Bernie Lohr
@blohr
Sensory ecologist, animal behaviorist, evolutionary biologist by day. Puzzle solver, game player, classical music appreciator, SF/F reader, and film enthusiast by night. I mostly work on birdsong and avian hearing. I.e. dinosaur communication.
Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina), the native species, on milkweed in the front yard. Glad to be seeing more of these.
Pandora sphinx moth (Eumorpha pandorus). This one got in the house (and was gently released back out).
One of my grad students is doing an experiment with artificial perches in grassland habitat to examine their effects on grasshopper sparrow territories. Of course, grasshopper sparrows aren't the only ones using those perches...
Yesterday our bluebirds fledged. There were three. Four if you count the egg that remained in the old nest after the house sparrows evicted them. They probably fledged a day or two early, and had some trouble flying, though by the end of the day at least one had made it high up into the trees.
Freya fascinated by the splashdown. Perhaps wondering if there was any good food to be had on the far side of the moon...
While we wait for the next warm spell (this weekend?) here's a video clip from the last one (> 35 wood frogs, 3-4 American toads, though the toads weren't calling yet at the time of this clip). The pond we built is definitely paying dividends. Hoping they'll all start calling again soon.
We've been waiting > 5yrs to see one of these in the yard. The native Carolina mantis. We've dispatched dozens of invasive Chinese mantis egg cases with the hope that we'd eventually get these natives back. And we finally did. On the car (we gently placed it in the mistflowers).
Another one. The actual emergence happened in less than 30 sec. I wasn't quite ready for that (so didn't catch the very beginning). Hopefully, with the next one.
Over the last few days the monarchs that consumed our paltry 4 common milkweed plants (we have GOT to figure out a way to grow more...) have been emerging. We still have a few caterpillars on the swamp milkweed/butterfly weed out back. We wish them the best of luck on the long trip ahead of them!
The pond flowers are mostly finished and going to seed now (especially the swamp milkweed and butterfly weed). We've still got plenty of butterflies and frogs while the weather's still warm, though.
Over the last couple of weeks, monarchs have taken full advantage of our few common milkweeds. They rapidly stripped them bare and we've been acquiring more leaves to supplement the remaining caterpillars. The first few should be eclosing by the end of the week (hopefully devoid of the OE parasite).
Your daily reminder that despite all the other horrific things he's trying to distract you with, Donald Trump is also really bad for the economy.
A week ago the wood frogs started. Tonight, an American toad joined them. We're looking forward to more toads in the coming days. The pond is paying dividends.
<sigh> I don't have a lot of time for extracurriculars, but I suspect I'll be doing a lot of these in the next few years, here in Annapolis, and down in DC...
A little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) seed landed on and decided to grow in our driveway right in front of the garage door. I haven't had the heart to pull it out. Yet. (Unfortunately, those roots could do some damage, so I'm guessing it'll happen at some point).