A few more items for the family field guide ...
Bookworm noticed a tiny butterfly feasting on a fallen tree blossom. We have no idea what kind it is, but it was only an inch-long in length. Any ideas?
The boys found this branch lying on the ground in the woods. All the bark had been stripped off and there were all these interesting marks all over it, like little pathways (click for a better look). There were also circular holes here and there. We guessed possibly the paths had been made by insects and the holes by woodpeckers?
And, if you remember the picture of the pinky red spruce buds taken about a month ago ... well, the boys have been bringing them in to me now and again; on a whim I tossed one in a cup full of water last night and the tiny cone went from this ...
to this ...
So of course we ran out to check Birdy's branches and sure enough they were even more heavily laden with buds, but the buds had grown significantly in just a few weeks ...
And they did this when we shook them ...
Would this be a cloud of pollen, perhaps? Do spruce trees make pollen?
O.K., dare I ask what this creepy thing might be? We found it in the dirt and it doesn't move.
And speaking of creepy ...
You might want to click on the picture above for a better view (then again, you might not). They are the grubs my husband dug up as he prepared the raspberry bed this weekend ...
Yes, that's a problem, but one we wish to handle organically. And after patiently explaining to the nice man at the nursery we really would not use anything toxic, we came home with a box of beneficial nematodes. Will these things work? (There's 7 million of them so they should.)
For the time being, dh dumped the grubs in an empty birdbath which he set out on the lawn ~ a clear invitation to an avian buffet. But a few hours later, the only takers were ...
... the ants! Yep, these industrious creatures carried the grubs off one by one, in an efficient trail across the lawn. I have more pictures of their progress but I think this one above serves my purpose well enough ...
And to continue with news on the bug front ...
After this sand pail filled up with a few days worth of rain, we were quite surprised to find a small colony of dragonflies had hatched during that time! How quickly do dragonfly eggs gestate, anyway? Some were clearly not moving, but several were still wriggling, so the boys dumped out the water and set them free. A few apparently survived, because the next day two appeared suddenly on Bookworm's arm ... homing dragonflies perhaps?
And in a strange twist of fate, just the day before we had been watching a rather large full-grown dragonfly zipping about the yard. It was the first one we had spotted this year. But moments later we watched, horrified, as a Blue Jay snagged this poor thing out from midair and then snacked on him on a nearby branch.
I know it's hard to tell, but let me assure you, it was indeed the dragonfly. We sat there stunned, not quite sure how to respond to this unpleasant turn of events. We finally settled on the simple yet profound ~ that's life ~ but for future reference, how do you spell ewwww?
So let me wrap this up with a final, and much more pleasant photo for your perusal ...
This is a white bushy wildflower growing out by the edge of the woods. We're not sure what it is ... We spent some time today sketching it for our nature notebooks and as we got in close, we spied a really neat bug on a leaf (click for a better view). Oops, there I go again ... right back to bugs! But, hey, any guesses?
I'm running on too long here, so I will wrap up our latest Nature Notes for now. But do stay tuned for a future post about a courting pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds we observed under the cherry tree the other day ... lots of pictures to share! :)
