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Lizard, Abbreviated
Northern Italian Wall Lizard. Lost its tail. The replacement growth is never as long as the original. Podarcis siculus ssp. campestris got to America via the pet trade. They have expanded out from several areas, including on Long Island.Note that this article says there’s no evidence of birds eating these lizards. But in fact, there…
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Tiger, tiger, flying bright
… until caught in a web. An ichneumon wasp — of some kind. You might think something this distinctive looking would be easy to identify. For instance, doesn’t “Tiger Wasp” sound good? But there are a LOT of ichneumon wasps. The Ichneumon genesis alone includes about 143 species in Neartica (most of North America). Here’s…
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Raptor Wednesday
Four American Kestrels have been lately been spotted at the same time in the neighborhood. They’re hard to count, though, since they move from pillar to post and then out of sight with great frequency. On July 2nd, I was in Green-Wood and ran into three females and one male. Again, this is a tentative…
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Monarch Eggs
Monarch butterfly laying an egg on an emergent common milkweed leaf on Sunday in Green-Wood. This little plant is an outlier from the patch here, in danger of being mown or “weeded,” alas. I also watched her deposit eggs on two much taller, already flowering, plants that were part of the official patch. Closer up,…
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Mammal Monday
Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus) are few and far between in Green-Wood. I see them there rarely, but the other day a wren-brown spot in the distance, which I thought might, in fact, be a wren, turned out to be this one. There are rather more Chimpmunks in Prospect Park. The closest these two green islands…
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Recent Sightings
Tiny turtle, duckweed. More duckweed, as a landing platform for a queen Eastern Yellowjacket. Robber fly. This was unexpected: a blue budgie on the loose. Hedgehog Gall Wasp and Quercus. Stained glass. More stained glass. Even more.
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Ground-nesting
The majority of our wild bees — as opposed to honeybee farm animals — are ground-nesters. Here’s one in the ground between some hex pavers. She wouldn’t emerge as I stood there. Nobody really likes paparazzi. Some wasps are ground-nesters too. This one was excavating with seemingly no concern for my presence. Anacrabro ocellatus, I…
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Wasps and Caterpillars
This Euodynerus hidalgo wasp was digging into this old rudbeckia (or maybe it’s a coreopsis). For almost nine minutes. This European Tube Wasp (Ancistrocerus gazella) seemed interested. Ah-hah! Caterpillar! From deep inside the flower. I think it’s Homoeosoma genus. The Tube Wasp did not steal this prize. The wasp flew her prey off to her…
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Backyard and Beyond 