Eastern Spiny Softshell turtle

For those who look, they will not see this often.  I was thrilled to find this little turtle in the sand at the beach edge of Clark Lake in Jackson County.  I have seen Eastern Shiny Softshell (Apalone spinifera spinifera) turtles many times but always a lot larger.  Never a new hatchling.  As a child my father would catch much larger ones and we marveled at how they looked.  I recall they were quite docile. 

Above and below:  Take a good look.  We don't get to see this often.

Eastern Spinys like to bury themselves in the sand and as soon as I released it back into the lake it buried itself in the exact same place I found it.  I think it is pretty obvious, but just in case some eyes can't see it, I have included the photo below.  The arrow points to its buried head.

After releasing this little turtle, I walked back to the road and found a squished new hatchling.  I have a photo but won't include it here.

Later, I saw a three inch in diameter, so small, turtle crossing the road when two trucks, drivers completely oblivious, zoomed over it - but missed hitting it!  I raced out to the road before the next car or truck came by, picked it up and released it into the lake.  It wasted no time disappearing into the water and sand.  I should have taken a photo but was only thinking of rescue.  It was a Northern Map turtle (Graptemys geographica).  There are two other kinds of map turtles, False Northern Map (Graptemys pseudogeographica pseudogeographica) - now there's a name - and Ouachita Map (Graphemes ouachitensis) turtles, neither of which are found in Michigan.

Always remember and take the time to stop and rescue any turtle from the road (it might require stopping traffic); and yes, even snappers. When you see those huge snappers resting on a log, or head above water looking around, or crossing the road, remember they are probably 100 years old or at least very near to that age.

Want to learn more about turtles and turtle rescue?  Cannot recommend enough:  Of Time and Turtles:  Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell by Sy Montgomery and illustrations by Matt Patterson, 2023, Mariner Books, HarperCollins Publishers.

For that matter, I recommend any book by Sy Montgomery!

I found an essay in The Art of the Personal Essay compiled by Phillip LaPate titled The Courage of Turtles by Edward Hoagland.  I looked on-line and found a blog titled The Value of Sparrows: Writing of a Christian Mystic which reprinted Edward Hoagland's essay The Courage of Turtles.  The Courage of Turtles is a beautifully written and swift moving essay, but it's also a sad essay.  For many of us, we won't be surprised by what Hoagland writes.  Especially those of us who know and love turtles.  As the oldest child of eight, turtles were the only childhood pets I was allowed to have.  Dogs and cats were too much in a small house with ten people and, anyway, my parents were not pet people.  So I counted myself lucky when each summer we went turtle hunting with my father who was an excellent swimmer himself and also excellent at catching turtles, even those swimming across a lake of open water.  When we got one, usually a Painted turtle, of suitable size to fit comfortably in a large tub, I would get to keep it for the summer.  I didn't know if they were male or female.  I fed them raw hamburger which they ate voraciously.  I placed a rock in the center of the tub for them to climb on and sunbath as turtles love to do.  But I don't recall that they ever did much sunbathing as they were always trying to escape their tub, constantly swimming and scratching against the enamel sides, and this saddened me.  At the end of the summer I returned them to the lake where each wasted no time swiftly swimming away.

Blue-fronted Dancer color change?

I've been photographing dragonflies and damselflies for some years. My interest began in an opportunistic way, usually when out looking for birds.  When I saw this beautiful dragonfly perched on a stem on June 12, 2015, I had no idea what it was and didn't find out until 2023!  I have often admitted to being a poor archivist of my photos and, by accident, came across this photo again and pursued the ID.    

Four-spotted Skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata), Upper Peninsula, Michigan

This remains the only Four-spotted Skimmer I have ever seen, but my interest in Odonata has increased and my knowledge base has improved slowly since 2015.  Not just in identification, which some would argue remains poor, but in other areas of recognition as well.  

Still, because of the judgment from others that comes with being a novice, I am often reluctant to draw attention to some observations that have intrigued me.  Whether identifying an odonate, a bird or a bumblebee incorrectly, no one likes being treated dismissively.  I love learning so I press on and try to ignore the noise.

