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he was too fast for me to get my phone out but i spotted a hefty 3' king snake on my bike ride yesterday. lucky i spotted him in time at all since he was right in the middle of the trail! e; this is like my third terrible snipe of the morning 
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May 21, 2020 17:25
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Saw a European Hornet queen today. Again, no time to take pictures, it just wouldn't hold still.  But goddamn, girl was enormous. At least one and a half inches, the size of a small female stag beetle. Never seen one that big before. I think she was looking for nesting opportunities, she kept checking out every crevice or sheltered corner that could conceivably hold one.
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May 25, 2020 14:06
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Please be more respectful, they're sensitive about their size
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May 25, 2020 15:29
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Freshly molted 3rd instar Callosamia promethea. The first two instars are zebra striped communal feeders, 3rd instar they get new colors, new horns, and new behaviors, and strike out on their own.
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May 26, 2020 02:22
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Slo-Tek posted:Freshly molted 3rd instar Callosamia promethea. The first two instars are zebra striped communal feeders, 3rd instar they get new colors, new horns, and new behaviors, and strike out on their own. Are you still doing that thing where you're trying to breed silk moth super giants by raising them in a hyperoxic environment?
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May 26, 2020 02:24
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Mak0rz posted:Are you still doing that thing where you're trying to breed silk moth super giants by raising them in a hyperoxic environment? Not at the moment, still have the rig up for it, but have been busy on other projects for the last couple years. Did see a good 15% increase in maximum size over 3 generations though. (and a really unfortunate rise in mortality, oxygen is hard on a body).
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May 26, 2020 02:27
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 Found this sparrow (?) egg on a stump in my backyard this morning. I'm not sure how it could have fallen from a nest without breaking and I doubt it was laid there intentionally. A mystery! I considered trying to incubate it myself but my wife vetoed that. Boy, I need to moisturize my hands more.
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May 27, 2020 15:16
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Incubating eggs is a woman's job
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May 27, 2020 15:24
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Sparrow eggs are very light. If the ground is soft enough, they can fall from fairly great heights without breaking. I found a complete nest including two unhatched eggs once that had fallen out of a tree on a windy day. Still have it, actually.
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May 27, 2020 15:26
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Found a bunch of extremely cool sexton beetles (Nicrophorus vespillo) aggregated inside a tree hole where some tiny animal has died. Probably a slug but so decomped and mushy so who knows.   Interesting mating behaviours among this genus. Males find a cadaver, call ladies with pheromones to mate and cadaver will serve as larval food. After mating the male will ofc want to call more ladies, which he will do until he gets physically reprimanded by the mated female. Both male and female care for their larva, provisioning and guarding them in the cadaver they both bury. Falukorv fucked around with this message at 11:16 on Jun 2, 2020 |
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Jun 2, 2020 01:05
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I helped a sluggish bee off the sidewalk the other day.  She seemed to appreciate the sugar water, but once I put her back outside she just sort of flailed her legs and didn't fly away. I left her in the shade and she was gone when I checked later on, so I'm just going to tell myself she was fine after a rest.   Looks like one of the raven chicks under the nearby overpass didn't make it.   Developing feathers are weird.
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Jun 2, 2020 02:00
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No kidding. Wow, that looks creepy.
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Jun 2, 2020 02:03
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Went on a hike today. Didn't see much (mostly other hikers' dogs) and most of what I did see flew off too quickly to get a shot of. I did get the wood pecker. He waddled to the other side of the tree when I got too close.  There was also this little chipmunk:  She was obviously used to humans, and wanted me to toss some food. I did not (nut shells don't count, right?) 
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Jun 3, 2020 01:22
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That looks like a pileated woodpecker, they’re awesome and bold as brass when they want to be
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Jun 3, 2020 01:55
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Great Basin Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus bicinctores)
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Jun 3, 2020 03:30
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the yeti posted:That looks like a pileated woodpecker, they’re awesome and bold as brass when they want to be I saw one yesterday and it's always a highlight of my day. They're very large for those who aren't familiar with them and they have a pretty goofy call. They can also make quite a racket on utility poles.
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Jun 3, 2020 04:39
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The biggest peckers are the loudest peckers.
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Jun 3, 2020 04:54
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Related:Sex Skeleton posted:It’s a Pileated Woodpecker! I only see those guys in the backcountry when I’m hiking. Woodpeckers have a brain case that’s reinforced because they slam their heads against trees all day to signal reproductive fitness. Their tongues also wrap around and behind their brain inside their heads. ncumbered_by_idgits posted:Lol what?
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Jun 3, 2020 17:21
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If Pileated Woodpeckers had elbows, they could lick them no problem.
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Jun 3, 2020 17:28
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I saw a baby gator (easily less than a foot long, I'd guess six to eight inches) play its part in the circle of life today, courtesy of a great blue heron. That heron's a beast. I see him (pretty sure it's a him courtesy of its breeding plumage) on my lunchtime walks down to the lake next to where I work every day, and just a few days ago I saw him eat a gallinule chick that wandered too close.
