Apr 30
Posted: under Activities, photography, Wildlife.
Tags: beauty, documentation, insect, new species, photography April 30th, 2010
Crane flies are odd insects with long legs relative to their body size–they’re mistaken sometimes for giant mosquitos, which they aren’t. For such delicate looking creatures, they’re important in the ecosystem: crane fly larvae feed mostly on fungi, decaying organic matters, sometimes on plant rootlets–some are predatory. The adults are food for birds. There are […] [...more]
Crane flies are odd insects with long legs relative to their body size–they’re mistaken sometimes for giant mosquitos, which they aren’t. For such delicate looking creatures, they’re important in the ecosystem: crane fly larvae feed mostly on fungi, decaying organic matters, sometimes on plant rootlets–some are predatory. The adults are food for birds. There are roughly 1600 species of these guys north of Mexico.
Here’s one of our craneflies I’ve seen just about every year:
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Apr 28
Posted: under photography, Plantlife, Wildlife.
Tags: beauty, butterflies, native plants, photography, seasons April 28th, 2010
Engelmann’s Daisy, one of the old native prairie plants that cattle love to eat. We’re trying to get it established again–so far, in a protected location: [...more]
Engelmann’s Daisy, one of the old native prairie plants that cattle love to eat. We’re trying to get it established again–so far, in a protected location:
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Apr 27
Posted: under photography, Plantlife.
Tags: beauty, native plants, photography April 27th, 2010
The end of a drought brings amazing flower displays–both in variety and in number. Here are a few of our beauties, up close: [...more]
The end of a drought brings amazing flower displays–both in variety and in number. Here are a few of our beauties, up close:
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Apr 27
Posted: under photography, Wildlife.
Tags: Animal behavior, observation, odonates, photography April 27th, 2010
Back on April 20, I happened to see a dragonfly, just out of its nymphal exoskeleton, clinging to the stone border of the lily pond. An hour earlier and I could have photographed the whole sequence, but I have a partial sequence. [...more]
Back on April 20, I happened to see a dragonfly, just out of its nymphal exoskeleton, clinging to the stone border of the lily pond. An hour earlier and I could have photographed the whole sequence, but I have a partial sequence.
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Apr 24
Posted: under Wildlife.
Tags: beauty, insect, observation, photography April 24th, 2010
Always fun to find a new (to us) species for the list, even when it’s a small assassin bug: [...more]
Always fun to find a new (to us) species for the list, even when it’s a small assassin bug:
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Apr 11
Posted: under photography, Plantlife.
Tags: beauty, native plants, photography April 11th, 2010
Along the fencerows and in the creek bottoms at this time of year, you’ll see sudden puffs of white on shrubs that range from waist high up to about 15 feet. The first white-flowering shrubs–with discrete “powderpuff” flowers–are Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum, Viburnum rufidulum, a native here which is being destroyed by development. That’s because developers […] [...more]
Along the fencerows and in the creek bottoms at this time of year, you’ll see sudden puffs of white on shrubs that range from waist high up to about 15 feet. The first white-flowering shrubs–with discrete “powderpuff” flowers–are Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum, Viburnum rufidulum, a native here which is being destroyed by development. That’s because developers and land managers think of anything but large oaks as “brush” to be cleared away.
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