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By Ben, on June 29th, 2010
There aren’t a ton of animals visible in the steamy sunny heat of late June here in Boca; those few that there are, apart from the omnipresent mockingbird and his counterpart in red, the cardinal, tend to be insects. Here’s a blue dasher dragonfly that seems to favor a perch on the spicewood tree on the side of our house:
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As you can see from the red eyes, this is a not-quite-mature male (the adult male has green eyes). But he’s got the adult male body coloration: blue abdomen with black on the tip, and yellow on the sides [...]
By Ben, on December 14th, 2009
A couple of weeks ago (December 2, actually), I happened to be outside and found this larva of Agraulis vanillae, the beautiful Gulf Fritillary, on our maypop (passiflora) vine. I can’t get over how those little feet work so well to keep these guys attached to whatever they’re clinging to at the moment.
Seeing this caterpillar was a bit of a surprise, because most of that entire fence on the side of the house is covered with a very aggressive Aristolochia vine that these fritillary caterpillars can’t eat. But way back when we planted, we had two (or maybe it was [...]
By Ben, on October 29th, 2009
Last month, I finally managed a decent snapshot (still not a great picture) of the Polydamas Swallowtail (Battas polydamas) butterflies that enjoy our pipevine:
I still haven’t been able to get the entire animal in focus, but at least it’s better than some of my previous attempts:
These guys just love our Aristolochia vine; I’ve seen half a dozen in flight at once on the side of our house when the weather’s nice and the season’s right. These days, they’re not flying so much anymore, and I haven’t seen any eggs in a few weeks, either.
As you can see from the background [...]
By Ben, on November 15th, 2008
You don’t have to travel far to see some amazing things. Take this morning, for instance. Marcella and I had planned carefully to be able to be at Yamato Scrub early in the morning, so we could give Eric a nice stroll, check up on the Least Grebes, and see what else might be seen at our local natural area. Things don’t always work out as planned, however…
By Ben, on November 1st, 2008
Most of the people who know me would agree that I’m pretty much a homebody. Sure, from time to time you’ll catch me on a nature walk at Yamato Scrub, or leading a field trip for the local Audubon Society. And as a birder, I’m not immune to the temptation to drive all over creation chasing a rarity. And I’m even occasionally to be found in India. But for various reasons (new paternal duties, the price of gas, the desire to avoid damaging the environment, even just plain old personality), I prefer to stay at home and try to bring the [...]
By Ben, on October 25th, 2008
On the weekends I get to spend a lot more time with my son than I can during the week. There’s no rush to get out the door; no meeting to prepare for; no freeway traffic to fret about. The morning stroll can last quite a bit longer; we can take more than one, if the fancy strikes us, as it did today. Even during the week, though, when time is at a premium, Eric and I always find the time to go for a morning stroll, unless it’s pouring down rain. It’s usually just down to the corner and back, [...]
By Ben, on September 14th, 2008
Remember the Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough? Australian novel that got turned into a miniseries here in the States? I don’t. I wasn’t allowed to stay up late enough to watch it when it came out, and now I don’t really care too much to track it down and find out whether I’ve missed something or not. And why bother? I have all the drama I need right here in my backyard in Boca. Of course, you have to look a bit more closely; this is not the wide-open sweep of the Outback (even though it is, technically, out back).
By Ben, on August 1st, 2008
This week at Fern Forest I’ve been seeing numerous individuals of a tiny butterfly that I haven’t seen before. This weekend I finally got a minute to myself to look it up in my butterfly books, but here’s a peek at what I’ve been seeing:
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