The frog pond awakes

 I hope you aren't tired of the eclipse... I thought about the Crumbly Acres camera, and it shows a bit of our drama. The camera thought it was getting dark and clicked in to night mode! 

eclipse from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The birds are coming back. Our bug-eating birds tend to flee south since our bugs lie frozen under the snow. I enjoy the change in seasons. Tidying up for winter, then setting things out for summer. 

With the birds being back, we know the bugs are getting ready. The frog pond is amazing. It is a very busy spot, being a vernal pond. It'll likely dry up over summer. I went down in the sunshine and spotted mosquito larvae, fairy shrimp, just boiling around in the water. I took these photos back when I could manage a micro lens, prior to cataracts. I've a secondary cataract in my left eye. Eventually I'll have to get it done.

The wood frogs are done. This was the last I heard. Maybe I ought to see if I can find any chorus frogs! 

wood frogs Apr 6 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

mosquito larvae from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Fairy shrimp from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It is a dog-eat-dog world!

 

damselfly larvae from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Yellow bellied sapsucker! He's banging on the metal, using it as an amplifier to establish territory and attract females.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We've two days of rain on the way. That will help gardens!

These daffodils should bloom today. Maybe. Maybe not in the rain!

Aquarium caterpigglies part II

I am still keeping up my aquarium caterpillars.This year, I've been taking caterpillarst in, pop them into the tank. Putting in a few toilet paper rolls for shelter, as well as a few length of Hops bine in a glass of water for food.



Last year I had a dilemma. I found a caterpillar and the photo and location wasn't enough to ID it. This is what my BAMONA expert said in 2014,

Comments: As far as I know, only two species feed on Hops, the Eastern Comma and the Question Mark. I have reared both, and this does not look like either one. Please, collect it and keep it in a jar until it produces a butterfly. You will be actually doing it a favour: out there in the open it could easily be eaten! If you succeed in rearing it, I can go back to this record and change the ID. For now, all I can say is that it looks more like a Question Mark. Ross 

Fair enough, says I. This is the same species as flummoxed us last year. I never thought to keep it to watch it morph into a butterfly.  I did capture a Mourning Cloak in July!
You may notice that the chrysalis now has a buddy. This is something I thought so funny.

The black one is Hypercompe scribonia Great Leopard Moth, and it has had one Instar. It sat there for a day or two, and has since moved back into the foliage. I had one ID's last year. You can see the shell here! It's not gone into a chrysalis.

In the meantime, I have this one, as well as a lady beetle larvae, and another mystery caterpillar. The Hops bine is a home for many, many critters, including my tree frogs!

 

These caterpillars, hatched into a beautiful bug, but I had a hard time grabbing a photo!

I'll leave you with this lovely lady beetle, and froggy! Everyone loves the Hops bines!