a place where nature, photography and writing meet
On Saturday, while out for my evening walk, I checked Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) leaves for signs of caterpillar feeding. In just one small area of a meadow, I was able to find three different species of caterpillars. I collected three leaves to create the above photograph (click on all photos for larger views). From […]
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 […]
Earlier this spring, I mentioned that we relocated our vegetable garden to a sunnier part of our gardens. The raised bed gardens we built many years ago are now shaded by large trees. We decided to put down a few patio stones and also built a small hearth where we could have an occasional wood […]
Late yesterday afternoon, I found something new to me here at the farm — a pair of Delicate Cycnia Moths (Cycnia tenera) resting together on the underside of a Common Milkweed leaf in the midst of some Meadowsweet brush next to the woods. I’ve never seen these moths around the farm before, so that alone […]
If you have a relatively quick net connection, here’s something you might like to see. Gus Frederick, a friend from the left coast, has put one of his time-lapse photo creations up on You Tube. It features a bract of rhododendron flowers blossoming. The sequence is amazing and I’m sure most of you will enjoy […]
We decided to kick off our week of bioblitzing by recording interesting sightings while hiking a couple of sections of the trail system at Murphys Point Provincial Park here in eastern Ontario. We set out around noon and finished up a little over three hours later. We didn’t try to count absolutely everything, as that […]