2-23

2-23
Snow Fleas are swarming atop the snow. Normally found in the leaf litter, snow fleas are active on warm winter days and, in early spring, when they mate. They look like dark, animated pepper specks.
Along the West River, Stoneflies are starting to emerge. Aquatic for most of their lives, stoneflies crawl out of the water, molt and live long enough to mate. Most do not eat as adults. They are very poor fliers and can be seen crawling atop the snow.
John

Patterns in Nature

The trees never stop providing beauty.  What could this be?

Snow Buntings

I have tried and tried to sneak up on these 10 snow buntings who have been visiting my backyard. You'll just have to take my word for it!

expect the unexpected

We know everything wonderful grows in Dummerston, but I didn't expect this to be growing from sphagnum moss.

new snow

The slate has been cleared with the new wonderful snow.  Almost cleared.  Here are some old tracks with my foot in the foreground.  The tracks line up perfectly.  This gray squirrel was the last to move after the snow began.

1-31

1-31
Today a group of male Hooded Mergansers dodged ice floes in the West River.
A flock of Cedar Wax-wings, robins, starlings and English Sparrows fed on apples and bittersweet in West Dummerston village.
And yesterday an adult Bald Eagle was cruising at tree top height just north of the covered bridge.
John

1-18

1-18
If you have hemlock trees, now is the time to survey for Adelgids.
Hemlock Wooly Adelgid is most visible in mid and late winter. This infestation was along Camp Arden Road on a tree that I've checked frequently over the past few winters. This year adelgids are for the first time both present and easily visible.
John

1-17

1-17
For the first time in the 20 plus years that I've been offering suet to birds, Pileated woodpeckers are coming to feed!
As you can see, suet feeders, designed for downy and hairy woodpeckers, are inadequate for these birds.
Pileateds are carpenter ant and borer grub specialists and can demolish an infested tree while excavating for food.
They also eat a lot of berries and fruits including grapes and bittersweet berries.
John

1-15

1-15
Today along Camp Arden Road this Chipmunk surveyed its territory … and enjoyed a bit of sun!
And along the north border of my field, on the dry, sun-warmed leaves, a Grouse Locust also took advantage of the day.
John

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.