In March 2013, Kevin Bender of Lebanon, CT photographed this beautiful barred owl.
Bill Johnston saw this barred owl frequently while doing a barn restoration in Guilford. Bill says the owl would occasionally open his eyes to check out the people. I think he looks very fluffy and contented in this shot.
Oswegatchie Hills Nature Preserve is a nice little area in East Lyme, CT. I (your website administrator) got rather close to this turkey vulture standing guard on a stone cairn on the trail in April 2013.
Susan and John Franzis were visited by Woody Woodpecker in Glastonbury, CT in April 2013. The bird is the dramatic Pileated Woodpecker.
Here is one of the 4 playful red fox pups Joy Gaiser has been enjoying on her property in New Milford, CT. She first saw them in late April, 2013.
One can tell the New Milford fox pups are red foxes because they have the definitive white tail tip seen here. Red foxes have this white tip even before their adult coat comes in.
Peter Tomlinson found this grey treefrog on his stone wall in Seymour, CT in May, 2013.
E. Feltham caught this female common snapping turtle in the act of laying eggs in Lyme CT in May, 2013.
I visited the 17-yr cicada preserve in Hamden, CT on June 8, 2013. Many were emerging and molting out of their underground larval stage into new adults. When they first pop out they are white.
Here a new adult, still white, hangs out to dry.
After they dry, they darken to their true color. Red eyes, orange wings and legs, and a dark body make for a lovely insect.
There were lots around, emerging and moving upwards into the canopy to sing. The chorus of so many singing was pretty neat.
CLICK TO PLAY AN AUDIO CLIP OF THE CICADA CHORUS (MP3) There are better recordings on the web, but this is what I heard when I was taking the cicada photos above. It was taken with a hand-held digital recorder. The constant high-pitched trill is the sound of many cicadas singing in the canopy. You can hear some birdsong and some muffled voice noise from a fellow hiker in this clip too.