Backyard and Beyond

Indian pipe in fruit.
A spider wasp of some kind, found dead on this car. The pearly paint really shows up in detail; I bet its production is toxic as hell. The Pompilidae family of spider wasps has some 5000 species in it…
There are a number of fungi that stain wood various colors. Denim blue may be the best known of these colors. Possibly something in the Chlorociboria genus.
An old park sign.
This pollen-smeared bee kept going into and under these clumps in the hexpavers. Searching for a place to quarry a nest?
Shadow of a skipper.
Fruit of False Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosum). They’ll redden up as they get riper. Who eats these? Ruffed grouse and other birds, white-foot mice and a few other mammals. We don’t have grouse in the city. Of the leaves: deer sometimes eat them but not often, and other herbivores leave them alone. Penn State says “this lack of herbivore pressure greatly assists the continued persistence and growing abundance of false Solomon’s seal in its forest habitats.”
Room with overhanging roof…
Fall webworm around a walnut.
A silky hideaway.
Greta Thunberg on the Malizia II passing the Statue of Liberty yesterday afternoon. This is the view from the moraine.