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| Mourning Cloak - May 18, 2021 |
Related Posts:
- SI Hills, Oct.-Dec., 2020, with links back to previous posts for this location:
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Spring and early summer is a great time in Sicily Island Hills. During this period in 2021, I visited Sicily Island Hills on the following dates: March 4, 22; April 9, 18 (two observers); May 18 (two separate visits on 5/18, one to south part of WMA, and one to north part of WMA), and June 11. Here are some habitat shots before continuing:
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| creek just after entering south side of WMA - 6/11/21 |
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| main road through southern part of WMA - 4/9/21 |
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| primitive campground road (turns left at self-clearing kiosk) - Magnolia, Blackburnian, and Bay-breasted Warblers seen here, as well as White-breasted Nuthatch. |
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| primitive campsite - 5/18/21 |
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| Come on, people, make sure your fire is dead! - 4/9/21 |
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| next side road on left after check-in kiosk (this area was partly logged a few years ag) - 4/9/21 |
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| back on the main road through the southern part of the WMA - 5/18 |
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| woods along main road |
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| 4/9/21 |
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| 4/18/21 |
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| 3/22/21 |
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| woods along main road |
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| Rock Falls Nature Trail - 3/4/21 |
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| Rock Falls - 4/18/21 |
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(video: Rock Creek - 3/4/21)
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| Rock Falls Trail - 6/11/21 |
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| Rock Creek a ways upstream from falls - 6/11/21 |
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| Rock Falls Trail - 6/11/21 |
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| Sweetleaf - 6/11/21 - This is the host plant for King's Hairstreak butterflies. There's a good amount of Sweetleaf growing around Rack Falls Trail/Rock Creek. I looked for the hairstreaks there during their mid-May to mid-June flight season (specifically on June 11), but found none. |
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| woods along main road, beyond Rock Falls Trail - 5/18 |
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| main road, beyond Rock Falls Trail - 4/9/21 |
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| woods along main road (toward its NW end) |
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| looking out over the Big Creek bottoms at northwest end of main road in south part of WMA - 4/9/21 |
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| woods near end of main road - 6/11/21 |
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| woods along road to ponds in north part of WMA - 5/18/21 |
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| approaching the ponds (former gravel pits) |
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| the big pond |
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| the big pond |
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I've often thought that the forests of Sicily Island Hills look like excellent habitat for White-breasted Nuthatch, but it wasn't until this spring that I encountered the species there. The first was a heard-only at a point on the main road in the south part of the WMA, toward the NW part of that road, on 4/9. I heard and saw the species on one more occasion, near the self-clearing kiosk in the southern part of the WMA on May 18.
Red-breasted Nuthatches wintered in SIH during 2020-2021. They showed up in the fall, and continued well into the dates covered in this post, with observations on March 4 (two individuals), March 22 (one), and April 9 (one). All R-B Nuthatch observations were in the southern part of the WMA.
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| Red-breasted Nuthatch - 3/4/21 |
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During breeding season, Sicily Island Hills seems to host the greatest density of Worm-eating Warblers of any place that I bird. On March 22 I saw my FOS Worm-eating Warbler of 2021 by the south check-in kiosk in SIH.
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| FOS Worm-eating Warbler feeding - 3/22 |
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| ditto |
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| ditto |
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| ditto |
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On April 18 we saw a Black Bear on the next side road on the left after the self-clearing kiosk in the southern part of the WMA. This is just across the hollow from the primitive campground. This was actually my first ever sighting of a wild Black Bear!
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| Black Bear - 4/18/21 |
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On April 18 we tallied at least 56 Monarch caterpillars on Green Antelopehorn milkweeds growing along the main road in the south part of the WMA, near that road's northwest end.
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| Monarch caterpillars on Green Antelopehorn milkweed - 4/18/21 |
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| Monarch caterpillars - 4/18/21 |
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| Green Antelopehorn - 4/9/21 |
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The butterfly highlight of SIH so far this year was seeing my lifer Mourning Cloak. This species has been reported from Sicily Island Hills in past years by other observers. The one I saw was in the road, just north of the WMA headquarters, which is in the north part of the WMA.
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| Mourning Cloak |
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| Mourning Cloak |
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Each year I try to make it to SIH to see the June flight of Yehl Skippers. This is the only location that I've personally seen this species (though they are found elsewhere in Cenla). They can be pretty common in SIH.
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| Yehl Skipper - 6/11/21 |
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| Yehl Skipper - 6/11/21 |
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| Yehl Skipper - 6/11/21 |
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May 18 was a good day for spring migrant birds. In the vicinity of the primitive campground and check-in kiosk, I found Blackburnian Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, and a couple of Magnolia Warblers, all males. The Magnolia and Bay-breasted were actually new species for my Sicily Island Hills bird checklist.
