The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Tag: Wildlife

Other creatures in our world

  • Mouse Nest Location: Bad Decisionmaking

    It’s always a good idea to open the barby lid before firing the burners: sometimes unexpected things appear:

    Mouse nest in grill - foundation
    Mouse nest in grill – foundation

    The mouse being out and about at the time, I dumped the nest (which was just a foundation) over the patio railing into the flower garden, burned out the remainder at full throttle, and continued the mission.

    A week later, the mouse had not only returned, but finished off a substantial nest in the same spot, topped with a jaunty bird feather. The entrance tunnel is on the right, opening into a comfy mouse-sized pocket inside:

    Mouse nest in grill - finished
    Mouse nest in grill – finished

    Once again, I dumped the nest over the railing, burned out the rest, and continued the mission.

    As of three weeks later, the mouse hasn’t returned; I trust it found a hollow log somewhere out back.

    As nearly as I can tell, the mouse climbed up a square steel leg, scampered through the grease catch pan, leaped up through the drain hole, wriggled through three layers of crossed bars, and then deposited a single mouthful of building material.

    I really need a critter camera…

  • Parsley Worm on Dill

    Four of these ferocious Parsley Worms were chowing down on a volunteer dill plant along the garden fence:

    Parsley Worm Caterpillar on Dill
    Parsley Worm Caterpillar on Dill

    Amazingly, they turn into Black Swallowtail butterflies that sometimes visit the Butterfly Bush outside our living room window. Well, maybe not this one, but certainly some of its relatives.

    We don’t hassle them; they have a fearsome threat display that apparently works wonders on their natural predators.

  • Turkey Vultures Afield

    We don’t often see Turkey Vultures on the ground, so this gathering was unusual:

    Turkey vultures on the ground
    Turkey vultures on the ground

    The depression in the grass suggests something keeled over right there; perhaps they’re rummaging around for leftovers. Although they’re totally graceless on foot, it works well enough for them.

    There were two vultures on posts when I stopped, but one joined the ground party before I could deploy the camera. The other bird kept a close eye on me throughout the proceedings:

    Turkey vulture on fence post
    Turkey vulture on fence post

    Look alive!

    Pix from the Canon SX230HS, zoomed to its optical limit, and certainly not prizewinners…

  • Monthly Image: Alien vs. Predator, Backyard Edition

    Late August is, as always, the season for giant orb-weaving spiders, one of which spun a web between two tall cactus plants on the patio and greeted us with this sight one morning:

    Spider vs. Dragonfly - overview
    Spider vs. Dragonfly – overview

    We’re big fans of both spiders and dragonflies, but it was obvious who came out on top in this contest:

    Spider vs. Dragonfly - front
    Spider vs. Dragonfly – front

    These things are unimaginably weird:

    Spider vs. Dragonfly - bottom detail
    Spider vs. Dragonfly – bottom detail

    Even with the spider busy at lunch, she has four eyes to spare. They reflect the flash and appear as white-centered dark dots near the middle of the image:

    Spider vs. Dragonfly - many eyes
    Spider vs. Dragonfly – many eyes

    I’m sure the red spinnerets are diagnostic:

    Spider vs. Dragonfly - side detail
    Spider vs. Dragonfly – side detail

    The spider tossed the empty husk over the side, then spent the next two nights and days parked in her lair, presumably digesting that big meal, and didn’t bother repairing the web:

    Spider vs. Dragonfly - spider at home
    Spider vs. Dragonfly – spider at home

    She spun a fresh web on the third night and caught a more manageable insect:

    Spider with smaller prey
    Spider with smaller prey

    All hand-held with the Sony DSC-H5, some with a 2x close-up lens. All the pix are tight crops, crushed to fit my arbitrary 750 pixel maximum and 200 kB size limit. If you need high-res original images for anything, drop me a note; I took far too many pictures of this encounter…

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

    These bits of flying jewelry enjoy the Butterfly Bush out front:

    Yellow Tiger Swallowtail - tattered
    Eastern Yellow Tiger Swallowtail – tattered

    This one has lost both “swallowtails” and a chunk of its left wing. The blue spots indicate it’s a female; we hope it laid a bunch of eggs in the magnolia bush next door…

  • Giant Swallowtail Butterfly: Up and Away!

    The Giant Swallowtails once again returned to the Butterfly Bush at the front window this year:

    Giant Swallowtail - Liftoff
    Giant Swallowtail – Liftoff

    Their wings never stop fluttering while they feed:

    Giant Swallowtail - feeding
    Giant Swallowtail – feeding

    I’ve never seen butterfly wings in this position:

    Giant Swallowtail - Downstroke
    Giant Swallowtail – Downstroke

    All hand-held with the Sony DSC-H5 and no additional lenses. The top picture was underexposed by two stops to remove the background. The bottom picture has fill flash in addition to full sun backlight.

  • Decorative Slug

    This critter trundled across the driveway after a shower wetted the area:

    Orange slug on asphalt
    Orange slug on asphalt

    They do some damage in the garden, but we let them alone elsewhere…