July goulash

This is a collection of a dozen images from July, none of which has had a posting of its own.

Where have all the male Mallards gone? They are here, but are in their eclipse plumage, which makes them look somewhat like females for a few months. That this is a male is evidenced by its yellowish bill. The female’s bill is much darker.

Has the hot dry weather been hard on megafauna? This white-tailed deer looks a tad scrawny. 

A common wood-nymph rests while foraging.

An eagle just ignored the magpie’s request that it find itself another tree.

Some Indian pipe was posted earlier. This is another find.

There seem to be fewer dragonflies this year. This is a cherry-faced meadowhawk.

There were plentiful snowshoe hares last year, but this is only the second one I have spotted this year. Something has taken a nick out of this one’s ear.

The cheetah is billed as the world’s fastest land animal. However, when measured by the biological standard of body lengths traveled per second, the hare is fifty percent faster than a cheetah.

A hedgerow hairstreak stops for a rest.

An osprey frequently flies around with a headless fish. It might be that the male stopped and ate the tasty head on his way back to the nest. However, this fish has already been to the nest — see the grass stuck to its tail. When its nest is threatened by an eagle, the osprey takes to the air with its fish so as to better defend its meal.

A northern crescent feeds on a daisy.

Both Northern Flicker parents tend their chicks. Earlier I showed the mother caring for this pair. Here the father provides a mouthful of ants’ eggs.