We’ve been catching moths in the bug napper, though the Xylena nupera was one that we got from a caterpillar Connor found. The Steller’s Jays have been coming by to get peanuts and the occasional Yellow-underwing Moth (Noctua pronuba)
invertebrates
Painted Lady
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) found visiting a neighbor’s flower garden. Due to the fact that these are sometimes purchased and reared, then released, it’s not clear whether this particular individual was naturally occurring or not.
Bedstraw Hawk-Moth (Hyles gallii)
A couple of years ago Rowan found a caterpillar which we later were able to determine was a hawk-moth. After learning a bit about them, she has been interested in finding one ever since. Last Sunday I happened to notice one resting on the grass at Keet Gooshi Heen softball fields while I was tossing … Read more
Nature Downtown
I spent some time downtown today around Castle Hill and noticed a bunch of fluff on some of the plants there. Presumably some sort of aphid (or relative), but I’m not sure what at this point. This evening I noticed a hawk moth on the grass up at Keet Gooshi Heen, the first one of … Read more
Grebes and a Caterpillar
At least three still-downy Pied-billed Grebes were hanging out on Swan Lake waiting to be fed by parents. Also today, Connor found a green caterpillar crawling on the sidewalk. He brought it home and we were going to try to find it a food plant, but discovered it just wanted to bury itself in dirt, so we left it in a small bucket of dirt inside a rearing cage on the porch to see what might emerge.
Walk to Indian River
The kids and I took a walk down to Indian River – got some photos of a freshwater sponge we found, as well as some plants other animals along the way.