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Nature in a Nutshell: June 2006

It's been over a month since our last nature catch-up, and though all these pictures started out as posts of their own, time (as usual) got away from me! So here's our June recap. Please do leave a comment if you can help us with any of our "mysteries" (or just to say hi!) and please click on the thumbnails for a better view.

Thanks! Have a great weekend! And don't forget Field Day next week!

Nature_nut1_1 

Subject: Odd yellow substance dotting the bark mulch.

Remarks: We find these globs in the planting beds every year and yet, every year we forget and it surprises us! What makes this stuff - bugs? fungus? I didn't dare touch it so I can't describe its texture, and there was no noticeable odor, though I didn't get too close. (Some naturalist I make, LOL!) It was gone this morning ...

Boys' Take: "Last year we found a strange yellow splotch in our yard ... and now its back."

Nature_nut2

Subject: Mysteriously emptied birdfeeder.

Remarks: As you might recall we have been visited by a family of raccoons over the past week or so. Usually the feeders are knocked down, dragged away or missing completely. This, though, is a stumper. This feeder was at least half full at sundown. We found it the next morning, fully intact, but all the seed was gone! Now, I know raccoons are clever, but how did they manage that???

Boys' Take: "The raccons somehow broke into our feeder and stole all the seed! There's just one word for this - madness!"

Nature_nut3

Subject: Some pretty butterfly (or perhaps moth).

Remarks: I took this picture on one of my morning garden walks. I followed this pale lovely creature from flower to flower, trying to capture the tiny green dots inside its wings, but this is as close as I got.

Boys' Take: "Our mama went outside this morning and saw a strange butterfly. It was white with green splotches in it. We don't know what it is. But do you?"

Nature_nut5

Subject: Largest spider we've ever found in our house.

Remarks: Dh and boys found this guy while I was out food shopping. I was glad to hear they took pictures; not nearly as glad they saved him under a plastic cup for me to see when I got home. He was ginormous and apparently setting up house - see the strands? With as much benevolence as we could muster, we carried him into the woods and let him go. He looks like a Huntsman Spider, but I believe that species is not common in the northeast. Brown, furry, lots of eyes (click for a better view). Any ideas?

Boys' take: (Crackerjack says) "I was like - goodness gracious!! When all of a sudden I head a loud eeeeek!!! It was Bookworm screaming! We came and saw that there was a giant spider on the door! (Bookworm responds) "This is a weirdo spider that we found in between the two sliding doors one day. We think it must have crawled inside one day when it was open and then we closed it without noticing."

Nature_nut7

Subject: Female cardinal singing in evening light.

Remarks: We have quite a few cardinal pairs in our area. This female seemed young - all fluffy and plump. We have enjoyed watching their courting - often the male feeds the female who splays her feathers and bends low at his offering. Their songs are just amazing and more varied than we realized.

Boys' Take: "We have a tree out front [in which] every year we see two cardinals - both juvenile, one male, one female. They sit there together and then fly off. We think its their mating tree."

Nature_nut8

Subject: A damselfly resting on a hollyhock leaf.

Remarks: We always get lots of dragonflies in our yard, but this creature I believe is actually a damselfly. According to Bookworm, you can tell the difference by how it holds its wings (dragons are held out, damsels, held back). The color was just intense - electric blue body and red eyes!

Boys' Take: (Crackerjack) "Mama took pictures of this damsfly and then we talked all about it. (Bookworm) "I even saw the same one another day. You can tell the difference also by how it flies. A dragonfly's wings look like a blur of gray, while a damselfly's wings look more like a butterfly."

Nature_nut9

Subject: Small brown caterpillars.

Remarks: This morning we found these small brown caterpillars inside an old sandbox, along with a colony of earwigs - ew! The boys were convinced these little guys were in serious peril, earwigs being carnivorous and all, (double ew!) so we rescued them and moved them to a nearby tree (though I didn't point out the hungry robin perched nearby). We think they are some kind of caterpillar, but a few images online suggest they might be cutworms. None of our field guides show anything like them!

Boys' Take: "This is a brown caterpillar that we saved from a nest of spiders, ants and earwigs, all of which were very vicious and would eat it."

Nature_nut10

Subject: Big old toad.

Remarks: Last month we found a cute little brown toad in the yard - well this guy must be his big brother! He was hiding in a shed dh took apart. He didn't seem to mind me at all, crouched under there as I was, taking his picture admist all the pill bugs and spiders. As you can see, he just kept his eyes on me the whole time ...

Boys' Take: "This guy is a big toad we found in our shed. We heard some toads under our addition and we usually find some around the yard once in a while. We've also found several other toads. We can sometimes hear the toads clinking around in the gutters."

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So much nature to watch, so little time to blog!

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