12-24

12-24
This Large Yellow Underwing moth caterpillar, found frozen atop the snow this A.M., quickly thawed and revived when I brought it into the house.
I find these caterpillars after heavy rains have saturated the snow and I would guess that they surface to escape drowning.
This species was accidentally introduced in the Canadian Maritime Provinces around 1979 … and now ca be found as far south as Texas!
John

12-21

12-21
Today was a good day to be this Red-tailed hawk; a bad day to be the Gray Squirrel that it killed and carried to this locust tree along Camp Arden Rd.
Just after I snapped this picture the hawk flew across the West River still carrying its meal.
John

12-21

12-21
Just after the first of our two recent snowstorms I spotted this red fox sunning and scratching in a field along Day Rd.
John

11-13

11-13
'Tis the season for frost flowers.
John

11-11

11-11
One of the "winter"moths. Probably one called The Bruce Spanworm, an introduced species of moth that emerges only after the first frost.
John

10-16

10-16
Porkies are on the prowl, looking to fatten up before winter sets in.
John

10-15

10-15
Today I found this Praying Mantis egg case stuck to a piece of dead oak limb.
John

10-6

10-6
A Red Velvet Mite (Trombidium ssp.) explores the heel of my sneaker.
RedVelvet mite adults eat insect eggs. Larva are external parasites of insects, spiders, daddy-long leg, etc.
While only, perhaps, 3/16 of an inch long and of no threat, this mite looses appeal when seen close up!
John

Partridge on Partidge Road

Today I found a partridge on Partridge Road.  Who knew they still lived here.  This one didn't make it.  The culprit- my greenhouse.

10-2

10-2
One of the Mantids, probably a European Mantis, one of a group commonly referred to as "pray
ing" mantises, poses nicely for a picture.
European Mantises were introduced into this country as biological control agents because they are voracious consumers of many other insect species.
John

10-1

10-1
One of the Blister Beetles, family Meloidae, played dead after I poked it with a pine needle. When squeezed, blister beetles exude blistering agents in a defensive tactic called reflex bleeding.
Blister beetle larvae hatch from the egg as active "triungulins" that scale flower stalks and then climb aboard a visiting solitary bee. Once in the bee's burrow the larva molts into a sedentary grub and feeds on pollen and nectar stored by the bee.

9-23

9-23
Nodding Ladies-tresses, on of the Orshidaceae, is flowering in wet meadows and bogs.
John

9-21

9-21
At higher elevations on the west side of town, Witch Hazel is in flower; this year's flowers co-existing with last year's nutlets.
Flowers fertilized this fall wait until spring to begin producing the seeds which ripen in the fall.
The ripe nutlets which contain the seeds open explosively when dry, flinging the seeds up to 20 feet thus moving them away from the parent plant.
John

9-20

9-20
Golden Hedge-hyssop, AKA Pert, is in flower. It is one of the last flowerings of the season.
John

Golden Hedge-hyssop

Recent rains caused these beautiful fungi to form. Identification welcome.

 A paper wasp nest the size of a basketball was knocked to the ground by the recent rain. The wasps are still going in and out so I don't dare get too close, but I think it's a yellow jacket nest. Soon the nest will be abandoned as the fertilized queens find protected places to overwinter. The nest would gradually disintegrate, but I'll take it to some lucky classroom.

This snake, I believe it's a Common Garter Snake, lived in our pool shed all summer. I tried many times to get a better picture, but it's very difficult to sneak up on a snake. He did leave me two skins. The scissors point to a clear bubble that I guess covered his eye.

