Summer passes in The yard

Its been really great to watch the yard mature over the summer. The pond I originally thought was a vernal pool, when constructed last April, has blossumed into thriving mini ecosystem. Tadpoles of all forms, diving Beetkles Whirlygigs, Odonates laying eggs in the newly planted Pickeralweed... A lot of fun to watch... All the rain was hopefully abnormal and next year it will perhaps be a vernal pool. But no complaints here.

The hundreds of Gray Tree Frog tadpoles have matured. Many have succumbed to the visiting Great Blue Heron or the Blue Jays and Crows that spent time near the waters edge. Now the survivers can be seen on any day one spends the time to look. The tiny green metamorphs slowly taking on adult coloration and growing noticably each week.

One of the great things about deciding to leave a section of the back yard unmowed is seeing the late summer asters, goldenrods and other wildflowers overgrowing the grasses. The second much more plentiful, brood of Pecks Skippers is flying. American Copper, Great-spangled Fritillary, and American lady butterflies are all taking advantage of the combination of planted ornamental and the wild flower patches. All this life has brought along a few predators as well. No less than 5 Argiope aurantia - Yellow Garden Spiders grace the patches of tall flowers, while wasps of many species including the a female Velvet Ant were observed this past Monday as friends Lynn Harper, Eric Eaton, Jen Carlno and Nancy Goodwin cruised the yard with Shelley and I. (all of us "Entomologist Mimics" as Jen would say) Striped Garden Caterpillar - Trichordestra legitima (above) was observed feeding on Asters as were several Cucullia asteroides - Goldenrod Hooded Owlet caterpillar (below). It never ceases to amaze me what wonderful new animals we can find so close to home 

dave@dhsmall.net
http://dhsmall.blogspot.com/