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A Tiger Beetle
This one, the Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata), which I love to find along the trails up here. A lovely color. Metallic, emerald green, though some lean toward a blue-green. A beneficial insect, consuming insects and other arthropods that are pests in our gardens and woods. _____________________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily…
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Blueberry Buds
Since autumn they’ve been waiting there at the ends of the branches. Waiting through the chill of winter. Biding time till spring. Now that spring is nearly here the buds are swelling. Oodles of buds. Blueberry bushes in front of the cabin, in front of the woodshop, in front of the vegetable garden. With just…
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An INCH!
Snow this morning. First a nice slow gentle falling. Then lots of graupel that made the ground look like it was covered by exploded bits of styrofoam coolers. Then snow, snow, snow. Lots of snow falling from the sky. It covered the ground with a serious, measurable, inch of snow. The most snow we’ve had…
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Woods Awash With Soft Yellow-green
The woods are full of small, soft yellow-green blooms now. Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is showing off its flowers. Spicebush, the larval host plant of the Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) is a perennial shrub that often reaches to 15 feet, sometimes 20 feet. It is dioecious, meaning there are only male or female flowers on a…
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Double Surprise Day
The delightful spring weather called to me today. Called me to come out. To walk around. Something that I love to do. And when I’m out I am always looking for something new, something that will reinforce my love of nature. Big or small, there is always something out there. Most of the time, that…
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Prickly Pear Cactus
Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia). Tucson, Arizona. Native only to the Americas, including a couple species that are native to the East Coast of the United States. __________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!
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One Crazy Winter
Ice on a vernal pool. February 13, 2018. Perhaps a normal winter. What IS normal these days? February 10, 2023. I miss seeing ice. I won’t even mention my feelings about snow. You probably already know. I miss going out for a walk in the woods and not thinking about spraying myself with an insect…
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Spiderwort
Today a few leaves of Spiderwort (Tradescantia) were spotted emerging from the soil. It’s native to eastern North America. Come May, blooms will be gracing the garden, to the delight of bees. _____________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!
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¡Por Fin!
Or, in English, FINALLY! Freezing rain during the night, ending with nearly an inch of snow over everything. Here, an image from this afternoon. I am pleased as Punch! _____________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!
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Ruffle Lichen
Lichens, such beautiful and intriguing things. Not a plant, not an animal. A combination of two organisms, a fungus, and a alga or cyanobacterium. This particular one, Salted Ruffle Lichen (Parmotrema crinitum), found growing on a tree branch. _____________________________________________________ If you would like to receive my daily blog posts, sign up here!