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What was happening at the FWG in June 2007
A pair of monarchs mating presented an odd sight. Flying high above the
shrubs it looked as if one monarch had something stuck to its hindwing.
28 June — note from Sandy Garland; photo from Christine Hanrahan On Wednesday, we had an informal get together to dedicate our new bench to Dale Crook who passed away last year. Dale was a dear friend and much valued member of our Friday volunteer group. He took on many tasks at the garden - maintaining our Woodland Walk, filling our bird feeders in winter, removing buckthorn, inventorying our nut trees, and writing for our newsletter. We see his contributions to the FWG everywhere, and it seemed fitting to give him a permanent seat in the garden. Dale's wife, son, daughter, and granddaughter, as well as a number of his friends, were on hand to exchange stories about Dale and try out the new bench. The quotation on the plaque was chosen by Dale and appeared in his obituary.
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25 June — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan I walked around mid-morning and again after lunch, and found butterflies to be quite numerous, particularly the European Skipper. Also seen were Monarchs (6), Common Ringlets (2), Red Admiral (1), Hobomok Skipper (1), Cabbage White (3), and Clouded Sulphur (1). Once upon a time I used to see lots of the latter species, not just at FWG, but elsewhere. In recent years I have seen far fewer.
Several twelve-spotted skimmers (dragonflies) were very much in evidence around the pond, while elsewhere in the garden female Eastern Forktails (damselflies) were fairly common, along with several Bluets (unsure of species).
Flowers are out in abundance now, so it is a great time to go looking for insects. Vetch and milkweed are particularly good, but so are most of the blooming plants. You might see one of the many leafhoppers or a plant bug (Miridae), like this pretty little creature found near the New Woods (photo, above right). Monarchs and Milkweeds go together, and if you stand by a patch of milkweed for a little while, a Monarch is sure to come floating by. Keep your eyes peeled for Monarch caterpillars too.
Lots of other things out and about, but this is enough for now! |
Back in the pond, the Green Heron was clinging precariously to a dead
cattail hanging over the pond. At one point he made a less than graceful
leap into the water where he grabbed a green frog. Some years ago I
watched a green heron in the pond so intent on eyeing a frog that he
toppled over head first into the water. If a heron could look
embarrassed, I'd have to say that one did!
Over in the Ash Woods I found this small pale coloured moth, Cabera
erythemaria, which I believe is new to our moth list - an oversight on
my part, because they are fairly common and I see them most years.18 June — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan
The big group of volunteers who arrived on Friday and worked all day, helped achieve a lot, including installation of these habitat signs, which look great. Here is a crew, led by Charlie, putting in the Hedgerow sign. I understand that the digging everywhere but there, was very hard indeed! Kudos to these volunteers and the FWG volunteers who stayed around to oversee the projects.
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You can tell from all the whitewash on the post, that the green heron
finds it a favoured perch (photo) near the pond.
16 June — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan This is baby season in the wild. There are youngsters everywhere. Here on the Central Experimental Farm, of which FWG is an integral part, young animals are very noticeable. Chipmunks, red squirrels, groundhogs, and gray squirrels, families of these critters can be easily found in the Arboretum, FWG and around the farm.
On another note, I went to the farm looking for giant ichneumon wasps (Megarhyssa macrurus) early this evening, and found several. These are very impressive looking and beautiful insects. The females are particularly large, and their long ovipositor (perhaps 3-4 inches long), makes them appear even larger. This particular species is a parasite of Horntail larvae, another impressively large member of the wasp family. Megarhyssa wasps belong to the Ichneumonids, all of which are recognizable by their distinctive shape and long ovipositors in the case of females. I saw two female Megarhyssas tonight, one with her ovipositor firmly stuck into the branch of a tree (photo, below right), another seeking for a place to begin the process. It was quite wonderful to watch the second female probing the tree with her antennae, seeking for the larvae of horntails in which to insert that amazingly long ovipositor and lay her eggs. Do the females feel the vibration from movement of the larvae? Do they smell them? I don't know. But this female spent a good 15 minutes flitting from branch to branch, up and down the tree, before settling in front of me and doing her thing. This consisted of, as mentioned, probing the trunk with her long antennae, and, when the place seemed right, raising her abdomen to a vertical position, 'stroking' the ovipositor with her back legs many times, enlarging the tip (as you can see) to expose the abdominal membrane, and then curling the ovipositor over her head and beginning the insertion into the wood. I still don't know how she got her long, flexible ovipositor into the branch, let alone through it to find the horntail larvae! "Amazing" doesn't begin to cover it! Interestingly, like many insects, this species does not eat. It is born to procreate and for the duration of its life, that is what it does. For interest, I've attached a photo of a horntail (below left) taken last year in the Arboretum (also a female, also ovipositing).
