Co-operation Please!

I would have appreciated a bit more co-operation from this rather tatty Red Admiral butterfly. She (or he?) was happily flitting around the zinnia patch, enjoying the sunshine, and nibbling on the juicy nectar in the middle of the flowers. 

But she kept flapping her wings and fluttering about, and couldn't quite decide which flower was the tastiest, and I wasn't able to persuade her to stay still long enough for me to get a good photo. Perhaps she was camera shy.

I tried talking to her but she wasn't listening. When she landed on a flower, I crossed my fingers that she would show me her wings, and I told her how pretty she was but she ignored me, and kept her wings closed. Or with the occasional flap which was too fast for me.

Finally she landed on this blossom and opened her wings. She didn't stay long. She had places to go and things to do as I'm sure she is aware that it will be migration time very soon.

Thanks for visiting Ms. (or Mr.) Red Admiral.

Spidey, is that you?

This morning the wet grass had lots of these delicate spider webs decorated with tiny dewdrops. This one was about 4 inches across, but there were many more smaller ones.

What are they? What kind of spider makes these webs?

I had to ask know-it-all Professor Google, and he told me that these are not really spider webs. The webs are branching mycelium of dollar spot fungus, Sclerotinia homeocarpa, often appearing on lawns in warm and damp summer mornings.  These webs disappear when the grass dries, but the fungus is still there. It causes brown spots about the size of a dollar coin, and can grow to cover much larger areas. There has been a lot of rain over the last few days, and the lawn watering system has been working too, so the dollar spot fungus is probably feeling very happy!

Mama Turtle

I was out for an evening walk around the neighbourhood pond, and I noticed a dark green shape in the grass.  Turtle! She didn't really appreciate me staring at her while she was going through the delicate process of egg laying, so she pulled her head in and peeped at me from the safety of her shell.

She's a Painted Turtle - Chrysemys Picta - one of the eight species of turtle that are native to Ontario. Turtles are ectothermic – or ‘cold-blooded’, which means that they cannot generate their own body heat, and rely on the environmental temperature for this; they warm themselves by basking in the sun. 

These eggs will probably hatch in late summer or early fall. Less than one in a hundred turtle eggs laid will hatch and grow into an adult turtle. Unlike birds, turtles do not tend their nests once laid, nor care for their young once they hatch. Once the female has finished laying her eggs she never sees them again. The babies are on their own!

Painted Turtles have recently been reclassified from Not at Risk, to Species of Special Concern. Extensive road mortality has been the main reason for the change of classification for this species.

Such a pretty face!

Yellow Wood Sorrel

A pretty little plant has established itself in the gravel next to the AC unit.  The tiny yellow flowers love the sunshine but put themselves to bed if it's rainy, or at night. The leaves are shaped like shamrocks.  What could it be?

I consulted Professor Google and found that this is Yellow Wood Sorrel, oxalis stricta, a plant native to North America, and guess what.... it is edible!  Of course, I had to try it and chomped on some leaves, and it has a sour lemony flavour caused by the presence of oxalic acid.  It is sometimes called "sourgrass".  Both leaves, flowers and seedpods are edible.  A sprig or two of this plant can be used as a tasty addition to a salad, and the leaves can be used to make a flavoured drink that is similar in taste to lemonade.  Both the leaves and the flowers close up at night and open again in the morning.

Additional important note: It's grandson Isaac's birthday today... he is 11! Have a Happy Day, Isaac!

A Walk in the Woods

With the sun shining and the sky a vivid blue, I decided to get some fresh air. There are not many of these lovely days left and the cold winter winds are not far away. We haven't had a real frost yet, although one is forecast for tonight.
So I walked though the nearby woods by the local reservoir. The sign says "No Pedestrians, Sensitive Environment" or words to that effect, but if I stick to the path I'll be OK.  I could hear the Canada Geese on the water, honking and flapping their wings. No geese pics.... the bulrushes were too tall and I didn't want to get my feet wet!

 And a big surprise.... art in the forest! Lovely idea.

Say a Little Prayer

There was an unexpected guest welcoming me home a couple of days ago. He was resting on the inside of the window frame. He must have sneaked in through the open door, as all the windows have bug screens.

He (or possibly she?) is a green Praying Mantis, a very strange insect indeed. They have triangular heads with bulging compound eyes, three smaller eyes and a pair of antenna supported on flexible necks. They can see in 3D with all those eyes. They can turn their heads almost 180 degrees. Their front legs are enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey.

 I gently caught him in a kleenex, carried him outside and put him on the patio table where I could get a good look at him.... wow, what a weird creature.

I transferred him to the potted strawberry plant, and from there to a geranium.  The Praying Mantis is a predator, catching its dinner ambush style, moving fast and furious towards some unsuspecting live insect. It grips the intended food with the spikes on it's front legs. 
A PM this size would go for insects, but they are capable of killing prey 3 times their size. The larger varieties have been known to eat humming birds, frogs and lizards. They like their food sill squirming!

