insects
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Twofers and More
European Paperwasp and Two-spotted Scoliid Wasp. Clouded Sulphur (or is there some orange in there?) and something something skipper. Another skipper, in the background, along with an Common Eastern Bumblebee and a striped sweat bee. Monarch and more Common Eastern BBs. Two species of metallic sweat bees. Monarch and skipper. From the top clockwise: European…
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Mite-y Cargo
A blue-form female Familiar Bluet, I think. About three blocks from the nearest water body. The edge of this parking lot was weedy– more recently every bit of greenery was removed. But it’s already sprouting back… Anyway, the damselfly turned out to be laden with cargo. These red things are water mites, hitching a ride.…
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Midge
Non-biting midge bigger than your average fly, characteristically holding his forelimbs out in front. The feathery antennae are reminiscent of some moths. Probably cold, letting me get the phone camera close up.
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Oaks to Caterpillars to Birds
The National Wildlife Foundation has a county-level guide, the Native Plant Finder, to native plants that support caterpillars. Why caterpillars? Because they are esentially the foundation of the food chain for song birds. Even the seedeaters that come to your feeders for seeds and suet in winter feed their young caterpillars. Caterpillars are relatively soft…
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Water Bugs and Birds
Under a thin layer of ice, two true bugs in the Crescent Water. The first is a water boatman, the second a backswimmer. Not all of the pond was iced over. Aerators keep donut holes of water ice-free, and the edge along one side of the pond was also open. This Eastern Phoebe was making…
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Prunus serotina
There are still, after all these years, parts of Green-Wood I’ve never been. I came across this massive black cherry only recently. It was after a big wind and bits of the scaly bark and branches were scattered about. The mature bark is very different from the younger stuff from way up there. Turning over…
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More Bits, More Pieces
Eumenes wasp mud nest pots. There were a dozen of these mantid egg cases in this patch of Rhus aromatica, the same spot I found the mud nests in. If there were sheep about, I say this was a bit of wool with a medium-sized marble in it. I am, however, hoping it’s some insect…
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Monday Galls
Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres… At the tips of a young oak, small round nestled in filamenty nests. Galls (not Gauls, pace Casesar) with exit holes. Big question in the wonderful world of galls is: what emerged, the gall inducer or the inquiline (parasite)? Not just on the bud tips. Possibly something in…
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Sassy!
A venerable sassafras (Sassafras albidum) in Green-Wood. May be the state record holder for tallest: 69′ in 2016. 138″ in diameter at 4.5′ height. More interestingly, at least to me, is the question of age. Does this pre-date the establishment of the cemetery in 1838? If not it must come close. Sprouting adjacent. Sassafras is…
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Cocoons
Over the weekend I found four large silkworm cocoons. This one was hanging in an oak. This one was on the ground. I turned it over to see the other side. Coin is just over an inch in diameter. There was an oak overhead…. Another in a willow oak (at perhaps half a mile’s distance…
Backyard and Beyond 