ladybug on milkweed

garden spider

Hidden in the grasses around the pond, this Yellow Garden Spider wove her web suspended from two plants two feet apart.  It looks like she has been successful catching lunch; the white item in her grasp is an insect wrapped in silk.  No brown paper lunch bags for this elegant creature, a Banded Argiope Argiope trifasciata.
 

planthopper

 

Planthoppers are masters of disguise. A green Acanalonid Planthopper, hiding on a stem, can look like part of the plant -- a seed pod, leaf, bract, or stipule. 

This one is only 3/8 inch long.  It was perched on a stem at the leaf sheath, probably sucking sap from the grass.  Planthoppers, true to their name, can leap many times the length of their bodies.  And they are very agile insects that can move easily forwards, backwards, or sideways. 

green frogs on rocks

Usually, the frogs who live here sit on shore hiding among grasses looking for prey insects or invertebrates.

But when a rock is available, Green Frogs Rana clamitans prefer to sit in the sun and wait for a meal to present itself.  

black wasp

 

I was surprised and apprehensive to see this big black wasp on a milkweed flower near the pond.  It was alarming because of its size (over one inch) but is not a pest to harm people. This Great Black Wasp Sphex pennsylvanicus, looks iridescent violet-black with smoky transparent wings that have a violet sheen. They visit flowers to feed on nectar and pollen; no harm to the plants. 

The female Black Wasp digs a burrow in the ground to reproduce her kind. She hunts katydids, paralyzes them, and places several in the burrow. She then lays eggs in the burrow.  They hatch into larvae. They have a ready meal, quietly growing into adult Black Wasps. 

dragonflies for lunch

On 7/18 we thought the Tree Swallows might be ready to leave the nestbox.  But they have not fledged yet.  The adults are still regularly feeding the three nestlings.  And they are bringing bigger food items as the young ones grow.  Today both parents kept up a continuous delivery of meals to the nestbox, including several dragonflies.  Two little birds were hanging out of the slot above the "door" hoping to get the prize, while the third one was inside the door.  The parents feed the young from dawn until dusk, bringing flies, beetles, ants, mayflies, spiders, grasshoppers, damselflies, and dragonflies.

phoebe nestlings

Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe is a small member of the flycatcher family that nests near water in open woodland and suburbs.  Phoebes are about 6-1/2 inches long, and mainly eat insects.

We've been watching this one since April as she sits in a tree or on a branch overhanging the pond.
Once she spots an insect, she flies off the branch, snatches the insect mid-air, and returns to the branch to eat it.  This is called “hawking”, a behavior shared with other members of the flycatcher family.

Once she started flying under a deck nearby with freshly caught food items, we suspected she was feeding babies.

Sure enough, two small Phoebes peeked out over the edge of the nest.

bee on cranesbill

While admiring the Cranesbill 'Karmina' in the gardens today, I noticed a fuzzy bee hurrying from one to another of the blooms that are just beginning to open.  I believe it is a Carpenter Bee Xylocopa virginica, commonly a nester in various types of wood; they eat pollen and nectar.

milkweed munchers

One leaf of Common Milkweed was being devoured by both a caterpillar and a beetle.  I wonder if either knew the other was there?