I thought I might get a few last photos up from the NY trips, but then when out in the yard watering plants, I saw some potential video opportunities. Some of these clips have been attempted before and never panned out, but this time luck was with me.
Note: The voiceovers are off the cuff (obviously,) but this also means that I can occasionally forget something, like the fact that
So, here’s how my thinking goes sometimes. I have a few images largely unrelated to other things that can thus be in a short post, and was considering when to put them up. These kind of things serve as a buffer between longer, info-heavy posts, and I do have one of those coming – but I also have the Profiles of Nature post tomorrow, and that does the job too. And I’m also
Returning from this past trip, I noticed that one of the Chinese mantises (Tenodera sinensis) was now perched on the balloon flowers within easy reach of the cat mint, which is notorious for attracting pollinators by the boatload, and thus was almost twice the size as when I’d last seen one due to this proximity to effortless meals.
I realize that this doesn’t show scale
Because I’ve featured so many mantis photos in previous years, I have been lightening up on pursuing them recently unless I can see some specific behavior, but I still take the opportunity to snag a few photos when I can – especially if I find one feeding when I can take advantage of it. This Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) is on a potted curry plant, so-named
About a week ago, we were still struggling with a faint drought, having had no rain in roughly two weeks while temperatures were peaking in the 30s, and the rain barrels were rapidly emptying as we kept the various plants watered. That evening I took the misting sprayer and went around to the likeliest plants to give them a thorough misting, knowing the mantids, at least, would be pleased with it.
Luckily, I’m not the one to do it.
I was busy with other tasks this morning and neglected to do my morning check of the mantis egg sacs, but judging from how many were swarming around when I finally did notice this one, they’d probably gotten started in the very early morning hours. Only a couple were still displaying a slight forehead bump that’s the last
It’s almost 4 AM right now, and don’t ask me about my sleep schedule. But yesterday evening (as in, about seven hours ago,) I checked on the mantis egg sacs in the yard because I know they’re due – actually overdue, going by previous years. Nothing was happening then, so as I stepped out this morning at 3-ish I only glanced down at the nearest one in passing, since it sits
Yes, this topic has not died yet, but there’s a special reason for it to occur this time, and we’ll get to that. Right now, let’s see what was happening on this date in history. Pretty recent history, and nothing at all historical. Pretty self-centered, to be blunt. But it’s a blog, which as I’ve said before, is an exercise is thinly-veiled narcissism. If it’s
… and of course someone snuck in.
In this case, it was the first of the mantis egg cases (oothecas) hatching. There are several in the yard, including four now that had been naturally placed there – three Chinese mantids and a Carolina. I was doing routine checks, but the last one discovered, deep under an untended thicket of mostly vines, I now realize that
So as I said last year, I was endeavoring to photograph a Chinese mantis creating an egg sac, or ootheca, and never managed it. Actually, in all my years of chasing hexapods, I’ve done it just once – one lousy frame. Last fall, I had a likely candidate