Top Photo: Male eastern tiger swallowtail seeks nectar from buttonbush flowers alongside Floating Walkway in wetlands. Eastern tiger swallowtails have essentially two flights here in the Piedmont of North Carolina. I see them in spring, centered around April, then again in July and August. The spring brood or flight is made up of smaller individuals than the summer flight. This may be due, at least in part, to environmental factors. The spring butterflies had been feeding, as larvae, from earlyRead more
Posts filed in: Butterflies
More Summer Stuff
Top Photo: Painted lady butterfly on purple coneflower. Just a brief look at a few sights out on the Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind loop. Asiatic dayflower grows throughout the Piedmont area. It’s a non-native, but it attracts various creatures to itself for a variety of reasons, shelter and food standing out in the case of the two creatures that were found on a stand of dayflower in Catch the Wind the past week. The six-spotted neolema isRead more
Summer’s Here!
Top Photo: Male eastern pondhawk. Summer’s here and the time is right for basking in the sun. The young male eastern pondhawk in these two photos (above and below) is perched on a rock just off the floating walkway in our wetland. It can be identified as a “young” male by the green color on its thorax, which will become blue as the dragonfly matures. I’ve shown lots of pictures of basking aquatic turtles in the past few weeks. SoRead more
First Half of May and How to Tell Murray Bear from Little Bear
Top Photo: Canada geese defend goslings. Note aquatic turtles and spotted sandpiper on float behind geese. The second week of May was warm with little humidity. It was a pleasant time to be outside. Here’s a handful of sights that were witnessed during that period. The six goslings which have been following their parents around the wetlands for the past week (first seen on May 2) still number six. Butterflies are becoming easier to find as spring rolls along. ARead more
Colors of November: mostly leaves and fruit with a few animals mixed in
Top Photo: Hazel, or common, alder cones. From plush summer greens to fall yellows and reds, the time is upon us. We are there. Fall. Enjoy the colors while you can. Here’s what I saw while out on the loop (in no particular order). Remember, you can’t see it if you’re not there. So, what are you waiting for, go out and have a look around!Read more
An Aster, a Skipper, a Lady, and a Shrew!
Top Photo: Purple aster at the Butterfly House Garden. Purple aster is a late bloomer. As such, it attracts many late season insects to its nectar like the common checked skipper pictured here. In our area, this skipper may occasionally be seen as late as December, but certainly into mid November. As I walked into Catch the Wind, I noticed a group of about eight people smiling and laughing as they stared down at the ground near the base ofRead more
Early Fall and Things are on the Move
Top Photo: Late flowering boneset blooms in late summer to early fall. It’s early fall and many creatures and plants are prepping for the cooler, leaner months ahead. A walk around the museum’s outdoor loop always brings a surprise or two. Here’s a handful of subjects you might encounter out there during early fall. Late boneset (Eupatorium serotinum) blooms in August through October. Common boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), or just plain boneset, blooms a bit earlier in the season. The biggestRead more
MidSummer Sights
Top Photo: Eastern tiger swallowtail nectars on joe-pye-weed (native) in the Butterfly House Garden. As summer creeps along, insects like the swallowtail above are busy feeding, constructing hives and webs, or reproducing. Mentioned in a previous post, orange-striped oak worms are now in their final instar (stage of caterpillar development) before they crawl off to find suitable pupation sites. I found some of their eggs a few weeks ago and share them with you here. In their quest for pupationRead more
Little Bear and Some Late Spring Encounters
Top Photo: Little Bear by the waterfall. Little Bear’s pelage stands out among our three black bears occupying the Black Bear Enclosure. The following are subjects you might encounter on our Outdoor Loop Trail in late spring to early summer, now. Two very common and widespread dragonflies, common whitetail and eastern amberwing are sure to be seen on any sunny day. Not as frequently seen but still common are Carolina saddlebags. They spend much of their time on the wing.Read more