Goldenrod Crab Spider
Watering this evening, stopped to take pic of a rose on my wife’s small rosebush, and caught this little guy using it as a dinner table. Their white coloration is apparently difficult for pollinators to see against the flowers. Quite a feat, catching supper 3 times your size.
That’s a great pic!
Walked through a Lake Erie waterfront nature preserve yesterday and saw two deer (the head of one of which was perfectly framed by greenery as it nibbled away), two chipmunks, about a half-dozen cormorants, several birds I didn’t recognize or could hear but not see, and quite a few seagulls.
Last night, at dusk, a couple of the cubs were out in the yard. One scarpered when it saw me in the window. This one gave me a thoughtful look before sauntering off.
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Cool!
On my morning sojourn with the cat in the backyard, she apparently decided to take on a hummingbird. I didn’t see the beginning of the altercation, but when I heard the bird, I looked over and saw Roxy looking like she was planning a leap in the air and the hummingbird feinting at her aggressively. I tightened up her leash so she couldn’t jump, and the bird made a few victory passes before flying off. Of course, between controlling the cat and scrambling for my phone, I wasn’t able to get a photo, much less a video, but it was impressive! If the size difference was just a little less extreme, my money would have been on the bird.
Measuring ferocity per milligram, it’s a toss-up between hummingbirds and betta fish.
I’ve had hummingbirds literally get in my face when I go to put more nectar in the feeder. They are nature’s neighborhood bullies.
I call that “lodging a complaint.”
Rather like some chihuahuas then.
When I was walking the dogs in the woods behind my house yesterday, I noticed that in some areas the plants all had some kind of coating on them. It’s almost like glitter when the sun hits it. It was on all plants - ferns, bushes, low growing plants, etc. I can’t figure out what it is. There is no spraying for bugs in our area. It’s far enough from the houses that it can’t be from a lawn service. As I walked, I noticed that there would be an area that the plants wouldn’t have anything on the leaves and then 20’ ahead there it would be again. Here’s a pic. Like I said, in the sun it sparkles.
Here’s a better pic.
Walking around a small lake near the University of Maryland a few days ago at sunset we saw what seems to be a resident beaver:
There were also beautiful swamp rose mallow blooming
as well a fair number of bats. Bats are cool.
Three kits (well, I think they’re all kits; they all look pretty small) wandering down my driveway just now at a few minutes before noon. Credit to doorbell cam.
I like how the final kit scrambles right up a 3’ wall.
On review, I think the first animal is a parent. The kits are getting big - hard to tell the difference.
I saw an unusual butterfly on our abelia today. It was hard as hell to get a decent pic of as it flitted about so much, but I did manage one:
They are called Sleepy Orange(s), of all things. Certainly not because of their behavior, but due to markings on their forewings, supposedly. It’s a tropical butterfly that sometimes works its way up into our area.
We sat by our pond last night feeding the fish and ducks. From nearby trees we heard an angry belted kingfisher.
He complained about our presence repeatedly. He wanted to grab a few fish, but wanted us gone first. We hung out for another 30 minutes so that all the floating fish food was eaten, then left.
I saw a blue heron fly up out of the creek in my woods a few days ago. I’ve seen them once every 4 or 5 years around here.
I posted a picture of a turtle in this month’s photo competition thread. He was about the size of a football. Yesterday I took a picture of his wee cousin, probably the size of a tennis ball.
Looks like snail snot in the first pic. Not uncommon around here. The second isn’t quite the same but I do believe it is tiny animal/insect produced.
@Dung_Beetle He sure is a cute, angry little fella.