Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Cloaking Device

Do you see it?
A branch of Pignut Hickory, well-rotted and clearly ready to rejoin the great pool of organic matter, had fallen from the tree in a trio of pieces. Remembering my discovery of a queen Bald-faced Hornet in a log a few years back, I looked over the spongy, riddled pieces of wood carefully. Voila, a Mourning Cloak, still seemingly in hibernation mode.

3 responses to “Cloaking Device”

  1. Charles McAlexander

    A very impressive display of procesing visual information! even more impressive if it didn’t move or you didn’t see it fly in. I think it will be a very long time before some machine is able to maych your level of visual comprehension. I couldn’t find thr bug the first time, but got luckier a day later when I knew what I was looking for. Search image helps a lot.

  2. […] Camberwell Beauty in Britain, overwinters as an adult. Remember when I found one last spring tucked into some dead wood? That was March 20, […]

  3. […] glabra wood under a venerable tree. A rotted limb had fallen and broken into pieces. There was a little jewel in there. The other day I returned. The wood was still there. It’s a well-managed cemetery: […]

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