a place where nature, photography and writing meet
I’m very pleased to see that quite a few of you decided to give the Great Phymata Challenge a try. My own count was eleven, and I see that a few of you found the same number. I’ve posted the above photo with a pink ring around each phymata that I found (click on the […]
We’re still putzing around home in the final few days of Don’s very abbreviated single-week holiday, so my posts will continue to be rather abbreviated as well. Today’s post leaves the “work” up to you. Let’s see how everyone does (now, don’t disappoint me by not giving this a try, okay?). A couple of nights […]
A couple of days ago, I mentioned that I’d be posting about something that has occupied a bit of my time for the past week. This was the “suspense” that I talked about. Those of you who know your invasive species and are familiar with the dastardly Glossy Buckthorn bush (Rhamnus frangula), will understand the […]
Dogbane Beetle (Chrysochus auratus) on Spreading Dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium) Yesterday, robin from Dharma Bums commented: Someday, if you haven’t already done so, maybe you could tell us what you planted to attract all these incredible spiders into your spider garden. You do have such an inspiring diversity of species there. Shortly after I began this […]
What do you think? Beautiful? Ugly? Fantastic? She seems fantastic to me — perhaps looking a bit like a mysterious, spiny asteroid in a sci-fi flick (click on photos for larger views). I found this Star-bellied Orbweaver (Acanthepeira stellata) hunkered down among the top leaves of a milkweed after following a strand of her tripline […]
Banded Hairstreak butterfly (Satyrium calanus) On Monday, we visited Mill Pond Conservation Area with the intention of taking a long, slow walk along the Lime Kiln Trail. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Shortly after setting out, we met a family coming down the trail leading from the forest. Everyone had their sweaters pulled up […]
Welcome to the 22nd edition of Circus of the Spineless! I considered coming up with a theme for this edition, but in the end, I went with the one unifying quality that I found as I made my way around the web from one blog to the next. I was time and again struck by […]