After the Megarhyssa, a quick walk revealed a gorgeous little tortoise beetle (above centre), probably Deloyala guttata, but I'm not 100% sure yet. As well, scores of the rose chafer beetle. They have only recently emerged and are now abundant and will be for some time to come. Oh, and by the way, over at the FWG pond, several 12-spotted skimmers and a few Taiga Bluets, to add to the list from yesterday. |
14 June — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan
There were many dragonflies and damselflies, most flying much too fast and high, but a few occasionally landed, and I was able to photograph a nice male Common Whitetail in the BYG (top left) and a female elsewhere in the garden (above centre). There were also several Dot-tailed Whitefaces, Eastern Forktails (male and female), and a number of Bluets. Many bluets can be hard to ID without having them in the hand, but I think the one in the photo (above right) may be a Hagen's or a Marsh Bluet (female).
In addition to the usual Bumblebees, there were a few Red-banded Bumblebees, a Braconid Wasp (no idea as to species or even genus), several Yellowjackets, lots more Nomada bees (really quite beautiful - imagine a red bee), a few Soldier Beetles, a couple of the tiny Braciancatha beetles, lots of Publilia treehoppers being carefully tended by ants, leafhoppers, and a number of Syphids of several (at least) species. There was also a Robber Fly (Asilid Sp.), and some Tabanids. Turning to birds, it seems a Common Yellowthroat has taken up residence in the garden, but I doubt he is nesting, at least judging from behaviour and the fact that I've not seen a female. There are at least 4 pairs each of Song Sparrows and Yellow Warblers nesting in the garden. Most of them are in dogwoods and raspberry thickets. So please .... be careful when you walk around the garden, especially around thickets. Other birds noted included a White-breasted Nuthatch (below), Northern Flicker (who might also be nesting around the Birch Grove), Cardinals, Red-eyed Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Chipping Sparrow, Tree Swallow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Black-capped Chickadee, American Goldfinch and House Sparrows.  |
Today, Thursday, I had my first European Skippers of the season, two of
them, one each at opposite ends of the garden (below left). Over the course of
two days I saw a Little Wood Satyr, at least three Monarchs, along with
2 or 3 Silvery Blues, half a dozen Common Ringlets, and two Red Admirals.
I've been seeing lots of a curious looking little weevil, called a
Milkweed Stem Weevil. All, or most weevils have long 'beaks', but this
tiny little creature has such a long one that it looks quite elephantine
and rather endearing, I think! On weevils, the mandibles are, unusually,
located at the end of their long beak.7 June — Many grasses are now blooming and are more noticeable than at other times of the year. Please see our June 2006 Blog for photos and notes on some of the species found at the FWG. |
6 June — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan
Insects are terribly difficult to identify. So many are mimics. Therefore you have moths and flies that look like wasps and bees, moths that look like beetles, bugs that look like nothing on earth, and so on. But insects are also amazing creatures and whether we know it or not, we share our lives with them for they are everywhere. Some are so small that they are never noticed, others are enormous. Many are spectacularly coloured and beautiful, I find all of them fascinating. I only wish I knew more about them. I'd need at least another lifetime, perhaps two, to do this.
 The Butterfly Meadow is looking beautiful, even though most of the
flowers at the moment are lupines. They certainly are eye-catching. Near
the fence, it is encouraging to see that the area that was rototilled
last year and the DSV roots removed, has little growth of this invasive
plant. In its place are many common weeds of disturbed areas, all
Turning to the pond, the large painted turtle was visible yesterday, along with about a dozen green frogs, with their banjo-like call. Today, the green heron busily stalking, and catching, green frogs, ensured that these poor creatures were silent. Yesterday, was good for warblers in the garden, with black-and-white, yellow, common yellowthroat, and redstart all singing away. While the yellow warbler nests regularly, the others don't. I can't help wondering if they are setting up territory or just passing through, but it is getting a bit late for some of them to be still migrating (some warblers, such as blackpoll and tennessee are late migrants). Well, we'll see, I guess. |
Although windy and cool, today was also at times sunny, and
this encouraged a few butterflies to get out and about. In addition to
about 6 Silvery Blues, 4 Common Ringlets, and two Monarchs, there was a
beautiful female Black Swallowtail who very cooperatively sat for a
photo. During periods of heavy rain, butterflies tend to find somewhere
to hang out for the duration. Yesterday, I saw several dejected looking
Silvery Blues clinging to grass stems, and one Hobomok skipper hiding on
a leaf under some DSV.
At any rate, at FWG recently I came across a pretty cranefly, hiding out
of the rain in a raspberry thicket. Fenja Brodo kindly took a look at my
photo and said it may be a female of "Nephrotoma ferruginea, a common
species whose larvae eat grass and other roots but are not considered
to be a pest."
A pair of soldier beetles mating in the rain presented a comic
spectacle!
non-native, not a problem in the same way as DSV (unless you are a
farmer, of course!). It is really interesting to see just what is
popping up there. I stop by frequently to take a look, In addition to
the lamb's quarters and Stellaria, there is Thlaspi (photo), an insignificant
weed until it seeds, when I find its seed pods very attractive.