Today while perusing some odonate websites, articles and literature I found this blog post: Physiological Color Change in Argia Apicalis, by Dr. Amanda Whispell of Rutgers University (PhD); I believe she now lives in Virginia.  I recalled the Blue-fronted Dancers (Argia apicalis) I found in early July (2024) at Lower Huron Metropark in Michigan.  When it came time to enter my list into Odonata Central (OC), I held back on entering an unexpected sighting and stuck with the more typical-appearing Blue-fronted Dancer for the OC photo entry.

All of my photos below are of Blue-fronted Dancers seen on the same day, in the same area and around the same time generally.

Above and below:  Typical male Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis)

But it was the Blue-fronted Dancer in the photo below that intrigued me.  A green thorax on a Blue-fronted Dancer?       

In the field, I distinctly recall thinking that the brown-form damselfly above was a female Blue-fronted Dancer.  But when I downloaded the photos and was able to look more closely at them it did not match the female photos I had or of others that I found on-line.

Females do not have the little dark notch (arrow) on their thorax - (I would describe the female mark as more of a "sliver") - and it is really not a notch but appears so in the lateral view.  Nor do they have the extensive color in abdominal segments 9 and 10.  If I use my imagination, it even appears that S9 and S10 are in the early stages of turning blue.  So is this an immature male?  For now, this is my guess.

Above and below:  So is this brown-form Blue-fronted Dancer an immature male or an adult female?  The arrows show the differently-shaped thorax mark - the "sliver" - and the abdominal segments 9 and 10 also appear different.  S9, S10 appear more swollen and the tan color is less extensive.  So, is this an adult brown-form female?  For now, this is my guess.  

But what about the Blue-fronted Dancer with the green thorax?  In her study, Dr. Whispell writes:  "A. apicalis males possess the unique ability to change color, from BP to DP, (BP = blue phase; DP = dark phase), in response to copulation, and given the past research into the selective advantage of physiological color change, the ability to change color in direct response to copulation could provide them with a significant adaptive advantage."   The author makes no mention of the male's thorax turning green with mating.

However, Dennis Paulson in his 2011 tome Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East, page 149, describes female Blue-fronted Dancers as follows:  "Polymorphic, eyes brown darker above; lack of blue in eyes in andromorph good distinction from male."  He concludes his description with:  "Ovipositing blue females also become duller, blue-gray.  Some females are green and color change with age documented in individual females."

Based on my interpretation of Paulson's description, this seems to be an aberrantly colored thorax of a female Blue-fronted Dancer, a recognized variant.  I found this female before she had aged into the more typical color with either brown-form or blue-form thorax.  Also, S9 and S10 do not yet show tan coloring; although the abdominal tip is not well-focused it appears to show signs of color changing.     

Why did I even bring up the research article in this photo discussion? Had it not been for Dr. Whispell's brief blogpost with her research, I would never have gone back to take a second look at my green Blue-fronted Dancer.  It would still be the same mystery is was on the day I saw it. Will I see this variant again?  So, far I haven't.  It also goes to show how tricky damselfly identification is.  I have made significant strides this summer, but not enough to move me from novice to intermediate.  The more I see, the more I'll understand and recognize in future sightings.

This is how learning goes.  Impatience and irritation does not help. This is a reminder to me to avoid the impatient, irritated approach with both myself and others.     

