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In the Queen’s Chamber
Let this be a lesson to me. I turned over a rotten old log that was about two feet long and a quarter of that in diameter. It came apart in three pieces. This stirred up this Bald-Faced Hornet, all covered in saw dust. Must be a queen in her over-wintering chamber. A thousand pardons,…
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In Beringia
“We polar whales are a quiet inoffensive race, desirous of life and peace… I write on behalf of my butchered and dying species. I appeal to the friends of the whole race of whales. Must we be murdered in cold blood? Must our race become extinct?” An editorial in The Friend, October 15, 1850. This…
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Buckeyes
Alas, they shrivel up and darken, losing these lovely colors and stain-like patterns, in no time. Aesculus flava, or some cultivated form of it, I gather. “Aesculus Flava”, a hip-hop name for the taking.
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Acorn Drillers
As is my wont, I pocketed a red oak acorn recently. Almost a week later I noticed this: a little wormy something was cutting it’s way out! Note the frass pile. Perhaps a Curculio nut and acorn weevil. More here. Not pictured, but this also happened with a shingle oak acorn, which has a much…
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Two Epic Mushrooms
Dyer’s Polypore, as its name suggests, has been used for dyes. Phaeolus schweinitzii is also known as velvet-top fungus. It is, indeed, rather velvety on top. This parasitic fungus is associated with conifers. Berkeley’s Polypore, Bondarzewia berkeleyi on 9/14, with my size 9 boot (8 in Australia) for scale. It was a whole continent of…
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Raptor Wednesday
Merlins above Green-Wood. Two sightings on one day well separated in space: one or two birds? The lush meadow rising above the chapel has attracted sparrows and warblers, which means the bird-hunting falcons, too. Bother Merlins and American Kestrels having been perching on this scaffolding and on surrounding trees. Not at the same time: they…
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Bald-Faced Washing
Bald-faced Hornet licking the stonework. Getting salts and minerals? Also, licking forelegs to groom antennae. Like a cat! The grooming wasp was spotted Saturday in the sun. This nest was seen Sunday, with at least one wasp hanging around still.
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WW
The first Winter Wren I’ve seen since the spring. The unmistakable sawed-off silhouette.
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Mustard Seed Shot
In his sparrow book, Rick Wright references “mustard seed shot.” Never having heard of this, I was most intrigued. Remember that early naturalists, ornithologists, and their agents collected birds — the skins — by shooting them. Audubon didn’t have a good day if he didn’t bag a hundred or more. But consider a songbird: there’s…
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Cryptus
One of two similar ichneumon wasps I saw yesterday around the trunks of very large trees. I’ve never seen this species before. This is what keeps me looking. I think she’s a Cryptus. Note the long, harpoon-like ovipositor. She is looking for moth larvae to jab her eggs into. She kept moving, but hardly flew.…
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