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Category Archives: bugs
Fairy slipper
The fairy slipper or calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa) frequents cool, moist, coniferous forests, so what better place to look for it than beside our raging creeks of springtime. Yet, it is inconspicuous on the forest floor—calypso is a Greek word meaning hidden. … Continue reading
Posted in bugs, wildflowers
4 Comments
Bee or fly?
A great deal of deception is perpetrated in the fields and woods: camouflage, feigning, mimicking. Fawns sport a dappled coat so as to vanish into the sun-flecked brush. Robins feign injuries to lure predators away from a nest. Flowers lacking nectar … Continue reading
Posted in bugs
4 Comments
Long-faced wasps
There seems to be almost as many species of social wasps around here as there are social bees. Most of those wasps have a fairly oval face. Certainly, that is the case for the genus, Vespula—many of the yellow … Continue reading
Posted in bugs
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Hummingbird Moth
“My, my, who are you?” was my initial reaction to seeing my first Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris diffinis). I had read about it, but as my frequent insect-watching forays had not previously turned one up, this sighting was unexpected. Also … Continue reading
Posted in bugs
5 Comments
Spring Azure
The Western Spring Azure is one of the first butterflies to emerge from a pupa in the spring. It is tiny—wings barely larger than one’s thumbnail—and easily missed when it is still. When on the ground, it raises its … Continue reading
Posted in bugs
6 Comments
Pollinator predator
Now that pollinators are back, pollinator predators are back also. Yesterday I watched a jumping spider waiting for prey among the flowers. If this one does as others have, it will wait on the same leaf week after week—its food … Continue reading
Tasty spider, m’dear?
Clint Saunders showed me some nuthatches nesting in a snag in his yard. So, I pointed my camera. White-breasted Nuthatches carve out their own nest and then smear pitch around the entrance, probably to keep other creatures out. During … Continue reading
Posted in birds, bugs
4 Comments
Butterflies are back
For a week now, I have been seeing butterflies—not just butterflies, but bees and flies. The insects are back. This posting marks a seasonal shift to the inclusion of the delightful world of arthropods. What better way to start than … Continue reading
Posted in bugs
9 Comments
Last butterfly
Proclaiming the observation of any species as being the last of the season is fraught with problems—you just might see another a few days later. Yet, a butterfly on November 1st has to be close to the last. Posting updated on … Continue reading
Posted in bugs
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Two bees or not to be
Yesterday afternoon, I was watching the last of the C.P.R. wreck saga: the lifting of the flatcar that had jumped the tracks and slid down the bank towards the Lake. That story has been told through a number of … Continue reading →