Kidding aside, those are real names of butterflies. Just today I saw an eastern comma (Polygonia comma) in it’s summer form (black hind wings as opposed to orange hind wings for the winter form). I am secretly hoping that the early abundance of different butterflies has something to do with the native wildflowers in my […]
Archive for the ‘Fauna’ Category
Question mark? Comma?
Posted in Fauna, Interesting on April 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Mariposa ranch
Posted in Fauna, Interesting on April 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The more showy butterflies such as the monarch and swallowtail may still be “waiting in the wings”, as it were, but that does not mean that Papilionidae or true butterflies are not represented this time of year. The spring azure has been fluttering about for a few weeks now, and just the other day I […]
Same Bat Channel
Posted in Fauna, Guest blogger, Rants & Raves on January 16, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Television is dumbing down by the minute, and it’s embarrassing and annoying. Maybe as the stats say, everyone under 75 is getting all their news on the internet so I shouldn’t be too upset – but it is sad that today CNN had a huge background sign that had the word “Yield” spelled wrong. I am […]
Winter Brings A Little Too Much Contemplation
Posted in Fauna, Guest blogger, Interesting on December 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Just a week or so after my last post where I had the outlandish idea that someday we may find out that paper wasps are able to differentiate human faces as well as pheromones, New Scientist came out with a story that these wasps indeed can recognize their own faces. “Despite having a brain less […]
For the Birds: Woodpeckers In My Cape Cod Backyard
Posted in Fauna, Guest blogger, Interesting, Rants & Raves on September 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
For two years I have watched what I believe to be the same group of woodpeckers interact at the suet feeder in my Cape Cod backyard. One species, the “downy woodpecker”, tends to feed most often at the suet feeder. You can tell a downy woodpecker’s gender by its coloration – the males have a red spot on their heads […]
Hummingbirds on Cape Cod
Posted in Fauna, Guest blogger, Interesting on September 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Until recently, I had no idea that there were hummingbirds in Massachusetts. But a hummingbird feeder and native plants Cardinal Flower and Bee Balm in my yard have attracted a pair of hummingbirds who hung out all summer long. These little guys (actually the ones I have seen in my yard are both female, unlike some other birds they don’t […]
Milkweed critters
Posted in Fauna, Flora, Interesting on August 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The sole reason for adding milkweed to my yard was to attract, and feed, butterflies. The orange flowered butterfly weed has been visited by scores of bees, flies and butterflies, and now that the bloom is waning it is evident that the plant has benefited as well – large seed pods are developing on the […]
Nothing familiar about it… Enallagma civile (familiar bluet damselfly)
Posted in Fauna, Interesting on August 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Despite the fact that the nearest pond is at least a mile or so away, I get many damselflies in my yard. Water is important because damselflies mate over water, either in flight or perched on reeds or other plants. After the mating ritual, the female damselfly lays her eggs on submerged vegetation. The eggs […]
Breadcrumb Bug
Posted in Fauna, Guest blogger, Interesting on July 25, 2011 | 9 Comments »
The diversity of the fauna in my backyard never ceases to amaze me, the other day I discovered a bug that was so well camouflaged, I thought it was a breadcrumb or a piece of lint. I was brushing it off my shirt when I realized the breadcrumb had legs. Hours of nature show watching […]
Confessions of An Unenthusiastic Bug Killer
Posted in Fauna, Guest blogger, Interesting, Rants & Raves on July 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
For the past two months I have been on a bug killing spree. I am guilty of being a very non-eco friendly person lately in my treatment of bugs and I am not happy about it.  I would definitely never make it in one of those religions where you’re forbidden to kill living things. First I committed premeditated […]