Matt Pelikan

Twenty years ago, it would have been nearly impossible for an amateur naturalist like me to study insects with any success. A few groups,...

Cooper’s hawks are good-sized birds, distinctly smaller than a red-tailed hawk but about the size of a crow. Compared to either of those familiar...

“Think like your prey,” say the hunters and fisherpeople. It’s good advice for naturalists, too. I can’t say it has helped me with fishing. The...

Nearly everybody has at least a vague notion of what a fly is. To a biologist, “fly” means a member of the insect order...

On Sunday, Nov. 8, I took advantage of ridiculously fine weather for a quick birding and bugging trip to Katama. In addition to the...

As we move into November, there is almost always a dramatic shift in the weather on the Vineyard, and with that, a shift in...

One of the more exciting types of avian events is a finch irruption — a large-scale movement of one or more finch species south...

As autumn progresses and the natural world begins shutting down for winter, I like to play a game of “the last X of 2020.”...

While I have my favorite places to look for insects, I’m always alert for habitats that look like they might hold something interesting. This...

The straight-lanced meadow katydid, Conocephalus strictus, is a very common insect on Martha’s Vineyard, inhabiting dry habitats with a mix of grasses, other herbaceous...

A green insect with very long antennae and long hind legs gets posted on social media with a request for identification. “Katydid” is inevitably...

The wasp genus Philanthus is blessed with an appealing name: it means “flower lover” and refers to the fondness members of the genus have...

Perhaps the type of wildlife inquiry I receive most often is about abundance: “Butterflies (or birds, or dragonflies) seem especially scarce (or especially common)...

Most everyone knows the basics of insect metamorphosis: It’s the way a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. We don’t often think, though, of how...

Among my favorite groups of insects are the robber flies, the predatory members of the family Asilidae. Ranging in length from a half-inch or...

However screwed up the world may be, certain things keep chugging reliably onward. Pandemic? Protests? Birds don’t care. Their focus is elsewhere, and their...

American oystercatchers have an interesting history on the East Coast. Originally, they probably occurred across much of the region, from the Gulf of Mexico...

Spring migration is a hit-or-miss proposition for a Vineyard birder. It never brings the sheer volume of birds that fall migration brings, and to...

As the weather starts to warm in April, one of the first and most obvious groups of insects to become active are the bees....

As usual for this time of year, the production of more mourning doves is in full swing in our small Oak Bluffs yard. But...