a place where nature, photography and writing meet
Earlier this week, I posted several photos of female spiders guarding egg cases. Yesterday, I found yet another to add to my records. This spider is a Misumena vatia, a member of the Thomisidae Family (crab spiders). She’s a little special for a couple of reasons. It happens that she’s the first of this species […]
At this time of the year, I feel myself slipping behind when it comes to posting about the many insects encountered here at the farm. My efforts to ID spiders, moths, and other creatures also suffer as I keep adding photos at the rate of a few dozen per day. One consequence is that I […]
Yes, indeed, it’s been hot this past few weeks. Hot and humid. Enough so, that Sabrina has been spending a lot of time sleeping on the tile floor of the kitchen by the basement door — a spot she rarely occupies except during the dog days of summer. This year, those days appear to have […]
For the past week or so, I’ve been meaning to write a couple of posts about spiders at the farm, but somehow it didn’t happen. Today is the day. Since early June, I’ve been encountering female spiders guarding eggs cases. These are just a few of the spiders that I’ve seen (click on all photos […]
While hiking at the Baxter Conservation Area on Saturday, I photographed these two bee mimic flies (click on all images for larger view). I had hoped to have an ID for the fly in the top image, but so far, I haven’t found anything quite the same. However, I decided to post the photo in […]
Sometimes, I come across insects that are so unique in colour and shape, that it looks like they could be works of art. These two Stinkbug nymphs (Family Pentatomidae) found wandering around through the goldenrod in our pasture, are excellent examples. The top and center photos are of the same insect (click on images for […]
The weekend weather forecast is looking good, so we’re off to do some hiking on local trails. However, I wanted to remind everyone that the latest edition of Good Planets are Hard to Find is up at Susannah’s Wanderin’ Weeta blog. While you’re there, you might like to check out a three part series of […]