What’s In My Backyard? Explore and Learn: endangered species For the introduction to this series, see here. When many people think of endangered species, they think about animals like Giant Pandas, Hawksbill Sea Turtles, and Bornean Orangutans. All three of these creatures are in danger of extinction. What many people do not know is that […]
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What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: Cottontail Rabbit For the introduction to this series, see here. Cottontail rabbits live all over the US. There are three species but they all look much the same. If you live in the east, you have Eastern cottontails living near you. If you live in the West, you
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What’s In My Backyard? Backyard Safari: What visits Yarrow For the introduction to this series, see here. Today we are going to find out what visits yarrow. What is yarrow? Yarrow is a tall feathery plant with flat rosettes of small flowers. It is related to chamomile. There are varieties that are native to the
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What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: Peachtree Borer Moth For the introduction to this series, see here. This is a female Peachtree Borer Moth. It looks like a wasp but you can tell it is not because it does not have a narrow wasp waist. This sinister-looking insect is bad news for peach and
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What’s In My Backyard? Projects: Invertebrate Trap For the introduction to this series, see here. Today we are going to build an invertebrate trap. Small ground-dwelling invertebrates are hard for naturalists to study in the wild as they tend to be good at disappearing into the soil or under leaves. Here is a simple trap
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What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: Gray Hairstreak Butterfly For the introduction to this series, see here. Today we meet a Gray Hairstreak Butterfly. This is one of the most common butterflies in North America. It lives all over the US as well as Central America and parts of South America. The butterfly has
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What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: Variegated Meadowhawk Dragonfly For the introduction to this series, see here. Meet the Variegated Meadowhawk. This species of dragonfly is common in the western half of the country and rarer in the east. Meadowhawks can be found near water or chasing insects over gardens and fields. If you
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What’s In My Backyard? Explore and Learn: Flies For the introduction to this series, see here. Today we are going to talk about flies! I can already hear the response: “YUCK! Why would I want to learn about flies? The only thing I need to know about flies is how to slam them with a
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What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: House Finch For the introduction to this series, see here. Meet the house finch, one of the most common birds in urban areas. The males have red faces and crests. The red color comes from a compound in their food called carotenoids; these are the same compounds that
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What’s In My Backyard? Meet the Neighbors: Variegated Fritillary Butterfly For the introduction to this series, see here. Today I want you to meet a backyard butterfly. Fritillaries are beautiful butterflies but if you want to see them up close you have to creep up on them very carefully as they are jumpy. The butterfly’s
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