An Exploration of Nature
An interesting fly in both appearance and behavior. Something like the “Brown Cowbird” of insects, it will lay its eggs in the nest of wasps. The unsuspecting wasp stocks the nest with provisions for its own larva, but this fly’s larva gets fed instead.
As the name implies, this is a moth that bears a passing resemblance to a hummingbird when seen with the naked eye. The wings beat very fast, just like a hummingbird, and I was fortunate to capture an image where they could be clearly seen.
My wife spotted four juvenile green herons at the end of the fishing dock on Bath Pond. Here is a picture of two of them. At first glance I thought they were American Bittern, but the body posture and the yellow around the eye confirm them as Green Heron.
These identifications should all be taken with a grain of salt, which is to say– the best that I could do.
I’m not qualified to identify most dragonflies; there are too many species (over three-thousand) and many that look very much alike. However, I’m fairly confident that this is a Blue Dasher male, possibly a fresh hatching because the eyes don’t look fully developed.
In general, butterflies have been few and far between this year. Many people have noticed, and there is speculation on causes from the unusually cold spring all the way to the nefarious “climate change.” So far I’ve only seen one of these in my yard. (And yes, that’s Poison Ivy that the Fritallary is resting on.)
I can only barely see this comet with the naked eye, and I would never have been able to find it without the help of binoculars. An image of the comet I obtained, and also an image of the Moon and Venus from the morning before.
Good luck pronouncing the name of this moth. The black wings are usually covering up the beautiful metallic blue body; fortunately he was stretching when I took this photo.
These birds are masters of hovering in mid-air, waiting for a tasty insect to come along.
This is the Spined Soldier Bug, but in the nymph stage. A very colorful nymph! It was resting, and perhaps feeding, on my zinnias. Unlike some stink bugs, this species is considered to be beneficial, and when it feeds on plant nectar it is non-damaging to the plant.
