THE EARLY DAYS OF JULY 2014

7-7-2014

The lab grounds has a cluster of "ghost trees" along the edge of a pine and mixed hardwood patch of woodland. These dead trees have numerous woodpecker holes.  This is a Red-headed Woodpecker that stopped to perch before flying on to its nest in a taller dead pine tree nearby.

The adult Red-headed Woodpecker brings a food item to the nest which is at least forty, maybe fifty feet off the ground.

7-7-2014

Also along the edge of this patch of woods, I found this Bull Thistle (also called Spear Thistle).  Although this plant is considered a serious weed by many, it also provides food for a number of native birds, particularly the beautiful American Goldfinch (see link).  Goldfinches also use the downy part of the seed as a nesting material.

7-7-2014

My lab colleague, Ann, came looking for me today because she had seen a large moth resting on one of the large second floor lab windows.  Soon the moth fluttered to the patio below and landed on a bench.  We hurried down to take a few pictures of this Royal Walnut Moth (also called a Regal Moth).  Its larvae is the harmless but scary looking caterpillar known as the Hickory Horned Devil (see link).  I tried to move the moth from the patio area into nearby shrubs, but it took off and flew strongly away from the lab.  At about 150 feet from the lab and about 60 feet off the ground, it was suddenly met midair by a Northern Mockingbird.  I was momentarily saddened by this turn of events until I saw that the mockingbird careened off in one direction while the moth climbed further still in the opposite direction and landed in the top of a tall pine tree at the edge of the lab grounds. This moth was too big for the mockingbird to eat or to take to its nestlings which I found a few days later.

7-10-2014

As I walked the perimeter of the State Lab property checking the bluebird boxes, I noticed a pair of Northern Mockingbirds moving around in the top of a young bald cypress tree.  One bird had an insect in its beak. 

About 25 feet away in a small bush, I found this nest of four mockingbird nestlings just 18 inches off the ground.  I am guessing that they are about four or five days old.

As I left work in the early evening, I found a second mockingbird nest in a maple tree in the parking lot in the front of the lab.  The nest was about 7 feet off the ground and about two feet out from the trunk in the fork of a limb.  It was too high up for me to take pictures.  Both parents scolded me sharply, but did not fly at me as they often do when humans are near their nest.

7-11-2014

The next day I visited the nest in the bush again.  After taking this picture, I moved about a 100 feet away and watched for a while. One of the parent birds hunted insects on the open ground near the nest, raising and lowering its wings to show a sudden flash of white feathers. This behavior can cause hidden insects to move or fly so that the mockingbird can find them. 

 (see link)

7-17-2014

Today when I visited the mockingbird nest, I found just three well feathered nestlings.  Perhaps one of them has already fledged.

7-18-2014

When I first peeked in the mockingbird nest today, there were two nestlings.  By the time I took the second picture, only one bird remained, as the other little mockingbird slipped out the back side of the nest and flew.  The nest was empty by the next morning.

(Northern Mockingbird info)

7-11-2014

Danny, another lab friend, came to get me today to report a stunned bird in the open patio area at the back of the building where it had struck a large window.  This beautiful bird is a female Blue Grosbeak (sometimes described as cinnamon in color).  You can see that it has a heavy beak which it uses to crack or crush large seeds.  Its beak is similar in size to the beak of the familiar Northern Cardinal (Cardinal info), to which it is related.  The male Blue Grosbeak that I saw earlier in the summer was vivid blue with chestnut brown colored wing bars. (Blue Grosbeak info)

7-13-2014

The grandsons are coming!  So I began trying to set up a temporary moth observation area that I call the Moth Pit.  It is a space that is surrounded on three sides by a three foot retaining wall and the fourth side by a basement wall and doorway.  Above it are part of our bedroom and Peggy's study.  I tried it out on Sunday night before the kids arrived.  I did not get the white sheets put up, but I turned on my new mercury vapor lamp and a black light to attract the insects.  The few moths that showed up were perched on dark painted siding and the pictures did not turn out well.  The first customer was this inch long click beetle. When they find themselves on their back, they are known for their ability to click the two segments of their body in a way that launches them into the air and back onto their feet.  The larval stage of this and other click beetles is called a wireworm. 

 (info on click beetle larva or wireworm)

7-13-2014

Another guest was this very small long-horned caddisfly.  I don't know much about caddisflies, but this one had enormously long antennae, more than twice the length of its body.

7-15-2014

The boys have arrived!  On their first full day, my wife and our daughter took the three grandsons out to Prairie Ridge EcoStation for a "Herp Hunters" walk.  My wife and the youngest grandson decided to attend a mud-pie making class, while the twins went on the walk with my daughter and me.  We saw a many interesting things, but no herps until Ms Mandy, our leader, turned up a couple Green Treefrogs that were hiding out in "frog pipes" that were placed in strategic locations around the pond. Notice the treefrog's sticky suction cup shaped toe pads and his yellow "racing stripe".  And his eyes are so beautiful.  Ms Mandy also had a few containers of tadpoles and froglets to share with the kids.

