September 21, 2014

Fair warning to those of you who are not enamored with insects - this week I had a double feature.  I saw two insects - a spider and a grub - interacting with each other, although one was doing a lot more interacting than the other.  If you follow this blog, you know that spiders (which are actually arachnids, not insects) are carnivorous predators, so you have probably guessed that the spider had the upper hand in the relationship.  In fact, the spider, a medium sized dock spider, was in the process of consuming the grub.

The grub was still alive, squirming in a futile effort to escape. 

Later the same day a large flock of warblers flew through the area;  they were picking similar larvae off the leaves of trees as they went.  The whole flock was present for only a minute or two, flying on after clearing out the immediate area.

I saw another tiny creature that must have hatched out just recently - a Brown Snake. 

Immature Brown Snake, or DeKay's Snake (storeria dekayi)

Although very small, it was rather quick, but it settled down in my hand to pose for a picture to show the size of it.

This species of snake bears its young live;  this one may have only been a few days old.  I found it creeping in the vicinity of the late-blooming Nodding Ladies' Tresses which I always enjoy finding this time of year.

Nodding Ladies' Tresses

The lake was very quite on Sunday when I went for a kayak;  I saw more ducks than humans, although there were people out on the islands enjoying the warm day before the showers came through.

I also more signs of the leaves starting to turn.

Maple Trees in Wicwas Wetlands

And as the sun arcs lower in the sky and sets farther south, the evening light shines its orange colors on different shores around the lake, now painting houses on the north shore a beautiful color at sunset.

The equinox occurs tomorrow (Monday) at 10:29pm.  Welcome fall.