Category Archives: bugs

Spring Azure

  How delightful: May began with an azure speck darting under azure skies. The speck was the Spring Azure, a tiny (2 cm wingspan) butterfly whose local flight period corresponds closely with this month.  The thing about the the Spring … Continue reading

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April goulash

  This is a collection of images from April, each of which lacked a posting of its own. If a robin is swallowing worms, it must be spring. This is a female. The Varied Thrush is a close relative of … Continue reading

Posted in birds, bugs, fish, herptiles | 10 Comments

Mountain Bluebird and grub

  The Mountain Bluebird is an insectivore that particularly favours eating caterpillars. Yet, in the many pictures I have taken of this bird foraging, it is only rarely that I have captured an image of its successful insect capture. The … Continue reading

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Bee or fly?

  It is spring and buzzing abounds as pollinators visit flowers.  If one follows the news media, it is tempting to assume that those pollinators are bees, and in particular, honeybees. Actually, in many cases, they are either bumblebees or … Continue reading

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Melanopygus

  As I watched a Bombus melanopygus in my yard, it struck me that this springtime bumblebee bore a relationship to a bird in a posting of three days earlier. In that posting, Ruby flashes, I showed a Ruby-crowned Kinglet … Continue reading

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Spring butterflies

  A better indication than the equinox for the arrival of spring is the arrival of butterflies. In the last few days, I have seen two, both early-season species. Each settled on some dry grass and spread its wings so … Continue reading

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No theme

  When I post something to this blog, I like to have a theme — a story to tell. Alas, in the nascent days of September, I could find none. There were many images, but no theme. So, this is … Continue reading

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July goulash

  Nothing from this baker’s dozen of July images has had a posting of its own.  A few birds avoid the valleys and prefer the mountains. One of these is the White-crowned Sparrow. Wintering to the south, it breeds here … Continue reading

Posted in birds, bugs, herptiles, mammals | 4 Comments

Mayfly mating

  Mayfly adults live brief and perilous lives. Mayflies emerge from the water as short-lived adults with one objective: to mate. The mayfly is immediately beset by other creatures that would feast upon it. Fish frequently jump from the water … Continue reading

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Cimbex sawfly

  The white stripes on its abdomen made it look sort of like a large bald-faced hornet resting on the forest floor in the rain. But, that couldn’t possibly be correct: It was lethargic, Its face was entirely black, Its … Continue reading

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