In this entry, I'll present some photos from summer days that didn't warrant an entire entry to themselves.
We'll start with July 9, a day on which I came out of my place and found a big beetle on the walkway in front of me. Returning quickly home, I grabbed my camera, macro lens, and flash and took several photos. |
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| This beetle is the Ten-lined June Beetle, Polyphylla decemlineata, and it appears to be a female. This poor lady was either deceased or in a deep meditation, because she didn't move at all while I was photographing her. |
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| It's the relatively small antennae, seen to the side of the head in the following shot, that make me believe this is a female. |
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| When I went back in to put my camera away, Zippy was basking in some sunshine on the carpet, so I took a few shots of him, too. |
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| On July 14, I came home to find a really cute little jumping spider on one of my pillows. He was a Platycryptus spider, probably P. californicus. I took a few photos before I coaxed him onto a piece of paper and transported him outside. |
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Maybe he was a sign that I've been engaged in too much politics at work lately.
On July 31, I found a big moth on the wall by the stairs leading to the underground parking at my condo. |
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| I was particularly fascinated by its antennae, which looked like fishbones. |
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| The next day, I found another sort of moth on an exterior wall. |
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| I also stopped by the garden on the river side of the building, and found a couple of other interesting little critters. Critter number one was a colorful little grasshopper. |
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| And critter number two was a Manicatum bee. |
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| On August 11, on the same side of the building, I found some more bugs. This one is a Bald-faced Hornet. |
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| And here's a shot of his bald hornet face. |
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Bald-faced Hornets don't win too many beauty contests. Nor are they really known for their table manners.
On the wall by our waterfall pool, I found this little jumper. I think she's a Sitticus palustris, but I'm not sure. |
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| I need to find some good references on jumping spiders; I see them around quite a bit and always have a tough time identifying them. Drop me a line if you know of any.
There was a nice Ichneumon (a kind of wasp) hanging out underneath a leaf on one of our bushes. Ichneumons are friendlies: they don't sting, and some are used to control other more troublesome insects. I like their long antennae. |
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There's something like 60,000 species of ichneumons in the world. That's a lot of wasps.
In contrast to that ugly, sloppy hornet above, here's a cute little Yellowjacket, politely nibbling on a squished berry. |
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Now, that's the way a proper insect should be.
On August 16, I went out to Reifel and the Tsawassen ferry jetty. Surprisingly, the only interesting photos I got from Reifel were two photos of insects. The first is a little butterfly known as a Woodland Skipper. |
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| And the second is a Sand Wasp. I see these fellows all of the time at Iona, but this was the first time I remember seeing them at Reifel. |
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Now, given the number of invertebrates that I've been taking photos of lately, some of you may think that I've given up on birds. That's not the case; it's just that I can find a wide variety of the little things right around home, whereas I need to venture farther afield to find good avians. So when I'm busy, with work or other stuff, I end up with more macro. When I have more time, I look for bigger fauna.
Just to reassure you even more on that point, here are some actual birds. The first is an eagle in a tree by its nest, which I found as I was on my way out of Reifel. |
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| And after I left Reifel I headed to the Tsawassen ferry jetty, where I found a flock of about 60 or so Western Sandpipers on the south side of the jetty. I slowly worked my way down to where I could get detailed shots of them. |
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| Note how their bill curves: it's almost straight on the top, and more curved on the bottom. That distinctive shape is a good way to tell Westerns from our other small Calidris sandpipers. |
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| After leaving the Westerns, I found this other striking fellow on the north side of the jetty. He's a young Black Oystercatcher. |
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That was it for August 16.
On September 19, I woke and stepped out on my balcony to find a house floating by on the Fraser. Water levels must've gotten pretty high upriver. |
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| Later that day I found some more little things around the building. Here's a harvestman with a bright orange underside. |
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| And here's a stinkbug on the stucco of our building. |
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Near our waterfall, I found a brown-shelled snail. I was excited, because I hadn't seen any brown-shelled snails around before, and thought I had found a different species. Sadly, when I went to identify him, I found that this is just a variant coloration of the usual yellow-and-dark-brown Grovesnail (Cepaea nemoralis) that are quite abundant here.
Despite it being the "same old species," it was interesting to see a different-looking one. I was able to get a good picture of the aperture on the shell. Here, the snail is inside, and the yellow stuff is a special spongy protective mucous that is used to seal in moisture and to deter predators. |
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I suspect that the mucous doesn't taste very good, but then again, I didn't try it. Maybe next time.
Here's what the shell looked like from the other side. It was quite pretty.
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On the last day of September, I came home to find both my cat Zippy and my neighbor's cat Sonic in my place. Zippy was a little dusty, but he didn't mind posing for me for a few shots. Normally, he wants to groom himself before allowing me to take photos. |
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Sonic was being cute, all curled up in my laundry basket on top of some clothes that needed washing. He was asleep when I first started taking photos, but roused himself as I moved in closer with the flash. And I did move in quite close. |
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In case you're wondering, it was moist, cool, and healthy. Just the way a cat's nose should be, and a fitting end to a healthy summer's worth of photos.
Worried about my dry, warm nose,
Tom
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