(info on Green Treefrogs)

7-15-2014

After the Herp Hunters walk we stopped by the butterfly garden to look around.  Right away the boys were looking for butterflies!

7-15-2014

Soon they were treated to a beautiful Monarch feeding on a purple cone-flower!

7-16-2014

An Eastern Tailed-Blue butterfly sips nectar from a Partridge Pea blossom at the State Lab.  Their caterpillars also feed on the leaves of this plant as well as clover and other plants in the pea family.

(info on Eastern Tailed-Blue butterfly)

Late April to Early July 2014 - Wonders of Nature Outside My Door

The Earth abounds with natural treasures. 

 It doesn't take long to find a few of them if we are just a little observant.

The past couple months have zoomed by with only a lengthy post (Brown-headed Nuthatches) for my friend Judy who passed away last week after battling pancreatic cancer for several months.  But I was seeing lots of other things, too.  So here is my attempt to catch up.

4-26-2014 

In a nest box in the backyard I found these six newly hatched Carolina Chickadee babies in a nest of moist green moss that was lined with soft, soft fur from perhaps a neighborhood dog.

5-1-2014

This male Crane Fly (Tipula species) was hanging out on the back door of the lab, seemingly all leggy and clumsy like I was in junior high school.  Well, now, too, except a lot fatter!

5-2-2014

The baby Carolina Chickadees are about 7 days old and are starting to get their black caps.  Maybe they are dreaming of graduating from the nest  in 10 days or so and going on to flight school.

5-2-2014

A nest of five baby Eastern Bluebirds at the lab (Box #2) are piled on top of each other and just two days from flying.

5-4-2014

I found this dried out, flattened, and tailless Ground Skink in the Bluebird nest the day after the young birds had fledged.  Later in the month I found another skink in a second bluebird nest (Box #5) on the other side of the laboratory campus.  Never thought of sweet, gentle bluebirds as reptile hunters. 
 (see link)

5-7-2014

Peggy found this Copperhead hanging out beside the house late one afternoon.  It definitely blends in with its surroundings.  It got moved down the road to a more secluded area.  Many safety precautions were taken!
(see link)

5-9-2014

The six little Carolina Chickadees are looking like adults now.  They stayed in the nest a few more days and fledged on 5-12-2014.  They're off to flight school!

5-11-2014

This little Eastern Worm Snake turned up in a pile of wheat straw.  Notice its two tone brownish gray above and pink below.  This is quite a gentle snake and never offers to bite.

But it will drag the pointy end of its tail across your hand as a defense mechanism.  It rather tickles!
(see link)

5-14-2014

A pitcher plant's mouth reminds me of Kermit the Frog.  They both eat bugs!

5-15-2014

This very small long-horned beetle showed up this morning on the back door of the State Lab.  The body is about 1/4" long and the antennae are nearly twice that.  The species name is Hyperplatys aspersa. 
(see link)

5-16-2014

I found this male Yellow-bellied Pond Slider crossing the road between the Fairgrounds and Carter-Finley Stadium. Check out his very long toenails!  I like the beautiful yellow striping and his very pretty eye!

5-27-2014

A mud dauber decided to nest in one of the bluebird nest boxes I put up at the lab.  Above it a paper wasp started her nest which hangs from the ceiling.  The mud dauber builds one chamber at a time.  It catches and paralyzes a spider which it puts in the chamber.  It lays its egg on the spider and then closes up the chamber before beginning to shape another cylinder.   

5-27-2014

In another nest box at the lab a family of Carolina Chickadees built their mossy nest.  I provided many of the boxes with peat cups to make it easier to observe the growing babies.  The female Chickadee laid five eggs but only these three hatched.

5-30-2014

Another moth visitor to the back door of the State Lab is this delicate looking Banded Tussock Moth also known as the Pale Tiger Moth.
(see link)
and
(see link to caterpillar)

5-30-2014

This Virginian Tiger Moth is difficult to distinguish from the Agreeable Tiger Moth.  The third picture in this series shows the orange markings on the top of its abdomen that are characteristic of the Virginian.

This is a view of the Virginian Tiger Moth's underside.  It is also called the Yellow Woolybear Moth.
(see Yellow Woolybear)

This view of the Virginian Tiger Moth shows the yellow-orange markings on top of its abdomen.  

(see link)

6-2-2014
It took me a while to figure out this insect.  I searched through crickets and grasshoppers and their kin, and discovered that this is an American Shieldback Katydid.  The long ovipositor indicates that this is a female.
(see link)

6-3-2014
In Box #6 at the State Lab the first two of five Eastern Bluebirds hatched this morning.  Ultimately only one more would hatch.  The three young Bluebirds flew from the nest seventeen days later on 6-20-2014.  At the State Lab we have had five Eastern Bluebird nestings and a Carolina Chickadee nesting.  At home we've had two Eastern Bluebird nestings, a Carolina Chickadee nesting, a Carolina Wren nesting, a Brown-headed Nuthatch nesting, and a failed nest of Tufted Titmice.

