The tapping and pecking of various birds in the winter stillness grabs the ears. The woodpeckers, the nuthatches.
And in this case, a Tufted Titmouse. I didn’t have time to get focused because the bird dropped its prize, which I first thought might be a peanut, and flew away.
But it was a cocoon! And, as it happens, right under a white oak where I found one last year.
This is the second Polyphemus Moth (I assume) cocoon I’ve seen this winter. The bullet-like pupa within seemed intact.
I don’t give locations of these on iNaturalist because people collect them. And we’re learning that this isn’t good for Monarchs, so shouldn’t we assume, until we know otherwise, that it isn’t good for moths, either? The organism should always be the first priority.
This silver dollar is 1.5″ across (39mm). I love the Roaring Twenties version of Liberty, a Gibson Girl gone Deco, and 1924 was the year my father was born.
Does it seem strange that a Tufted Titmouse is going after an insect? Not if you have a suet feeder. Here’s a Tufted Titmouse scavenging a Winter Wren — and not even in winter yet. And here’s a Black-capped Chickadee pecking at a frozen mammal…
Backyard and Beyond 
0 Responses to “Tufted and Chrysalis”