|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Fletcher Wildlife Garden | profile | all galleries >> Previous FWG blogs >> 2008 Blogs >> FWG blog: October 2008 | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow |
| previous page | pages 1 2 3 ALL | next page |
Shortly before the cooper's hawk, a merlin flew around the site briefly. Big flocks of goldfinches, now in their winter plumage, were busily feeding on the seeds of goldenrods in the Butterfly Meadow. Nearby a few nashville warblers were present, and over in the New Woods, a small group of about 6 palm warblers were quite noticeable (see photo).
Meanwhile, with the cooler weather the bumblebees are less numerous and those left are less active. However, today's sun caused a surge of energy and they were flying around quite actively. The new section of the Butterfly Meadow (which I call Diane's Butterfly Meadow) has some good patches of flowering yarrow and aster, as well as rudbeckia and coneflower, hence a great place to
In spite of the cold, the sun brought out in addition to the above bumblebees, at least five species of syrphids (hover flies), a variety of other flies including greenbottle flies, sweat
... a glossy black potter wasp, and a tiny bug nymph. Woolly bears were very common around the garden as well.
And... highlight of the day, a milbert's tortoiseshell butterfly. I was unable to get a photo, but here is one from a couple of weeks ago in Larose Forest.
On Tuesday, just as I was about to drive off from FWG, something flew in the open window and landed on my sleeve. I thought at first it was an entirely black lady beetle. But after I stopped, removed it to safety and took a few photos, I saw that it was a fifteen-spotted lady beetle, very dark in colour, the spots barely visible.
And of course, fungi are very visible now. I was looking at something in the BYG with Claudia today and suddenly saw a couple of bird's nest fungi. I'd been looking for them in the Arboretum over the last few days without success, so I was especially happy to see these tiny, intricate little fungi. You can see why they're called "bird's nests."
| previous page | pages 1 2 3 ALL | next page |
