First off, you do know Halloween is coming, right? This little lady seems to…
I know, after claiming I could completely blow off the blog in the last post, I pretty much completely blew off the blog, a demonstration of dependability from me that is entirely unprecedented – it just took the right motivation. More is coming shortly, since I have some recent pics to feature, but first is
So, the important stuff first: with this post I surpass all previous records for posting within a year, and we’re only in mid-October! Everything past this point is gravy, and even if I stop posting now, I’ve still got that accomplishment under my belt. It’s a warm fuzzy feeling, let me tell you.
A lot of this is due, naturally, to starting this whole “Monday color”
Decisions, decisions…
We have an Euonymus americanus in the yard, more commonly known as a “hearts-a-bustin'” or even a strawberry bush, the latter by people with little imagination and no concept of being confusing as hell, since it has no relation to the plant that actually produces strawberries. As can be seen here, instead it has a remarkable display when the seeds
That’s the best reason I can think of for suddenly finding a grey treefrog sitting atop a fencepost two afternoons back, since the active season has passed and I haven’t even been hearing their calls for a while now. But I suspect that, with the temperature dropping to around 15°c (59°f) overnight, the ectothermic amphibian was aiming to warm up a bit and aid
The nice thing about going long periods without rain is that scheduling photo outings isn’t difficult – provided you can cope with the heat. The recent rains have changed this quite a bit, and I’ve had to switch several student appointments around due to cruddy weather. This past Saturday, we watched the weather reports on practically an hourly basis and chanced a botanical garden
Sorry, more mantids, but you can’t watch the life cycle of several local individuals, including hundreds if not thousands of photos (I have not tallied them up yet, but mind you, these are the keepers) and not want to maintain updates.
First off, if you’re going to have an interest in entomology, it seems prudent to check several sources for information, as well as to keep checking
Just a few photos from the nearby pond, mostly recent, without a lot of exposition to go along.
An unidentified orthopteran, what I suspect is a meadow katydid, poses atop a button bush that’s showing the impact of the lateness of the season and the sparse rain in the past. In the thin line of undergrowth bordering the pond right below it, I was spotting various mantids and
I mentioned how well I fared with the lunar eclipse a few posts ago, but as it turned out Jim Kramer (of the Alaskan posts) did a hell of a lot better that evening. Not so well later on, however,
I mentioned in the previous post that I made a pooter, which I’d needed for a while, but there was a specific motivation for it. A few days ago I had found another magnolia green jumping spider (Lyssomanes viridis) and I was frustrating myself trying to accomplish something that’s been on my mind since the first time around.
Magnolia greens are the only species I’ve found that allows
After attempting a couple of other techniques that weren’t working so well, I finally broke down and did it: I made myself a pooter.
If you are not familiar with entomology, you may have a variety of responses to this statement, including, “Congratulations – Al is a big boy now!” and, “Isn’t that a slang term for female genitalia?” But no, that’s