Other references:

1.  In addition to Dennis Paulsen's well-known Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East, 2011, Princeton University Press, I also use Damselflies of Minnesota, Wisconsin & Michigan by Robert DuBois with photos by Mike Reese.  Remarkably the DuBois book can be purchased at Target which I have linked above.  It is also on the Kollath & Stensaas Publishing website.  (An earlier edition titled Damselflies of the North Woods covering 44 species is purple.  Don't buy that one,)

2.  For this piece I also used the brand new A Naturalist's Guide to the Odonata of Ohio, by Dave McShaffrey, Malisa Spring and Jim McCormac, Ohio Biologic Survey, 2024.  The photographs of A. apicalis on page 88 are large and clear.  Describing female Argia apicalis the authors write:  "Females are trickier to recognize."  They go on to describe blue and brown morphs, but make no mention of a green morph.  They also write:  Blue forms of both sexes can noticeably darken the thorax from light blue to dark gray.  Many observers notice this darkening when the dancers are in tandem; however, a published study did not find such a correlation."  I recommend this guide for the excellent and large photos, but also for the extensive, clear and very well-written species descriptions.  I try to avoid linking any book to Amazon, but unfortunately this book is quite expensive on the publisher's website.  It will be cheaper purchased elsewhere.

3.  I found this excellent website, Delmarva Dragonflies and Damselflies by Mike Moore. which I keep going back to over and over, sometimes just to look at the photos, but also to use for identification assistance.  I used to live in Baltimore and was a frequent visitor to Maryland's Eastern Shore.  In the summer of 2018 I returned and, along with friends, rented a house on the Chesapeake Bay in Talbot County.  Finding and photographing odonata species new to me made it an extremely enjoyable vacation.  Mike Moore is an Odonata Central Admin reviewer and helped with several of my Talbot county submissions.  He also recently helped me with some of my Midwest submissions.     

No photo guide or website is going to be 100% useful for making identifications.  The experts will tell you that, when in doubt, you need to net the odonate and use a magnifier.  True enough, but easier said than done - at least for me.  I recently caught two red meadowhawks by hand and took poor photos of the gentalia with my iPhone 14.  I still could not make the field marks match an ID with confidence.  The only thing to do is continue trying and learning.  

All comments are welcome, but comments with corrections are especially welcome!

"Garden" beauty

This beautiful creature speaks for itself.  While looking for other things, it was an unexpected surprise to find this female Black Swallowtail (Papilio polygenes) nectoring on thistle flowers at Belle Isle park.  It's a tiny bit worn, but otherwise with wings and tails fully intact.

 Kaufman Field Guild to Butterflies of North America, 2003, describes P. polygenes as A "garden" butterfly widespread in the east ... "  

Book review: Field Guide to North American Flycatchers

Often when I go to bird club meetings or find myself in the field hanging out with like-minded individuals, a not uncommon question may come up; usually it is some variation of "what is your favorite bird or what was your spark bird?"  It's a great question to break the ice and get to know who you are birding with.  When I was first asked this question my mind went blank.  My favorite bird?  It seemed important that I be able to answer this question but I couldn't think what my favorite might be.  So I answered with a sideways kind of answer; I picked a bird of my favorite color, Cerulean Warbler.  I do like Cerulean warblers very much so my response was not a complete fabrication.  Now that I think of it, I have not seen one in a while and should make an effort next migration season to make sure I do.  But my favorite?  

Had I responded that my favorite bird was the Least Flycatcher I might have been closer to the truth.  I think the Empidonax group are interesting and thrilling birds to see and hear.  But as we all know, there is nothing easy about Empidonax flycatcher identification - especially the silent birds.  I'm well-acquainted with the eastern Empids, but the western birds are a completely different experience.  So when I learned of a new book about North American flycatchers I had to purchase it.  This is my review     

Field Guide to North American Flycatchers Empidonax and Pewees by Cin-Ty Lee and Illustrated by Andrew Birch.  Copyright © Princeton University Press.

This is an astonishing little bird book, like none that I, at least, have ever seen.  At 157 pages long including bibliography, index and websites, this book covers all of the North American flycatchers in the most unique and clearest way possible.  The author and illustrator have written a completely novel kind of guide that addresses the differences of each species in eleven categories:  crown shape, forehead angle, bill length, lower mandible color, tail length, primary projection, eye-ring, etc., etc.  The book is attractive, well-organized, easy to read, easy to hold in your hands and take into the field.  This said, it would be best to do your studying before going into the field.  The information is so thorough that the bird will definitely fly before you have time to thumb through the pages.  On the other hand, if you take photographs and have at least a couple of good photographic images, this book will go a long way to guiding you to an accurate identification.