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(video: songs/calls of Magnolia Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, White-eyed Vireo, Worm-eating Warbler - primitive camp area, May 18)
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(videos: Magnolia Warbler with prey; foraging, singing)
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(video: Blackburnian Warbler feeding)
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Spring wildflowers are always impressive in SIH. Indian Pink, one of my favorite wildflowers, are abundant in SIH, with the largest number in bloom during April-May. Milkvine are fairly common here, and are often found in the same places as Indian Pink, blooming during the same timeframe.
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| Indian Pink - 4/18/21 |
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| Indian Pink - 6/11/21 |
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| Indian Pink after the blooms have fallen off - 6/11/21 |
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Here are a few other wildflowers photographed during this period.
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| Coralbean - 6/11/21 |
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| Red Buckeye - 4/9/21 |
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| Flowering Dogwood - 3/22/21 |
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| blue-eyed grass sp. and Phlox sp. - 4/9/21 |
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| Mayapple - 3/22/21 |
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| Larkspur sp. - 6/11/21 |
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| Dayflower sp. (Commelina) - 6/11/21 |
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| Beebalm sp. (Monarda) - 6/11/21 |
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Widow Skimmer dragonflies were more numerous than I've ever seen. They were all female or immature male -types; no adult males were seen.
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| Widow Skimmer - 6/11/21 |
Below are lists of the birds, butterflies, mammals, and Herps observed on these visits to SI Hills during March-June, 2021.
Birds:
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Little Blue Heron
Green Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Mississippi Kite
Cooper's Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Purple Martin
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - (3/4 - 1, 3/22 - 1, 4/18 - 1)
Red-breasted Nuthatch - (3/4 - 2, 3/22 - 1, 4/9 - 1)
White-breasted Nuthatch - (4/9 - 1, 5/18 south - 1)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Carolina Wren
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| Carolina Wren - 3/22/21 |
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Brown Thrasher
Wood Thrush
Pine Siskin - (3/4 - 1)
American Goldfinch (3/4 - 6, 3/22 - 14)
White-throated Sparrow - (4/9 - 1, 4/18 - 1)
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Yellow-breasted Chat
Worm-eating Warbler
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| Worm-eating Warbler - 4/9 |
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Louisiana Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
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| Black-and-white Warbler - 4/9/21 |
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Prothonotary Warbler
Tennessee Warbler - (4/9 - 1)
Kentucky Warbler
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| female Kentucky Warbler behind the self-clearing kiosk - 5/18 |
Hooded Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler - (5/18 south - 3)
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| male Magnolia Warbler - primitive campground |
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Bay-breasted Warbler - (5/18 south - 1)
Blackburnian Warbler - (5/18 south - 1)
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| male Blackburnian Warbler |
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) (3/4 - 4, 3/22 - 5)
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
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| juvenile Northern Cardinal - by check-in kiosk, 5/18 |
Indigo Bunting
Butterflies:
Juvenal's Duskywing
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| Juvenal's Duskywing - 3/22/21 |
Horace's Duskywing
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper
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| Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper - 3/22 |
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Pepper and Salt Skipper
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| Pepper and Salt Skipper - 3/22/21 |
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| Pepper and Salt Skipper - 4/9/21 |
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Gemmed Satyr
Yehl Skipper
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| Yehl Skipper - 6/11/21 |
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| Yehl Skipper - 6/11/21 |
Little Glassywing
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| Little Glassywing - S part of WMA, 5/18 |
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| Little Glassywing - south part of WMA, 5/18 |
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Northern Broken-Dash
Southern Broken-Dash
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| Southern Broken-Dash - 6/11/21 |
Spicebush Swallowtail
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| Spicebush Swallowtail - 6/11/21 |
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
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| black form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 3/22/21 |
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| typical yellow Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - S part of WMA |
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Red-banded Hairstreak
Summer Azure
Eastern Tailed-Blue
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| Eastern Tailed-Blue - 3/22/21 |
American Snout
Pearl Crescent
American Lady
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| American Lady - road to ponds in N part of WMA |
Mourning Cloak
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| Mourning Cloak - road to ponds in N part of WMA |
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Hackberry Emperor
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| Hackberry Emperor - the big pond, 5/18 |
Question Mark
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| Question Mark - main road in south part of WMA, 5/18 |
Goatweed Leafwing
Southern Pearly-eye
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| Southern Pearly-eye - 3/22/21 |
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| Southern Pearly-eye - 4/9/21 |
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| Southern Pearly-eye - Rock Falls Trail - 6/11/21 - I initially had some questions that this might be a Northern P-eye, but it seems to be Southern. |
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| Gemmed Satyr - Rock Falls Trail - 6/11/21 |
Carolina Satyr
Little Wood-Satyr
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| Little Wood-Satyr - primitive campground, 5/18 |
Monarch
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Mammals: Fox Squirrel, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Black Bear, White-tailed Deer
Herps: Fowler's Toad, Blanchard's Cricket Frog, Cope's Gray Treefrog, Green Treefrog, American Bullfrog, Green (Bronze) Frog; American Alligator, snake sp. (possibly Plain-bellied Watersnake, but it was out of sight before I could get a good look), Pond Slider
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| American Alligator - the big pond, 5/18 |
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| Pond Slider - 6/11/21 |
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