April 14, 2024

It was wonderful to watch the first blog (now on Google Sites) almost put itself together!   I had been so trepidatious (if there is such a word) but watching it seem to design itself has been a-MAZING!  This first background picture came from a photo that seemed to have taken itself.  The second was actually composed by this big lot of fishes.  

How can nature produce such amazing Fishes?  Most of them are descendants of my first pair, Seymour (a Fantail Calico) and her mate, a red  and white Comet named Audrey.  The two of them were named for the main characters in one of my favorite movies, Little Shop of Horrors, or so I seem to recall.  Please note that my memory is not what it once was.   Anyway, now there are a few dozen Fishes, all in the family of Carp.  Here is a picture from May 16, 2020.  You can see a half-dozen or ten fishes.  The ones being chased are females, the chasers males.

Those Fishes!  What energy!   Let's put it this way.    That  Animal Kingdom!  You have to get up early in the morning to be out there and see the family party.  By 10 am it will be all over except that soon there will be baby Fishes all over the place.  What a smorgasbord!  Of those, only a few will survive to continue the species.    Let's go now and see what creatures are out there in April 2024.    We start with the Ants as usual.     Number 1 is a Nearctic Carpenter Ant,  number 2 an American Winter Ant (Prenolepis imparis) ,  and last is a member of genus Crematogaster of Acrobat Ants and Cocktail Ants.   There are a number of Ant experts who help us novices a lot when it comes to identifying AND explaining phenomena.  For instance, go to https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/109303234  to watch a couple of experts answer a question from a novice.

Let's see some of the Beetles from so far this Spring.  First,  a Click Beetle.  You can see the deep crease between head and thorax, where the beetle can click open or closed.   The second one is in the  Genus Contacyphon.   And third, an Asian Lady Beetle.  The last two appeared in the first blog, Martha's Backyard Blog.

Maybe there are a few more Bugs.   Here is some kind of Stink Bug, seen on April 9. Then another kind, seen on April 8.  Then an un-identified one.    It looks like some kind of Treehopper, and was seen on April 4.  

A Stink Bug that ordinarily would come back as "Stink Bug", but this one was actually identified by an expert Bugologist as "Dusky Stink Bug" and was seen on February 27.   The second is in the same genus as the first, namely Euschistus, seen on February 9.  Third is a "True Bug", and was seen during the winter.

Why so many Bugs?   There are just so many of them and they are particularly fond of the weeds in my "garden".   Some of them are carnivores, like the Zelus Assassin Bugs like these.  These first two have a problem.  They both are hard to pin down, because they look superficially like Zelus tetracanthus.  But some Z. luridus can look a bit like them.    The first was seen on March 6,  the second on March 5.  Third was seen on March 15 in a dark part of the shop wall.

More Bugs.  First is a Treehopper in the genus Erythridula.  We are going to be seeing many relatives of this one.  The second may be one relative, and so may number 3.

That just about does it for the Bugs we've seen up to now in Spring 2024.  I hope you didn't mind seeing a lot of repeats, but I wanted to show you how many forms Bugs can take.   You'll be seeing more, I promise!  Lets see what we found in Flies for the same period. This first one is a mosquito or midge, seen April 13.  I don't recognize the next one, seen on April 8.  The third is a Fungus Gnat or Gall Midge.

This first little fly is in the Subfamily Orthocladiinae (April 7).  Second is one of the Gall and Forest Midges (April 8).  The third is a Fly (April 5), but which?

Here is a Fungus Gnat in the genus Leia (March 26).   Second is a  member of Gall and Forest Midges (Family Cecidomyiidae) (April 6).  Third is the Narrow-headed Marsh Fly, Helophilus fasciatus (April 13).  At last! A fly caught in its natural habitat on the rocks beside the Pond.  This Fly lays its eggs in the Pond - the larvae live on pond refuse.   What a useful (as well as lovely) Fly! 

Let's leave the Flies for a while and move to Lepidoptera.   Here are a few caterpillars of Geometrid Moths, or Loopers, so called for their habit of looping along the wall. 

Haven't seen an adult Moth in some time, but these three different-looking Loopers tell  us that they're on their way when it warms up a bit more still.  But ONE Butterfly is out already - the Red Admiral!  Here they are sitting by the Pond.    I have seen two of them out at the same time so am convinced there are more than one.

Some frogs.   in picture 3, the frog on top has a somewhat smaller eardrum than the one on the bottom,  making it probably a female.  I happen to know that the one on the bottom is a male.  He is the one I call Tonguesy.

I think it's about time to start looking out for Toads - usually this comes in April or May.   What a raucous week we'll have indeed!   But I haven't heard any Toad trills yet so let's make sure to enjoy the Fishes.  Soon we'll be seeing scenes like that one we opened the blog with.  Scenes of love among the fishes.  After all, that's what keeps the cycle of life going.  So here come some of the Fishes.  These fishes are full of life and colors.  Now that it's been about 50 F in the pond, I've begun to feed them at least once a day.  I've also begun to run the splashing waterfall all day.  I will have to turn it off at night because the Raccoons love to play with the hose and when they leave it pointing out of the pond, the water can easily run out and this can man chaos as the fishes find themselves at the bottom of a more and more shallow pond.  I've discovered nearly dead fishes before.  So I now make sure to turn off the fountain before I turn in.   

Note:   I'm going to try to put this blog out late in the afternoon on Sundays.    I feel so good to be able to show you all the glorious action out there.   Keep well and let's work together to give Nature a good chance to save herself!    Love to all of us, Martha 

Amazingly,  Debby Seely found this Pileated Woodpecker on her rotten tree.    (The city is going to come chop the tree down this week or soon.