At Home, Inside and Outside - RIM Park - Benjamin Park Trail

13 August 2022

The Backyard

     Often we take our morning coffee on the patio and we are never wanting for sightings all around us.

     Common Eastern Bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) have been spotted frequently this year and we take that as a good sign.

     The Phlox (genus Phlox) has been spectacular and has attracted its share of pollinators, quite apart from delighting us.

     A Nearctic Blue Mud-dauber Wasp (Chalybion californicum) is a frequent visitor to the bird bath to drink.

     A Summer Azure (Celestrina neglecta) found our backyard to its liking as it flitted from bloom to bloom.

     An Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) is a very handsome insect.

19 August, 2022

Inside

     For several years we have raised Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) indoors and this year was no exception; the pleasure is hard to resist!

     We were also able to set up our little friend, Meher, with a cage and six eggs so that she could experience the whole process, and learn a great deal about butterfly metamorphosis. 

     There were three pupae left and two hatched almost simultaneously leaving one chrysalis still hanging.

     The two recently hatched butterflies literally hung around inflating their wings and drying out. You can see the empty chrysalises behind them.

     What a handsome butterfly it is!

     When it came time to leave, one of them found Miriam's foot an attractive perch. That's a mark of honour in our book!

29 August, 2022

The Front of the House

     We opened the front door and a Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) was fluttering in the porch, and then landed for a picture.

     We do not leave a light on all night, but periodically moths seem to be attracted to the porch.

     On the garage door a European Crane Fly (Tipula paludosa) also posed nicely.

23 August, 2022

RIM Park, Waterloo, ON

     Attention to grasshoppers is well-rewarded; they are indeed attractive creatures. This Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) is an exceptionally fine specimen.

     We spotted this "nest" of some kind, although I am really not quite sure what it is. It doesn't look like a squirrel drey, but it doesn't resemble any bird's nest that I can think of either.

     Water droplets are nature's ephemeral jewelry, the very best bling of all. There is a rare beauty to it, and you know that when it disappears it will always return.

     We spotted a couple of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) at the very top of a tree, sallying out and flycatching with great success.

27 August, 2022

Benjamin Park Trail, Waterloo, ON

     The Goldenrod Leaf Beetle (Trirnabda canadensis) as the name implies feeds on a wide range of Solidago.

     It has been used in a number of studies to determine the beetle's response to the plant's volatile odours.

     We have really become quite attached to Common Water Striders (Aquarius remigis) and are enchanted by the patterns they make on the water. 

     People who pay them no attention are really missing a memorable natural tableau.

     I can say with confidence that the following wasp is a member of Ground Yellowjackets (genus Vespula), but I am unable to pin it down as to species.

     Miriam was stung on the hand recently and suffered for a couple of days, so it is wise not to antagonize these beauties!

     I often have difficulty identifying ferns, but Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis) is a species that gives me no trouble.

     I realize that I have come to the end of this post and have only one image of a bird in it. It's not that we have not seen them, we just have been unable to get pictures. On the Benjamin Park Trail, for example, we watched an American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) for several minutes, but it barely stopped moving and was in a dense thicket.

     I will have to do better next time!