Tag Archives: Reproduction

The Long Travelers: Leaf-cutter Bees, Part II

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Randy Tindall

Life travels, and a lot of it has made the journey to our backyard.  That includes Nadia and me–a few hundred miles from my point of origin for me and considerably more for Nadia.  Some of this life travels north … Continue reading →

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Cutting-up in Columbia: Leaf-cutter Bees in the Yard

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Randy Tindall

One of the joys of yard-watching in our urban wilderness is that you never know what you might find and where curiosity might take you.  One fine summer day as I patrolled our domain, camera in hand, I came across … Continue reading →

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More Caterpillar Creepies

Posted on June 7, 2014 by Randy Tindall

Our backyard has many amazing things, but this one had me puzzled for quite awhile.  However, I think I may have found the answer to what exactly this is: Until I sat down and really looked at this carefully, I … Continue reading →

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A Miracle of Monarchs

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Randy Tindall

We have seen very few Monarch butterflies in our backyard for the last two years, but that doesn’t mean they are not there.  Caterpillars are showing up on our milkweeds, so it seems that they must be making whoopee somewhere, … Continue reading →

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Unnatural Selection: Cardinals, Cowbirds and the Mob

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Randy Tindall

There seems to be something attractive about plant stands near our front and back doors.  So far, we have tried to assist in three attempts by Carolina Wrens to use them as nesting sites, which makes getting in and out … Continue reading →

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Hitting the Trifecta

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Randy Tindall

It’s not often—or ever before, to be honest—that I’ve had the chance to photograph several stages in an insect’s life journey in just a week or so, but I think I nailed it recently. We’ve got some wild senna growing … Continue reading →

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Where have all the berries gone?

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Randy Tindall

This is what the fruiting head of Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) often looks like after the berries have matured.  What berries, you say?  Ask the birds that ate them all, especially the robins that love to gorge on them and leave … Continue reading →

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No Free Lunch: Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Randy Tindall

Have you got milkweeds around?  If not, why not?  Have you ever noticed how many insects they attract?  Finally, have you ever noticed some of these insects dangling lifelessly from the milkweed’s flowers?  Ever wonder why?  (I hadn’t, until recently….) … Continue reading →

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Ants in Your Plants? The Magic of Myrmecochory.

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Randy Tindall

Let us again consider the Bloodroot, one of spring’s most lovely and ephemeral visitors.  Having emerged in March, the little herd in our yard is just now finishing with its crop of seeds, and here they are.  Almost, but not … Continue reading →

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The Upper Left-Hand Brick

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Randy Tindall

NOTE:  This posting has an error.   The apple-like oak leaf gall is caused by a midge, not a wasp.  The leaf gall of the wasp is an elongated gall along the veins of the leaf.  I will update the … Continue reading →

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