Naturalist

Meet the Neighbors: Mallard For the introduction to this series, see here. When many people think of ducks, they think of this species. They are common and live everywhere in the US. Unlike many other duck species that nest and raise their ducklings in Canada, mallards nest all over the place. The ducklings hatch out […]

Meet the Neighbors: Checkered White For the introduction to this series, see here. This butterfly is a member of the large family called whites. Some of these butterflies are pests. They lay eggs on cabbages and kale that we want to eat! If you find a little green caterpillar in your greens, it is probably

Meet the Neighbors: Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp For the introduction to this series, see here. These brightly colored wasps are master builders. They make nests of mud in shady sheltered places like bridges, garages, barns, and behind shutters. Their Latin name means builder of walls! They place captured spiders in the nests for their larvae to

Meet the Neighbors: Field Crescent For the introduction to this series, see here. This beautiful little butterfly lives in the western half of the country. Here in Colorado, I am on the eastern edge of its range. There are many species of Crescents so there is certainly one near you if you live in the

Meet the Neighbors: Elegant Grass-carrying Wasp For the introduction to this series, see here. This wasp is a member of the grass-carrying wasp group (genus Isodontia). These interesting wasps live up to their name. You will often see them flying along carrying a blade of grass longer than themselves. What are they doing with the

What’s in my Backyard? Backyard Safari: Moths and porch lights For the introduction to this series, see here. Night. It is mysterious to us daytime creatures. It is home to a whole host of nocturnal creatures. Today we are going to find out how to study nocturnal insects. The main problem with looking for nocturnal

Meet the Neighbors: Widow Skimmer For the introduction to this series, see here. Here is a beautiful species of dragonfly that is very common around ponds across much of the US. You also might see them in your yard in the late summer looking for mosquitoes and other insects to eat. Why are these dragonflies

Meet the Neighbors: Long-tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp For the introduction to this series, see here. Here is one of the most dramatic wasps you might see in your yard. This is a rather scary looking insect. After all, look at that long appendage on its tail. You might think that is an enormous stinger! In

Meet the Neighbors: Common Checkered-Skipper For the introduction to this series, see here. Today we meet the Common Checkered-Skipper. If you live anywhere in the US or Mexico or southern Canada, you will have these little butterflies living near you. Skippers are butterflies even though they are so small and chubby. Common Checkered-Skippers lay eggs

Meet the Neighbors: Carder Bee For the introduction to this series, see here. This is a carder bee. These bees “card” wool off of fuzzy plants like lambs’ ears to make a nice soft nest. Humans comb sheep’s wool before making it into things. This is called carding. It cleans and aligns the wool fibers.