9-1

9-1
These large mushrooms - perhaps Giant Clitocybes - appeared suddenly on a corner of my lawn.
And, while eating breakfast, I watched a mother gray squirrel carrying her young - one per trip - up a big old hollow locust tree and depositing them in a tree cavity. These den transfers seem to often happen just prior to the young's opening their eyes for the first time.
John

Giant Clitocybes

8-30

8-30
Today this bumblebee size Tachinid Fly (Belvosia sp.) nectared on hardhack. Larvae of this robust fly are parasitoids - they kill their host - and their hosts are caterpillars including our native Giant Silkworm species.
John

Tachinid Fly

8-29

8-29
Today Ants were preparing for mating flight. They will swarm, mate, fall to earth and lose their wings … all in one night.
And this rather handsome Tiger Beetle stayed a few steps ahead of me as I walked the bike trail. Unfortunately I was unable to precisely identify it.
John

Swarming ants

Tiger Beetle

8-27

8-27
Yesterday between 6 and 7 pm I counted 132 Nighthawks over nearby fields.
Today a Western Conifer Seed Bug (commonly called a Leaf-footed Bug) strolled along the fender of my car.
And Carrion Beetles (Nicrophorus tomentous) buried a dead Shrew in my yard. The shrew will serve as food for the beetle's larvae.
John

Carrion Beetle on Shrew

Western Conifer Seed Bug

8-26

8-26
Last night, as clouds moved in from the West, Nighthawks were on the move. Between 6 and 7 pm forty seven went over my house all moving due East.
Today a few raptors went south over Putney Mountain, three Osprey and one Northern Harrier.
And on the edge of an old beaver pond, Leafy-bracted Beggar-ticks are in flower.
John

Leafy-bracted Beggar-tick

8-25

8-25
Today Closed Gentians are in flower. As the name implies these flowers never open. Bumblebees force their way into the flowers seeking nectar and pollination occurs.
Sand Jointweed is also in flower. This species is noticeable for its apparent lack of leaves.
And a very colorful sub-adult insect - a nymphal stage of the Green Stink Bug - posed nicely for this picture. In its adult form it will be a leaf-green shield-shaped insect!
John

Closed Gentian

Sand Jointweed

Green Stink Bug - nymphal stage

8-23

8-23
One-seeded Bur-cucumber is in flower. Bur-cucumber flowers are 5 pointed. The flowers of the common wild cucumber are 6 pointed.
And Red Milkweed Beetles dot milkweed leaves.
John

Bur-cucumber

Red Milkweed Beetle

8-22

8-22
Today Slender Gerardia - a new species for me - is in flower. Slender Gerardia is unusual in several ways: it is partially parasitic on the roots of other plants, and bees, the plant's pollinators, have to enter the flower tube upside down while hanging from the stamens!
Whatever works, I guess!
John

Slender Gerardia

8-21

8-21
Today I found Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica) along the West River. Sneezewort is a non-native species gone wild. These might be a cultivar called "Pearl."
The beetle is possibly one of the many Shining Leaf Chafers in the Anomala family. Possibly.
Later as I mowed my lawn, a Long-horned Beetle - probably a Northeastern Sawyer - landed on the grass. Conifers, especially pines, are larval hosts for this species.
John

Shining Leaf Chafer on Sneezewort

Northeastern Sawyer Beetle

8-20

8-20
Today this wasp-mimicking Locust Borer fed on Goldenrod behind my barn. The W pattern on this insect's back betrays its identity. Locust Borers lay their eggs in slits they make in locust bark. Feeding larvae bore in the heartwood of the trees to the detriment of any lumber milled from infested logs.
And an insect looking much like a moth or a butterfly, but in all likelihood a Caddisfly or maybe an Owlfly posed nicely, yet its identity remains a mystery!

John

Mystery insect - Caddisfly? Owlfly?

Locust Borer

8-18

8-18
Today Ground-Nut with its "distinctive, sweetish odor" is running rampant over thickets and weed patches.
A Great Black Wasp nectared on Virgin's Bower.
And a Black-rimmed Prominent moth waited out the daylight hours hanging on a scrap of lumber.
The season grows short for many insect species.
John

Black-rimmed Prominent moth

Great Black Wasp

Ground-Nut

8-16

8-16
The trailing vines and pale lavender flowers of Hog Peanut drape rank upright roadside weeds.
And a Hickory Tussock Moth perches on the tightly clustered flowers of Tear Thumb - so named for its skin lacerating downcurved spines and tough ungiving stem.
John

Tear Thumb's spines

Hickory Tussock Moth on Tear Thumb flowers

Hog Peanut flowers