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?-Oak Rough Bulletgall Wasp Read More »
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 …
On April 8 this year, most of North America will see a solar eclipse. 49 of the 50 states will see at least a partial eclipse, though most of Alaska will miss out. For certain parts of North America, the eclipse will be total. The path of totality will cross Texas, the corner of Oklahoma, …
What’s In My Backyard? Lake Friends: Muskrat For the introduction to this series, see here Meet the muskrat! When is a rat not a rat? When it is a muskrat! These aquatic animals are rodents but they are much more closely related to voles and lemmings than to rats. Muskrats are adapted to life in …
What’s In My Backyard? Projects: Tracking For the introduction to this series, see here It is winter or early spring. The ground is covered with snow or mud and the weather is quite cold. There are no insects or flowers, many birds have migrated to warmer areas and there doesn’t seem like there is much …
When does spring start this year? It’s complicated and depends on who you ask. This year, spring officially begins on March 19, the date of the March equinox. Equinox means equal night. But surprisingly, the equinox is not the date when all locations on Earth receive exactly twelve hours of light. On March 19, we …
Between three and a half hours to four hours after sunset, the stars Mirzam and Sirius rise. As I have mentioned in past posts, Sirius is the brightest star in the sky. But it wasn’t always that way. Around four million years ago, Mirzam was the brightest star in the sky, about seven times brighter …
