15-MAY-2014
Common green darners, mating (Anax junius)
A poor photo, but I include it because it shows our first odonate species of the year at the FWG. And not only have they arrived (they are a migratory species), but wasting no time, got down to the business of mating.
Bees on bloodroot
These are likely andrenid bees, and they are mating on a native bloodroot flower.
Bee fly (Bombylius major)
It is always interesting to record which species nectar on what plants, and Barry has photographed a small, very early emerging bee fly on the native bloodroot.
15-MAY-2014
Yellow warbler, female
The yellow warblers are back in numbers, and singing from all over the garden. They frequently nest in the old field, in raspberry thickets, as well as in the dogwood thickets north of the ash woods, and of course in other sites within the garden.
It was a great day for birds at the FWG, with the following warblers seen: yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, bay-breasted warbler, american redstart, magnolia warbler, black-throated green warbler, black-throated blue warbler, and chestnut-sided warbler. Heather was at the garden earlier the same day, and had at least another 3 or 4 warbler species including tennessee warbler. In addition to warblers, a brown thrasher, gray catbirds, red-tailed hawk, white-crowned sparrows, song sparrows, chipping sparrows, white-breasted nuthatch, american robin, cedar waxwing, house finch, mallard, northern cardinal, warbling vireo, red-eyed vireo, downy woodpecker, a very orange colourd scarlet tanager, green heron, black-capped chickadee, american kestrel, american goldfinch, rock pigeon, european starling, eastern kingbird, great crested flycatcher, crow, and tree swallow were also found.
Earlier, Heather added house wren, ruby-throated hummingbird and blue jay as well as some other species I can't remember offhand!
15-MAY-2014
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
A very beautiful native wildflower of woodlands. It makes a great garden plant for shady areas and does well, spreading slowly to fill in areas under shrubs and trees.
15-MAY-2014
Marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris)
Growing in the Backyard Garden pond, there is also a large stand in the ravine. These native flowers of swamps and wetlands, are in the Buttercup family, no surprise there, as the flowers are very similar to others in the Ranunculaceae.
15-MAY-2014
Virginia ctenucha moth cocoon (Ctenucha virginica)
This rather spiky creation is the cocoon of the ctenucha moth, which will be seen flying by about mid-June. The caterpillars, which are just the colour of the cocoon, use their hairs to create this structure. It is on a comfrey plant, so I hope the plant doesn't get cut down until after the moth has emerged. The moths themselves are very colourful day-flyers.
15-MAY-2014
Ruby-throated hummingbird
Heather photographed this momentarily still hummer, at the garden. They've just started coming back to the area, so keep your hummingbird feeders full!
15-MAY-2014
Spotted lady beetle (Coleomegilla maculata)
This lady beetle was deep inside a dandelion flower. The other day, I saw several Buprestid beetles inside a dandelion head, though not at the FWG.
15-MAY-2014
Spotted lady beetle (Coleomegilla maculata)
One of the first of the native lady beetles to be found, these very small, pinkish beetles are very common, and at this time of year, can be often found on dandelions.
15-MAY-2014
Mottled tortoise beetle (Deloyala guttata)
Both this very pretty tortoise beetle, and the striking golden tortoise beetle were seen today. The latter looks like a drop of pure molten gold!
15-MAY-2014
Two-spotted stinkbug (Cosmopepla bimaculata)
One of the more elegant, small (about 6mm) and very pretty stinkbugs, common in this region where they will feed on a diversity of plants. This one was on a comfrey plant.