Matt Pelikan
Wild Side: Broad-headed bugs
Broad-headed bugs are fairly large insects, with big individuals approaching an inch in length. The common name for the family comes from the shape...
Wild Side: Erythrodiplax, the lazy dragonfly
I have a special fondness for species that have evolved to exploit conditions that would that would be inhospitable or even harmful to near...
Wild Side: Amphipods’ turn in the spotlight
After decades studying insects, I suppose I’m habituated to noticing things that are too small, too quick, or too inconveniently positioned for normal people...
Wild Side: Jumping spiders
Many people feel a visceral revulsion to spiders. And while the risks are vastly overestimated among the general public, the fact that a few...
Wild Side: Good neighbors
Common, easily observed, and quietly beautiful, the mourning dove is a bird all Vineyarders should be acquainted with. Small-headed, about the size of a...
Wild Side: Dance flies
I’ve written before about my growing fascination with flies — that is, the insect order Diptera — and I’m sorry to report that the...
Wild Side: The BMSB
Like most naturalists, I’m a big fan of “firsts” — seeing a species for the first time, finding something never before recorded in a...
Wild Side: Thick-headed flies
The fly family Conopidae suffers from a ludicrous common name: They are generally known as “thick-headed flies.” The name presumably comes from the blocky,...
Wild Side: Cowbirds
While birds rank among the most charismatic of wildlife, there are a few avian species that arouse the ire of birders and naturalists. Often...
Wild Side: Anatomy of the Vineyard
Famously glacial in its origins, Martha’s Vineyard is a relatively recent creation, in essence a huge pile of rock, transported, tumbled, ground, crushed, puréed,...
Wild Side: Song sparrows
Like most birders, I’m fond of wandering rarities, brightly colored species, and large, charismatic species — the kinds of things that draw hordes of...
Wild Side: Grackles
Let’s just forget about the “first robin of spring” myth. For one thing, robins are here and often plentiful all winter, so their “arrival”...
Wild Side: Bald eagles
As recently as the publication of Vineyard Birds II in 2007, the bald eagle was considered a scarce vagrant on the Island, recorded at...
Wild Side: The long-bodied cellar spider
I feel like part of my job as a nature columnist is to serve as a public relations consultant for animals that are unfairly...
Wild Side: Grebes
Among the stranger-looking birds, grebes are highly adapted to life on and in the water. Their legs are set far back on their bodies...
Wild Side: The Christmas Bird Count
A high point of the serious birder’s year, the Vineyard’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place amid frigid conditions on Friday, Dec. 29....
Wild Side: Looking ahead
The end of one year and the start of the next one offers a moment for assessing the recent past and planning the future,...
Wild Side: Cave crickets
Cave crickets seem badly in need of some public relations assistance. Gawky, humpbacked insects (camel cricket is another common name), ranging up to nearly...
Wild Side: Survivors
By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, pickings are getting pretty slim for a Vineyard insect enthusiast. On cool days, finding any insects at all...
Wild Side: Black-horned tree crickets
Here’s a story that shows how it goes with insects and me. I first encountered a black-horned tree cricket in early September 2016, while...