6-5-2014

In State Lab Box # 2 Eastern Bluebirds have laid their second clutch of five eggs.

6-5-2014

Just behind Box #2 a Killdeer has laid her four eggs right on the ground in the mulch that was piled there after clearing the ground for the State Lab.

6-5-2014 

The third Eastern Bluebird nestling has hatched in Box #6.

6-9-2014

 The four Eastern Bluebird nestlings in Box #2 have hatched.

6-9-2014 

Back to Box #6 the three Eastern Bluebird nestlings are six days old and showing their wing feather sheaths.

6-12-2014

A female Eastern Box Turtle ambled across the area behind the State Lab's loading dock.  Angela Truelove pointed her out to me, and we admired her beautiful colors.

6-13-2014

After a light sprinkling of rain, the mother Killdeer's outline can be seen in the mulch where she had left her nest for a moment to distract me with her broken wing act.

(see video of "broken wing" act)

6-23-2014

A Killdeer egg with a very pointy end.

 6-24-2014

This male Common True Katydid sat for a picture on my dusty shoe this morning.

(see link)

6-25-2014

A young Tulip Poplar sapling has leaves made lacy by a horde of hungry Japanese Beetles.  A growing flock of juvenile Starlings that have fledged from the cavities in the security lights towering above the State Lab parking lot have been seen feasting on the beetles as they chase the metallic green morsels across the grassy areas and sidewalks.  Perhaps we will be audience to a murmuration of Starlings this autumn.

(watch video of a murmuration of Starlings)

6-26-2014

The four Eastern Bluebirds in Box #2 have been dining on Wild Black Cherries as evidenced by the numerous cherry pits in the nest.  Today is their last full day in the nest as they will fledge tomorrow.

6-26-2014

In Box #5 Eastern Bluebirds have made their second nest and three of their four eggs have hatched.  The two fuzzy chicks hatched on 6-25-2014 and the "wet" one hatched today.

6-27-2014

Randall helped me identify this flower that showed up in our front yard for the first time this year.  This is a Carolina Wild Petunia.  I had never seen or heard of it before.

6-29-2014

Peggy found another treasure today and called me to take pictures.  This is probably a Cork-lid Trapdoor Spider, or a Ummidia species per BugGuide.net

 (see link)

Trapdoor spiders build an underground burrow that is lined with silk.  The spiders fit the burrow with a cork-like "trapdoor" constructed of silk, soil, and vegetation.  They lie in wait for an insect to pass by.  Click the link below to see what happens.

(see video of a trapdoor spider catching its prey)

Also interesting is that though this spider appears to have five pairs of legs (ten), the front pair are actually modified mouth-parts called pedipalps.  The size of these pedipalps indicated that this is a male spider.  The male spider uses these structures to transfer sperm from himself to his mate.

The spider's cephalothorax is shaped a bit like Darth Vader's head.  I have read that these spiders are harmless (that is, not venomous), but others say they can deliver a painful bite if handled roughly.  Fortunately, I must have been gentle enough.

7-1-2014

A male Eastern Bluebird stands guard on top of Box #2 at the State Lab.  His four young fledged a few days ago and they are in the woods nearby.  This box was home to two nests of five eggs each.  All five babies fledged from the first nesting.  Only four eggs hatched of the second clutch and all four babies fledged.

7-2-2014

A Carolina Wren has recently built her nest in an old pottery birdhouse jug from Seagrove.  She has four eggs so far and lots of plastic lining the interior of the nest.

7-2-2014

This afternoon, I heard a couple birds behind the lab making fussy chipping sounds.  I went back to the lab for my binoculars so I could see what species of bird was in distress.  To my surprise (and delight) I found it was a male Blue Grosbeak with a juvenile male which was brown like an adult female, but had blue on its head.  As I investigated to see if their nest was nearby, I discovered the source of their agitation.  What appeared to be a Black Rat Snake or the Black Racer I'd seen in the area several weeks ago, turned out to be a convincing edge of an erosion control fabric that was mostly buried at the back edge of the lab's property.  If you look closely, you can see the frayed edge near the middle of the picture.  I'm sorry I didn't have a camera that could capture a picture of the Blue Grosbeaks.

7-2-2014

I have seen two species of Hairstreak Butterflies.  This one is the Red-banded Hairstreak that I found at home.  

 (see link)

7-2-2014

I bought this carnivorous Sundew plant at the State Farmer's Market a month ago and it appears to be adding baby plants already.  Watch out insects!

7-3-2014

Though not a great picture, this leaf-like creature was lying beside a refuse container behind the lab this morning.  It looks to be a Large Maple Spanworm Moth.  Its larva is one of the inchworms or measuring worms.

(see link of adult)

(see link of inch worm)