Sunday, May 3, 2015

Little Hoppers and Big Buzzards/Vultures.

First let me ask you if any of you have ever seen these little grass-hoppers that have invaded my wife's garden?  I can find no damage left by them and they don't seem to eating anything, but they are there:

Some are walking along the onion plants.

Oh yes, there are a lot more than just a couple.  If you look close, you can see three of them in this next picture.

They sure can jump.  When I got too close to any of them, it will jump a couple of feet or more.  That is many, many times its body length.  For their size, they are quite athletic.

I spotted one on the retaining poles and got a real good picture of it.  It shows the red stripe down its back, now ain't they cute?

When I was at the flea market today, I was starting to get worried.  I looked up and there was a big flock of buzzards or vultures or what ever you call them.

I was afraid that they were after me. . .

I am wondering it they are migrating north for the summer?  I would have thought that they would have done that earlier in the year.  They look so graceful soaring high in the sky, but then they have a messy, dirty job to do; keeping up with the disposal of anything that died in their territory.

OK, so what is the difference between Buzzards and Vultures?  Vultures are the big birds that feast on the dead.  They do not migrate like the Buzzards.  Buzzards?  Well, that word has different meanings to different people.  I always thought that buzzards and vultures were the same thing, but they are not.  Buzzards are birds like the chicken hawks, Red tailed hawks, and Cooper's hawk.  They are often mistaken for hawks.  Dang, I didn't know that and something else I didn't know is that they have different eating habits.  Vultures rarely eat in a messy way whereas buzzards are known to get really dirty and messy.  So, if someone calls you a vulture, just say thank you and call that person an old buzzard and have a great day, you hear? 

15 comments:

  1. I haven't figured out where I stashed my field guides for insects and wildflowers.... our rig isn't that big, so they can't be really lost. But.... it drives me nuts not to be able to ID stuff like those grasshoppers or that weird weed that's blooming all over the place here. Buzzard/Vultures... guess I hadn't given them much thought... but I'll bet they've already returned to Hinkley or wherever the heck it is up in northern Ohio.... kind of like the groundhog in PA.....

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    1. Yep, when I lived in western Pa. even the news reported when the vultures returned to Hinkley, Ohio

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  2. Those buzzards probably got a whiff of that boudin sausage you ate, better keep low.

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    1. Yep, I bet those buzzards new what was in it. Since that boudin didn't move around, thy new it was all dead meat, rice, etc, etc, etc, The etc's are what worries me.

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  3. Interesting facts about the buzzards and vultures, never knew.

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    1. One of the best things about writing my blog, I learn a lot, too, because of the research I have to do.

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  4. Could they be this?

    http://www.loyno.edu/lucec/natural-history-writings/southeastern-lubber-grasshopper-romlea-micropter

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    1. But the ones we have are a lot smaller than the ones shown at that link to the internet.

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    2. Maybe yours are younger or those are from a different region?

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    3. That thought did cross my mind, but I didn't see the red stripe in the pictures of the larger ones.

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    4. Found this. Juvenile Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers have a red stripe:

      http://bugguide.net/node/view/47369/bgimage

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  5. I've watched hawks by the hundreds, circling and gradually moving North like that.

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    1. This was the first time I was lucky enough to see it.

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