And if you are a male PM, watch out. Your lady friend might bite your head off in the process of making babies. Well, a girl's gotta keep her energy up to look after all those eggs!

Tansy

It grows wild in the hedgerows in the summer and attracts the bees, and I think it's such a lovely splash of sunshiney yellow.
Tansy is a perennial flowering plant in the aster family, native to Europe and Asia. but thrives in North America, probably introduced by the settlers arriving from Europe as long ago as the 1600s. In some places is considered a noxious weed. It's also known as Bitter Buttons, Golden Buttons or Cow Bitter.

It's had many medicinal uses including treating worms, digestive problems, fevers, rheumatism and measles. You can even use a solution of Tansy as a face wash, or bathe in it to ease joint pain.  It has been used as an insect repellent, and it was packed into coffins, wrapped in funeral winding sheets, and Tansy wreaths were laid on the dead.  It can also be used as a dye. A useful herb indeed.

Tradition says that if you plant it by your kitchen door, you will never be troubled by ants in the kitchen.

Beware of the Dragon

Wildlife in my tiny garden....

Immature male Common Whitetail dragonfly or Long Tailed Skimmer (plathemis lydia). 

His body will eventually turn white.

Dragonflies are the world's fastest insects, capable of reaching speeds of between 30 and 60 km/h (19 to 38 mph). A study has shown that dragonflies can travel as much as 85 miles in one day.

Dragonflies are among the most ancient of living creatures. Fossil records, clearly recognizable as the ancestors of our present day odonates, go back to Carboniferous times meaning that the insects were flying more than 300 million years ago, predating dinosaurs by over 100 million years and birds by some 150 million.

Dragonflies have excellent eyesight. Their compound eyes have up to 30,000 facets, each of which is a separate light-sensing organ or ommatidium, arranged to give nearly a 360° field of vision. Odonates are completely harmless - they do not sting or bite.

Dinnertime

High drama amongst the runner beans.

I think this is a zebra jumping spider about to dine on a green stink bug. Yummy!

Lady in Waiting

In the back parking lot of the local physiotherapy office...

Mrs Goose is waiting patiently for a happy event. I wonder where Mr Goose is? I'll be going back next week, so I'll report on the family's progress then.
UPDATE ... sadly the nest was raided by unknown intruders, and all that remains are broken eggshells. I hope Mr and Mrs Goose have better luck in a more secluded nesting place.

Into the Deep Dark Forest

York Regional Forest is cool and shady on a hot day. The forest is operated by the Region of York in Ontario, and encompasses over 5000 acres with 2000 acres of public trails on 18 forest tracts.

The 1800s were a time of settlement and economic development in Ontario and woodlands were harvested for lumber, and the land plowed for farming. The previously forested areas looked empty and bleak. Then in 1924 a Restoration Committee started planting trees to save the forest area.

In 2000 York Regional Forest became the first publicly owned forest to be certified under the Forest Stewardship Council, ensuring forest maintenance in a sustainable manner. The trails offer access to horseback riding, walking, mountain biking, and skiing and snowmobiling in the winter. At the Hollidge Tract there is a 1 km trail loop which provides a unique nature experience that is accessible to all users including those with disabilities.

This trail is in Scout Tract.

Possibly Yellow Avens.... not sure.

White Trillium, Ontario's Provincial flower.

Purple Polygala or Gaywings

Mud Dauber Wasp

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz! ZZZZZZZZZZ! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

What's that high pitched buzzing sound?

I looked up and saw this strange tube clinging to the verandah wall above my head. Whatever is it? And why is it making that noise? When in doubt, consult the internet.

It's the home of the "Organ Pipe" Mud Dauber Wasp.

The Mud Dauber wasp builds her nest by carrying balls of mud in her mouth and sculpting it into a tube shape. As she does this, she makes a loud high pitched buzzing noise.... that's the sound I heard.

Update: the buzzing sound is Mama wasp beating her wings at high speed to dry the mud!

When Mama wasp is satisfied that the nest tube is long enough, she flies off in search of juicy spiders. She catches them, stings them into submission and paralyses them, and pops them into the nest, stocking the larder.

Then she lays her single egg on one of the comatose spiders.

Now it's time to seal the tube with more chewed up mud, and start on the next nursery tube. The egg hatches, and Lo and Behold! the baby wasp larvae can feast on fresh spider meat every day, thoughtfully provided by Mama.

Amazing!

A bit of a shock for the spiders though.

However, I gave the nest a shot of Raid.... sorry Mama, please build your elegant nest somewhere else.

Sometimes....

.... you can't see the forest....

.... for the trees.

Milkweed Pods

I was walking with TessaDog under grey November skies today.
Most of the colour has faded from the landscape, turning to delicate shades of brown and beige.

The milkweed pods are bursting, scattering their silky seeds in the wind.

During WW2, hundreds of tons of milkweed pods were gathered by school children in USA and Canada and the silky fluff processed as a substitute for kapok, used to pad life jackets and flying suits. It’s been estimated that more than 11 million pounds of milkweed were collected by the end of WW2.