I take my camera along whenever I am birding, on a nature snoop, or even on a short ride to an appointment or to the store. I feel that time on task is a key, as well as right place, right time.

You or I will never know when that rare bird will appear or when you might witness a “cool” nature interaction. So, since I was a longtime member of Boy Scout Troop 82 in Lehighton, I remember: Be prepared.

A wet summer might provide for an abundance of mushrooms and their kin, or maybe some reclusive amphibians venturing out in a damp environment. Even a cool, sunny summer day might prompt some snakes to curl up on some rocks to soak up the warming sun.

My camera lens has captured black bears, coyotes, water snakes, black rat snakes, ruffed grouse and bald eagles where you may not have expected them. Hopefully you already take a pair of binoculars and your camera just in case you have that unusual or unexpected sighting.

In this week’s column I am sharing some pictures of various species that I have seen here in the Times News region. Let’s see if you can identify all, or if they may at least look familiar to you. I, of course, have included the answers at the end of the column. Let’s see how you do. No matter, get out there and enjoy what nature has graced us with.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: True and False: ____ All conifers are evergreens.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: False. Most bluebirds do migrate, but often only a short distance to where berries or last year’s fruit may still be available. They prefer southern exposures to gather as much sun as possible. The nice food plots around Beltzville Lake regularly sustain quite a few bluebirds throughout the winter. I regularly had bluebirds around my East Penn Township home throughout the cold months, unless we had a deep snow cover for an extended time.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.

Answers

Photo 1: A luna moth; one of our most striking and largest moths.

Photo 2: Two northern water snakes warming in the May sun. The smaller one is the male.

Photo 3: Milkweed pods ripening and beginning to spread their “parachute” seeds.

Photo 4: Thorns on the trunk of a hawthorn tree found along Lizard Creek.

Photo 5: A black vulture warming in the bright sunshine of a March morning.

Photo 6: A female red-winged blackbird looking so unlike the brighter male.

Photo 7: A common snipe on the shore of Beltzville Lake.

Photo 8: A centipede showing its one pair of legs per body segment.

Photo 9: A male American kestrel.

Photo 10: An assassin bug, rather common but overlooked, stalking flowering plants waiting to catch bees, wasps or other insects.

Photo 11: A double-crested cormorant emerging from the waters of Wild Creek Reservoir after an unsuccessful attempt to grab a fish.