All posts by sean

bats!

(Plate by Ernst Haeckel, courtesy of Public Domain Review)

2 Comments

by sean on October 26, 2016 • Image • Permalink

Posted in bats, halloween, mammals, public domain

Posted by sean on October 26, 2016

https://sd-stewart.com/2016/10/26/bats/

friday black vulture party

Tree full of roosting Black Vultures.

Note how the vulture at center is doing the classic Snoopy vulture pose.

Black Vultures

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by sean on October 14, 2016 • Image • Permalink

Posted in birding, birds, black vulture, nature, photography, somewhere else

Posted by sean on October 14, 2016

https://sd-stewart.com/2016/10/14/friday-black-vulture-party/

chimney swifts entering their evening roost

[click in the lower right corner to enlarge]

Hundreds of migrant chimney swifts enter the chimney at Free State Bookbinders in Baltimore City last night for their evening roost. Recent rough estimates come in around 2000 birds roosting in this single chimney, though on peak migration nights that number can double or even triple. If you do some investigation in your area you may find there’s an annual event like this near you, too. If there is, I highly recommend checking it out–it’s quite a spectacle! More info here.

2 Comments

by sean on September 18, 2016 • Video • Permalink

Posted in birds, chimney swift, urban nature

Posted by sean on September 18, 2016

https://sd-stewart.com/2016/09/18/chimney-swifts-entering-their-evening-roost/

september psithurism

psithurism n. sound of wind whispering in the trees.

And thus waking to the first instance of psithurism born of a cool breeze do we now herald the arrival of autumn, though the equinox is yet seven days hence. Get thee behind us, summer, and yield the stage to your more attractive successor. Thank you.

3 Comments

by sean on September 15, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in autumn, seasons, summer

Posted by sean on September 15, 2016

https://sd-stewart.com/2016/09/15/september-psithurism/

good morning!

A groundhog (aka woodchuck, whistlepig, etc.) takes the early morning sun.

eastern tiger swallowtail

Worn late-summer Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Note the faded and ragged wing tips, completely missing the ‘swallow tail’. They’re almost too degraded to identify the sex, but based on my other photos I think it’s a male. The light form of the female has much more blue on the hind wings. Still, it’s kind of a tough call.