Naturalist

What’s In My Backyard? Lake Friends: Painted Turtle For the introduction to this series, see here Here is a young painted turtle. He has some dirt stuck to him as he just popped out of an underground nest. He was found walking across a trail at a local living history museum. I put him in […]

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: Green Striped Grasshopper For the introduction to this series, see here Look at the eyes of this grasshopper. I always think it looks like it is half asleep or very bored. This grasshopper is one that you might see in early spring since the young grasshoppers overwinter in

What’s in my Backyard? Project: Pond Dipping For the introduction to this series, see here. Warm weather is here now and it is a great time to be a naturalist. There are so many plants and insects to study and the birds and mammals are all raising young. The world is full of life and

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: Arizona Sister For the introduction to this series, see here This big beautiful butterfly lives all across the southwest. I saw this specimen while I was on my pilgrimage through New Mexico. The caterpillars eat oak leaves. The adults prefer mud puddles and rotting fruit! Previous Posts

What’s In My Backyard? Backyard Safari: Ant Farmers For the introduction to this series, see here Did you know that somewhere in your yard there might be a group of heavily armed shepherds guarding a vulnerable flock of livestock from huge predators? It is true! The shepherds are ants, the sheep are aphids and the

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: squash bug For the introduction to this series, see here You might find these pests of squash plants hiding under piles of boards or sticks in winter or early spring. Once the warm weather arrives, the bugs come out and mate and then fly away to find a

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: snakeweed grasshopper For the introduction to this series, see here This brightly colored western grasshopper is considered a beneficial insect by ranchers. This might seem surprising as most grasshoppers are considered pests. This grasshopper eats weeds (especially snakeweed) that are poisonous to sheep and cows. In the spring,

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: Spotted Towhee For the introduction to this series, see here You will often see this brightly colored little bird scurrying around under trees and bushes scratching in the leaves on the ground. These birds live in the western United States. If you live in the east, you will

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the neighbors: Oak Rough Bulletgall Wasp Look at the young oak tree in the photos. All of its branches are covered with strange hard bumps! If you look closely, you may notice small round holes on the bumps. These bumps are called galls and they are the work of the

What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: Mockingbird For the introduction to this series, see here This robin-sized gray bird lives up to its name. An adult mockingbird may know as many as 200 songs! These birds imitate the songs and calls of many other birds. Mockingbirds like to sing so much that sometimes they