Especially for Empidonax flycatchers most of us know which are most likely to appear in our regions.  In my midwest region these are the Least, Yellow-bellied, Alder, Willow and Acadian flycatchers.  I feel most comfortable identifying Least Flycatchers because during spring migration they are the most common and the most vociferous.  The Willow Flycatcher is a close second and it remains to nest through the summer and is not shy about vocalizing from an open perch.  Unless they are vocalizing, the remaining three are challenging for me to identify.  So far so good then for vocalizing males seen during spring migration.  But for silent birds, including females, and during fall migration, my confidence crumbles.  The book provides the identification tools to study the birds most likely to be in any area of the country.  For any given region, this usually is not an unreasonable number when learning about things like crown shape, forehead slope and the other field marks and fitting them all together.  

The Field Mark Matrix (page 43) is unlike any identification chart I have ever seen.

The Field Mark Matrix photo, taken with my camera, is mostly readable when enlarged.  Even un-enlarged, you get the idea.

The book also includes vocalization sonograms and verbal descriptions of the call note and song, thereby making it clear for birders who know song by ear, but may not read music (I don't) to fully understand the sonogram.  Bird song and calls are one of my favorite parts of all birding and critical for flycatchers.   

I'm not sure I have done a thorough justice to this field guide with my review.  The novelty and detail of the way information is presented, the beautiful illustrations, expansiveness of the comparisons and overall depth of the book are difficult to describe.  It is not the standard one page one bird format.  

This past May I saw the Olive-sided Flycatcher twice, two weeks apart and at the same place, for the first time in many years.  Unfortunately, I didn't hear it vocalize; one of the most memorable vocalizations amongst North American birds.  I put Greater Pewee's vocalization in this same category.  Unmistakable and memorable.  Not as difficult as Empidonax flycatchers, but they are also covered in the book.  No matter where flycatchers fall on your list of favorite birds, whenever possible we all like to be correct with our identifications.

Butterflies

In the past couple of years I have become so wrapped up in photographing and learning the identifications of damselflies and dragonflies, the photos of which I post to Odonata Central, I have not paid much attention at all to butterflies.  This year I have noticed quite a few flying.

Here are some very recent perchers, that I could not pass by.  Wild Indigo Duskywing was seen in SE Michigan and the rest seen at Cedar Bog in Urbana, Ohio.

Above and below:  Wild Indigo Duskywing (female) (Erynnis baptisiae)

Kaufmann, pages 286-287, 2003.

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) with silver spot hidden in this wing position.  Plentiful on this day.

Northern Pearly Eye (Enodia anthedon)

This butterfly landed on an interior leaf.  I wish my odonate photographs turned out this well when shooting though leaves.  Nevertheless, when I went to Kaufman, pages 238-239, I still could not quite match it up with his images.  It seems like it should be easy.  Corrections are welcome.  

 Duke's Skipper (Euphyes dukesi)

Same with the skipper I am identifying as Duke's.  Kaufmann, pages 334-335, 2003.  I used to be somewhat good at butterflies and skippers, but the cliche rings true; if you don't use it, you lose it. 

Add-ons:  

Above and below:  7/20/2024 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) in my backyard

Above and below:  7/21/2024 Black Dash (Euphyes conspicua) from Murray Lake Club.  I believe I have this skipper correctly identified.  All corrections are welcome.

Above:  7/23/2024 Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus).  Many years ago I planted a spicebush at the head of my pondless waterfall.  That I know of, this is the first Spicebush Swallowtail to visit it.  A little beat up, but a welcome sight.

Above and below:  7/24/2024 Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor) at Crosswinds Marsh.

Above:  7/24/2024 Black Dash (Euphyes conspicua) in one of Crosswinds Marsh's butterfly gardens.  The photo is dark and this skipper appears different from the skipper above, but I think it is a female Black Dash.  Corrections welcome.