Top Photo: Female monarch butterfly stops to refuel on long journey south of the border. It’s that time of year when masses of monarch butterflies trek south, more specifically southwest, to their wintering grounds in the fir forests of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in central Mexico. On their way they may stop to nectar and even lay eggs so that a new generation of monarchs can complete the journey, overwinter in the Mexican highlands and head back north theRead more
Posts filed in: Leps
From Muscadines to Silk Moths
Top Photo: Muscadine grapes ripening on the vine. Muscadine grapes are native to the southeast and are a common and welcomed plant here at the museum. Many birds and mammals including cardinals, robins, and turkeys, groundhogs, gray fox, and humans eat the fruit. There are many vines throughout the museum grounds. If you can reach the grapes as they grow on the vine, it’s worth it to grab a few for yourself before they’re all gone. Cardinal flower is bloomingRead more
Colors
Top Photo: Snowberry clearwing hovers at butterfly bush flower spike in Butterfly House Outdoor Garden. Snowberry clearwing moths are a type of strong flying sphinx moth commonly seen hovering at flowers to sip nectar. They’re diurnal moths and resemble small hummingbirds or bees as they visit the flowers seeking nourishment. They are responsible for pollinating a large number of flowers, especially deep tubular flowers through the action of their long, sturdy, probing proboscis and hairy body which transfers pollen fromRead more
The End is Near, Summer That is
Top Photo: Ripening persimmon. There are many persimmon trees in and around our wetlands. The fruit is fast ripening. Much of the fruit will drop into the water. Fret not, fruit that plops into the water is not wasted. Our population of sliders in the wetlands will take care of whatever falls from the trees and into the water. An interesting fact about persimmons, they make excellent catfish bait. There are no catfish in our pond but if you liveRead more
Basking Turtles, Mating Anoles, and Pupating Moths
Top Photo: It’s carapace to carapace as sliders enjoy the warm sunshine. After days of either brutally hot temps or pouring rain the wetland’s sliders were out with the sun on a rather cool (relatively speaking) dry day. it was double digit turtles on the floating platforms placed in the pond specifically for that purpose. Both platforms were utilized. Green anoles were taking advantage of the change in the weather to mate. This pair was on a wooden bench inRead more
The End of July
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
A Snake, a Catbird, some Flowers, and a few Insects
Top Photo: Rat snake in a tree. The rat snake above and below was in the branches of a dawn redwood tree alongside the boardwalk leading to Explore the Wild. It’s not unusual to see a rat snake in a tree, they dine on bird eggs and nestlings among other creatures like rats, chipmunks, frogs, lizards and similar small wildlife. They are excellent climbers. The catbird in these photos was harassing the snake relentlessly with quick salvos with its billRead more
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