10-JUN-2013
American Toad (Bufo americanus)
This toad was in the Butterfly Meadow. Toads have finished breeding now and have returned to their upland habitats, away from water. In due course (mid to late summer) we will hopefully see some tiny toadlets leaving the pond.
07-JUN-2013
Volunteer carrying crushed stones in butterfly meadow
Price Waterhouse Coopers once again had a team of volunteers at the FWG on Friday, and they did a great deal of work for which we are very appreciative. Diane oversaw these volunteers working on the Butterfly Meadow, and she took this photo of one of the guys.
07-JUN-2013
Volunteers at work
An enthusiastic and hardworking group of volunteers from Price Waterhouse Coopers. Every year for the last 5 or more years, we have had volunteers from this organization come to the garden to help out. We are always very appreciative.
05-JUN-2013
Hover fly (Sphaerophoria sp.), female
These little hover flies have a distinctive elongate shape, but are not easy to photograph as they are small and they don't often sit still. Diane asked Diptera expert, Jeff Skevington, for an ID. It is a female of the species, and according to Diane, Jeff said it is hard to ID the females. A gorgeous photo!
05-JUN-2013
Silvery blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)
A truly lovely shot of this pretty silvery blue, by Diane. She reports that " It was very interesting to see a Silvery Blue sitting for the whole time we were working in the butterfly meadow. So it problably sat there for five hours resting."
05-JUN-2013
Scentless plant bug (Harmostes reflexulus)
A new addition to our list, this really pretty little bug was found and photographed by Diane. There any number of scentless plant bugs, some are extremely small, but most are, like this one, found on plants, particularly on flowers. The familiar box-elder bugs are in the same family (Rhopalidae) as this one. They are called scentless plant bugs, because they don't have the stink gland that bugs in closely related families have.
05-JUN-2013
juvenile grasshopper species
Gorgeous shot of this pretty little grasshopper, by Diane. It is a veritable symphony of green.
05-JUN-2013
California calligrapha (Calligrapha californica)
Diane took this photo of the pretty little calligraphic beetle, near the Interpretation Centre. There are many species of Calligrapha beetles, all with interesting patterns and colours. They belong the huge Chrysomelid Family, the leaf beetles, most of which are brightly coloured and intricately patterned.
05-JUN-2013
Eastern cottontail rabbit
A terrific photo of one of our resident 'bunnies', by Diane, taken Wednesday afternoon.
04-JUN-2013
Silvery blues (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)
The spring azures are just about gone now (although there are still a few around), replaced by this other common blue, the silvery blue. I saw at least 8 around FWG, including this mating pair. The only other butterfly I saw was cabbage white, about 3 of those.
The weather was lovely and sunny today, and birds were active. In addition to the usual species found at this time of year, there was a cedar waxwing, a cooper's hawk (in the backyard garden), a turkey vulture soaring around over the garden, and a pair of house wrens nesting.
04-JUN-2013
Common ringlet (Coenonympha tullia)
Lots of ringlets flittering around the garden yesterday, but only this one stayed still long enough, and in a conspicuous place, for a photo. Most of them drop down to the bottom of vegetation when they do stop.
04-JUN-2013
Hobomok skipper (Poanes hobomok)
These little skippers of woodland edges, seem to turn up right on schedule each year... early June is the time to look for the first of the hobomoks. There were a couple around the ash woods.
