This enlargement of an insect covered in artistically created camo was crawling on my leg. It or its friend dropped down from a white mulberry tree later and bit me. I thought I’d been able to ID it last year but now I can’t find it. I’m afraid I reacted too quickly to being bitten to figure out if the stick thing in lower left is a leg or a camo stick thing.
Juvenile tundra swan required a runway to take off from the pond! I am so used to ducks popping up from the pond like corks that I was holding my camera in wrong position to capture the takeoff. You can tell it’s a juvenile because the head is gray.
Swan was paddling around on the pond, totally unaware that I was sneaking up on it with all the stealth a senior citizen can muster.
These shots show the bird continuing to climb. To me the most interesting thing to observe here is the black edge at the end of the tail feathers. Those are the swan’s enormous black feet!
I wasn’t expecting paparazzi when I slipped out to enjoy a pleasant winter thaw. I thought my camouflage was more than sufficient. Feel free to call me Wolfy!
January 21, 2018 provided a pleasant and unexpected winter thaw!
Red Eye (osprey chick) begs Pepper Dotty (mom) for fish. Pepper says what all mother osprey say to their chicks, “Go fish!”
Pepper continues to eat, ignoring her starving, miserable chick.
Red Eye continues to complain. Pepper ‘hoods’ her fish. Dart (dad) flies to nest off camera.
Red Eye flies to nest but Dart is already gone and there was no fish left in the nest. Help!!
Suddenly Pepper drops to the nest to deliver fish remains to her chick and Red Eye starts eating immediately.
Happy Red Eye will survive another day! Thanks, Mom!
You can clearly see all 4 beaks in today’s photo. Imagine if they all had their mouths open at once!
This is the invasive yellow flag iris. The blue flag iris is not an invasive. But I can’t find the one or two that have sometimes bloomed down in the marsh. The yellow flags have totally taken over the pond and marsh since John stopped mowing down there. I hate to say how lovely and cheerful they are. Since it would take me more than a lifetime to pull them up I will just have to enjoy them…
One look at this Emerald Ash Borer and you can understand why the elytra, or stiff front pair of wings on a beetle have been popular since cavemen discovered they weren’t just delicious but also useful for trade. What wouldn’t you give to possess something so amazingly iridescent?
