Autumn Trail

Stash – (2 photos)

We have been helplessly watching a very industrious squirrel raiding our walnut tree but his greediness got the best of him. I noticed some unusual green at the base of our very old, damaged apple tree. On closer examination I found walnuts buried in the surrounding fir cone midden and more walnuts in the hollowed out tree. I gather about 15 pounds worth of nuts, leaving some for the squirrel.

Polyphemus Caterpillar and Moth (4 photos)

This guy came crawling by the other day and was very impressive. At first I thought it might be a Luna Moth caterpillar but unfortunately I don’t think we have them this far north.

I took photos of this large, slightly damaged Polyphemus Moth in 2011. Incidentally, Polyphemus was the one-eyed son of Poseidon from the island of Cyclops in Greek mythology.

Beatrice’s Bounty (2 photos)

A couple of days ago Beatrice hatched 17 out of 19 eggs. By the next day the ducklings were raring to go, running around the yard and exploring everything. I think Beatrice enjoyed being out and about but she has a busy time ahead of her.

Fungus Creature

A strange fungus I found in our woods.

Boris’s Bevy of Beauties

Boris has a couple of new companions, Betty and Beulah, to keep him company while Beatrice continues to sit on her 19 eggs. He is looking much happier and the new girls settled in very well.

Boris Feeling Blue

Boris the Duck is in the dumps because his partner Beatrice just started sitting on a clutch of eggs and won’t have anything do with him. It’s going to be a long month.

A Prickly Affair

A Western Yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica) queen mating with a male. The fertilized queen will eventually go into hibernation for the winter. She will re-emerge in the spring, find a spot for a nest and lay a few eggs that will hatch and become her workers. She will spend the remainder of her time laying eggs. Alas, the male will die.