More excitement this summer – mating spiders! I recently posted about some of our summer spider finds in the park. The Golden-silk Orbweaver, Nephila clavipes, at over two inches, was one of the largest we’d ever seen of this species. She was surrounded by smaller males and seemed to be attracting more by the day….
Earl Johnson Park
Mystery of the Little Red Beetle
The mystery of the little red beetle is solved! Earlier this year, we started noticing little red beetles during our walks through the woods. We’ve been walking through these woods regularly for the past five years and never noticed them before. But I was in my lady bug phase, spending hours a day in our…
Sp…Sp…Sp…Spiders!
August was the best month for spiders! In addition to my favorite Orchard Spiders, I found loads of the little funnel weaving spiders and a few little crab-like Spiny Backed Orb Weavers. But the best were two of the largest that I’ve seen yet: The first find was the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Argiope aurantia….
August 2015
It was hot and rainy but wow, did we find some interesting things. I have never seen a giant mosquito. This thing was huge – like an inch long. It looked exactly like a mosquito but I didn’t believe it was until I got home and looked it up. The common name is Gallinipper – …
July 2015
I’ve been distracted and never got around to posting our July finds at the St Augustine Road Fish Management Area. It has been so hot this summer; there haven’t been many birds around – a couple of Anhingas, some ducks and herons – so the heat must be keeping them and everything else out of the…
June at the St. Augustine Road Fish Management Area
June at the St. Augustine Road Fish Management Area is hot and steamy. The June rains have created a vernal pool that hosts all kinds of interesting critters. A vernal pool is a temporary body of water – this one is created when the summer rains fill ruts in a dirt road and once filled, remains for…
May in the Park
It has been a hot May in the park. Most of the birds are gone but we can always count a few on the automatic fish feeder they seem to like the perch. The arrowhead plants are all blooming: Found a tiny egg on the ground but can’t tell what kind and couldn’t see a…