This critter trundled across the driveway after a shower wetted the area:
They do some damage in the garden, but we let them alone elsewhere…
Tag: Wildlife
Other creatures in our world
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Monthly Image: Trumpet Vine With Solitary Bees
I tagged along on another Master Gardener field trip, this time to Innisfree Garden near Millbrook NY, and took a bunch of closeups. This was supposed to feature just the solitary bee working the blossom, but …
Solitary bees in Trumpet Vine – 2560×1440 The little gadget off to the left blundered into the depth of field at exactly the right moment. Couldn’t do that again if I tried…
Maybe they’re wasps. It probably matters only to another insect of the opposite polarity.
Taken with the Sony DSC-H5, no lenses, hand-held. The image is a dot-for-dot crop from the full frame that’s exactly sized for my landscape monitor.
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Jerusalem Cricket vs. Dust Bunny
Sometimes crickets make their way into the basement. This one, a model that I’ve always known as a Jerusalem Cricket(*) evidently lost a pitched battle with one of the Dust Bunnies guarding the Basement Laboratory:
Jerusalem Cricket vs Dust Bunny – top view A rear view:
Jerusalem Cricket vs Dust Bunny – rear view From the front:
Jerusalem Cricket vs Dust Bunny – front view I deported it to the flower garden outside the basement door, where I hope it can brush off the Bunny’s entrapments…
It may not be a Jerusalem Cricket, because they’re more common out west, but that’s the best match in our bug books and that’s what we’ve always called them.
[Update: (*) It’s most likely a Cave Cricket. See the comments for details.]
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Blueberry Season: Stink Bug Eggs
Mary’s been picking blueberries and freezing them for winter treats, a process that involves inspecting each berry laid out on the tray.
This one failed QC:
Blueberry with eggs – overview A closer look shows some remarkable structures:
Blueberry with eggs – detail Unfortunately, they’ll probably turn into Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs. This is not a Good Thing, because those stink bugs will devastate fruit harvests, including all the apple orchards along the entire Hudson Valley, over the next few years.
They may be Predatory Stink Bugs, which would be unusual in Dutchess County, but not nearly so awful.
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Turkey vs. Hawk: Aftermath
Based on this evidence, the hawks seem to be tackling larger prey:
Turkey feathers in the garden Mary found turkey feathers drifting across the garden, with the largest concentration near this assortment, much along the lines of the pile left at our back door. Given the 6 ft deer fence surrounding the garden and the complete absence of yummy debris, we think this wasn’t the work of a land-based predator.
Parents, guard your children…
Along those lines, once upon a time, long ago and far away, we attended a show-n-tell featuring a (rescued) California Condor. The exhibitors ushered us into a tight group and told parents to keep their small children close beside them, because condors attack stray animals and pay particular attention to infants of herd animals. Of course, one couple didn’t get the word (or didn’t think it applied to them) and let their toddler wander off. As soon as the kid got a few feet away from the pack of people, the inert condor abruptly powered up and got weapons lock on the kid; a warning from the exhibitor sent the parents scurrying to
correctcollect their blunder. -
Monthly Image: Turkeys in the Rain
These guys just weren’t having a good day:
Turkeys in the Rain They’re members of the flock of six toms that marches through the neighborhood every day, clearing bugs out of the lawn.
We like ’em!
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Monthly Image: Turtles on a Log
These Eastern Painted Turtles have hauled themselves out for a contemplative basking session nearly every time I ride by the pond at the entrance to the Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve:
Turtles on a Log – Vassar Farm Pond What do turtles think about while they’re basking?
Those turtles are probably relatives, even if they’re in a different pond farther downstream along the Casperkill.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 