When Retta went out this morning to do her early chores around the barn, she discovered this beautiful large moth on the trunk of a black walnut tree. She told me to go and get the camera before the moth departed, and fortunately, when I arrived with camera in hand, the moth was still there.
In the following photo, I am not trying to catch the moth, but this was the only “handy” way to indicate scale –
A few years ago Retta again discovered an interesting find on an oak tree in our yard. I have never encountered this kind of aggregation of caterpillars before, and we haven’t seen it happen since.
Last, but not least, I cannot forget to include my friend Morton, who keeps constant watch over me as I perform my yard chores.
AN APPOLOGY TO ALL: I am sorry for possible slow loading times in the last few posts. I was working on another project, and forgot that I had tinkered with my JPEG compression settings. I have reset it to a more appropriate level for the blog. Photo load times should be quicker from now on, as the file sizes will be much smaller.
Those pesky JPEG compression settings! (Whatever those are!)
Great shots!
Along the lines of the caterpillars, perhaps you’ll recall a hike we took in Sequoia many years ago, where we saw maybe a million or so ladybugs covering a large boulder. I’ve never seen anything like it since.
Also, that last photo is just too weird. I could never have a tree like that in my forest.
Pablo – trees like this have to want to live in your forest. It’ll take a lot of cajoling on your part (and they don’t respond to peanuts too well, so forget that tactic).
MrC – I remember the ladybug experience well. I had not seen the phenomenon again until decades later, when we moved here. It seems a good portion of the country has been invaded by Japanese beetles (ladybugs). Unlike, other species of beetle, these apparently prefer to winter indoors, rather than seeking the shelter of a leaf pile or forest litter.
One afternoon, as the sun shone brightly along a large portion of the east-facing side of our house, I started to notice a few ladybugs assembling. And then, some more. Then more, and more, and more, until the wall was orange with the color of the ladybugs!
They eventually all made their way into the house, and for a few days, as they searched for hiding places, we would spot them. Finally, they simply disappeared. Come springtime, they emerged from their cozy spots and made their way outside again. Without even saying thank you!
Very cool!
Last year, we purchased a bag of the little critters, and scattered them throughout the yard to guard against aphids, and just to see what it would be like. Get a couple dozen or so crawling up your arm, and its a pretty funny experience.