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Jun 3, 2020 17:37
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A huge spindly spider has adopted my back door area where the bugs get in when i put the dogs out at night and he's only got 6 legs so at first I wrote him off as a faker but now he's got a whole collection of earwig trophies dangling there around the worst, dumbest web ive ever seen and frankly I'm still not convinced this isn't some kind of insect humor at my expense but if this weird dumb insect identifies as a spider I'll do my best to respect its wishes as long as it stays in one spot and continues to defend the homestead against invaders
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Jun 6, 2020 02:56
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He is your vassal now, treat him well and he will reward you with loyalty.
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Jun 6, 2020 03:03
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poverty goat posted:A huge spindly spider has adopted my back door area where the bugs get in when i put the dogs out at night and he's only got 6 legs so at first I wrote him off as a faker but now he's got a whole collection of earwig trophies dangling there around the worst, dumbest web ive ever seen and frankly I'm still not convinced this isn't some kind of insect humor at my expense but if this weird dumb insect identifies as a spider I'll do my best to respect its wishes as long as it stays in one spot and continues to defend the homestead against invaders Cool. Does it look like this? 
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Jun 6, 2020 04:15
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joat mon posted:Cool. Does it look like this? too many legs. 
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Jun 7, 2020 00:54
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Same family. That's pholcid, or cellar spider. In some regions people call them daddy longlegs (not to be confused with the non-spider harvestman with the same nickname). drat it's legs are broken in such a way that it actually looks like it's supposed to have six. Weird.
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Jun 7, 2020 00:58
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next molt may restore spider to 8-leggedness, I think most spiders can regrow them.
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Jun 7, 2020 01:31
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Yeah, that type tends to lose them all the time, what with how oversized and fragile they are. They grow back fine.
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Jun 7, 2020 03:34
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https://imgur.com/a/0n7JlJ0 Just had a really stupid dinosaur come by on her way back to the pond after laying some eggs. She decided to jump off every retaining wall in this photo:  Biggest snapping turtle I've ever seen. Saw her in the backyard just before going on her tumbling adventure. Had its neck craned up and my first thought was about how sad, someone's lost giant tortoise. Had a neck like a snake and refused to move the 4 feet to the north to just avoid all the falls, so I put down the few things I had on hand to cushion the fall onto the concrete level.  Stopped a couple of cars and made sure she made it to the pond across the street.
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Jun 7, 2020 21:56
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Jun 8, 2020 13:01
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Over the winter I noticed a happy little bird couple moved into a birdhouse left by the previous owner of my home (I moved in in September.) Not entirely sure what kind of birds they are, other than small and light brown. Maybe a kind of thrush or sparrow? Heard some noises when I was checking on my garden yesterday, and wouldn't you know it, they started a family: https://i.imgur.com/yYXuHeT.mp4 I assume mom (and dad? do they dads stick around after the eggs hatch?) were off getting food. I'll make sure to do my best to not disturb them, don't want the parents to abandon the nest (Is that a concern? My garden is maybe 6-7' from the birdhouse, which is just above my head level, so maybe 6.5' off the ground.)
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Jun 8, 2020 14:08
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Aaahhhh he's so tiny  it looks like when toddlers reach that "head too big for their bodies" stage lol
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Jun 8, 2020 19:32
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Any bird nerds who can help me ID this little dude? Owyhee mountain rangeland, southwest Idaho. 
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Jun 9, 2020 00:20
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I'm not a birder but: maybe a juvenile Sprague's Pipit? I'm just going from that feather pattern with the dark center and then the white edges. Here's a juvenile  from https://identify.whatbird.com/obj/370/overview/spragues_pipit.aspx
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Jun 9, 2020 00:56
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Nice. I'd lean toward American Pipit since we're pretty far removed from the Sprague's native range. The Owyhee's aren't exactly part of A. rubescens breeding range but I can't come up with any better ideas, so thank you.
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Jun 9, 2020 01:36
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Ah sure, yeah that could fit too. American Pipit wasn't listed here: https://www.whatbird.com/birdexpert/statecolorsize/5/6418/306/2070/45/birdexpert.aspx so I didn't look at it. although it would have helped if I put in Idaho instead of Ohio, lol! found some guy's image of what he identified as a baby American Pipit that looks pretty close around the beak area:  http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2012/11/american-pipit-mt-baker-wilderness-wa.html Although this one has darker plumage, might be a second molt, or could be misidentified. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Jun 9, 2020 |
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Jun 9, 2020 01:58
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BABY SPIDERS!!! I tried to convince them to stay but in a few hours they were gone.
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Jun 9, 2020 21:28
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Do you know if they "ballooned" away? I always thought that was a great way to leave a conversation.
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Jun 10, 2020 12:38
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Yeah, I caught three of them flying away before I had to leave for work. So adorable!
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Jun 10, 2020 14:37
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The Red Queen posted:Do you know if they "ballooned" away? I always thought that was a great way to leave a conversation. It's always fun to see balls of Araneus orb weaver spiderlings. Unlike the grown spiders, they are bright yellow. They have a tendency to cluster together in these really dense blobs of spider and burst apart when something startles them. Then they cuddle back together. It's adorable.
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Jun 10, 2020 14:41
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These birds build a nest in this post every year, but this is the first time I've seen a baby brave enough to pop out! (This is as close as I could get without scaring it back inside.)  EDIT now there are two  FOOD TIME!!   
vortmax fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Jun 12, 2020 |
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Jun 12, 2020 15:35
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