lesser, but much overlap. Plumage is almost identical to Lesser Yellowlegs: gray upperparts with white speckling, streaky neck, and white belly. Proportions are most important for identification. Greater is larger overall with longer, thicker, more upturned bill, longer neck, blockier head, and bigger chest.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017. pp.152-153

Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/greater-yellowlegs

Ebird with species description, range map and sound recordings: https://ebird.org/species/greyel/ and https://ebird.org/explore

Xeno-canto Bird songs, sound recordings, and species range map: https://xeno-canto.org/species/Tringa-melanoleuca

Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society, p.190

Merlin Bird ID (great app available for Iphones) by The Cornell Lab (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species) https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

Comprehensive Feather I.D. tools and more: https://foundfeathers.org/resources/

Found Feathers (Worldwide): https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php

The Cornell Lab (Birds in U.S. and Canada) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ (enter common name)

Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba, Orlando H. Garrido and Arturo Kirkconnell, 2000, pp.91, 17, 19.

I.D. Guide on (400) Birds of Cuba (including the 23 Endemics) https://Birds-Of-Cuba.com and https://www.birds-of-cuba.com/Endemic_Birds_of_Cuba.html

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Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) migrating south for the winter? It breeds in woodlands across Alaska and Canada. It is a migratory bird, wintering in Central and South America, especially in the Amazon River basin. It has a bold white eye ring and shorter greenish legs.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 2008, pp. 134-135.

Xeno-canto Bird songs, sound recordings, and species range map: https://xeno-canto.org/species/Tringa-solitaria

Ebird: "Medium-sized shorebird. Gray above and white below, with fine white speckling on wings and bold white spectacles. Note dark underwing and dark rump in flight. Smaller and shorter-legged than Lesser Yellowlegs, with duller greenish legs. Often alone, but multiple individuals may gather loosely in appropriate habitat. Tips body like Spotted Sandpiper, but less constantly and not as quick and dramatic. Breeds around ponds and marshes in the boreal forest; uses old songbird nests in trees, unlike most other shorebirds. In migration and winter, mostly seen on small bodies of water like muddy ponds, lake edges, and slow-moving streams. Extensive winter range throughout Central and South America. Listen for piercing, high-pitched “tsee-weet!” call." https://ebird.org/species/solsan/

Verified by Ken Wolgemuth at Bugguide.net.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/2272450
A first for MBP! Zelus was found on a Zinnia bloom in a garden containing veggies and flowers. Prey item is a Helmeted Squash Bug nymph.

Rust flies are on their own family, Psilidae. Most larva are believed to feed on plant roots; they get their name because one species feeds on carrot roots and leaves the carrots vulnerable to a rust disease.

New species for MBP!

Thanks to Chris Angell at BugGuide.net for the ID: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2295974#3678341

Cranesville Swamp Natural Area, Garrett County, Maryland; Sang Run quad

Verified by Texas A&M as an Eastern Bloodsucking Conenose. Specimen was captured, frozen and ubmitted for testing at Texas A&M for Triatoma sanguisuga which causes Chagas disease. Result was negative. They have tested a total of three from Maryland and all we negative for Triatoma sanguisuga which causes Chagas disease.

@billhubick
@jimbrighton

New species for MBP and the first mid-Atlantic record on BugGuide!

Thanks to Diane Young at BugGuide.net for the ID: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2283676

Rock Creek Stream Valley Park, S. of Twinbrook Parkway x Veirs Mill Road, Rockville, Montg. Co., Maryland; Kensington quad

It was shocking, to say the least, to see a male Roseate Skimmer perched on a cypress in Pacific Grove's cemetery, adjacent to Pt. Pinos at the tip of the Monterey Peninsula. It was a first for Monterey County and must be among the few records for northern California as a whole (it is, of course, abundant in so. CA at the Salton Sea). 2015 also featured a major incursion of Red Rock Skimmers on the Monterey Peninsula between March-August, and an incursion of Red Saddlebags, so perhaps something very unusual was going on? As to this vagrant, Rita Carratello & I alerted interested locals, and others got to chase it and see it this date.

Another surprise of 2015 was an incursion of Red Saddlebags in coastal Monterey County that summer. This male was found by Rita Carratello & I at the north end of the Pacific Grove hiking trail (the old "railway easement') near the tip of the Monterey Peninsula.