Green Lacewing

 

 

 

 

Green Lacewing adults are minor pollinators, feeding on nectar from flower to flower.  The larvae, known as aphid lions, are a natural pest control, consuming many different kinds of harmful bugs like aphids.

 

 

They look so delicate.  Almost transparent.

 

 

Here is a heckofa moth

 

 

 

 

I think it’s a kind of Snout moth.

 

 

I’m going to take a shot at the species.  Gonocausta sabinalis.  It’s only in South Texas and Florida.  Those long features at the front are not the moth’s antennae.  Those are mouth parts for feeling, tasting, and smelling.

 

Specifically

 

 

That kind of Geometer Moth I sent out yesterday is known as a Speckled Wave.

 

This one is known as a bird dropping moth.

 

 

Unless I’m overthinking it and it’s really what it looks like.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday’s effort

 

 

I didn’t identify the species, but I got the Longhorn Beetle part right.  I’ll give myself a B+.

 

Today’s bug.

 

 

A Geometer Moth.

 

 

Geometer moths are the parents of inchworms, measuring their way around the world.  I won’t attempt the species; I’m led to believe there are 1,400 in North America alone.

 

So how did I do?

 

 

Bug guy says the cream-colored moth I identified as a webworm moth is actually a citrus gem.  The other ones, the brown ones are some type of Tiger Moth.  Well, a Lichen Moth is a kind of Tiger Moth, so I’m maybe kinda right.  I’d give myself, and AI, maybe a D- on this effort.

 

I’ll try again.  Here is a Longhorn Beetle.

 

 

 

Just the right combination

 

 

A warm west-facing wall in a rural setting, lighted at night, with a shade canopy over it during the day.  (Yes, the little church.)  Moths and other critters gather under the light at night and remain at dawn protected from the sun.  A veritable panoply of bug species.

 

I didn’t take the long shot, showing all the little dots on the wall, but I did get some close-ups.

 

 

With a little (okay, a lot of) help from AI, these appear to be lichen moths with an individual webworm moth in the middle.  The caterpillars of lichen moths feed on, you guessed it, lichen.  The chemicals in the digested lichen then make the caterpillars taste bad to some potential predators.

 

I’m going to send out a few more bug pictures from that wall, and with any luck I’ll get corrected if I’m off base with my identifications.  I’m not a bug expert, and as we all know, AI can and does, make the occasional bad assumption or mistake.  For now, anyway.

 

Take a hike

 

 

Conner did.

 

The Manitou Incline outside of Colorado Springs.  The incline was built in the early 1900s, a funicular railway to go up Pikes Peak.  The railway was damaged by a rockslide in 1990 and eventually closed.  Without train cars going up and down it anymore, who could then resist hiking up the roadbed of an incline railway?

 

It’s not a very long hike, slightly less than a mile, but it gains 2,000 vertical feet in one continuous staircase of 2,768 railroad ties.

 

 

A bit of a grind.  How long did it take?  52 minutes.

 

All the little hummingbirds have gone

 

 

Just this one great big one left.

 

 

Not really a hummingbird, of course.  It’s a hooded oriole.

 

 

Orioles are fruit eating birds.  They like the hummingbird sugar water nectar.  When he stands on one side, he can get the reservoir to spill over.

 

 

He gets the treat.

 

 

He won’t be here much longer either.  Also a migrant, it will be off to Mexico and Central America for him soon.

 

One of us has a favorite spot on the couch

 

 

 

 

Can we guess who?

 

 

And a predator

 

 

Harris’s Hawk.

 

Another Southern bird.

 

Unique in that they hunt in packs like wolves.  Some will land and flush prey for others to pounce on, then they share the meal.

 

 

Crested Caracara

 

 

 

 

 

Like the black vulture, a southeastern scavenger, but even more southern.  Southern Arizona, South Texas, and a few in Florida.

 

 

You’re probably asking yourself,

 

 

…again, why isn’t Steve sending out more bird pictures?

 

Okay.  If you insist.

 

Black vulture.

 

 

It’s a lot like the Turkey Vulture, but while the turkey vulture is everywhere, the black vulture is more southeastern.

 

 

Went to check on the little church

 

 

Years ago, it looked like this.

 

 

Abandoned.

 

A couple years later, even more worse for the wear.

 

 

There were local efforts to save the church and rehab it, but help didn’t arrive in time.  The remnants of a hurricane blew it down.

 

 

That was the last insult.  Money was donated.  Volunteers rebuilt the little historic Guadalupe Toreros Church.

 

 

That was a couple years ago.  We took a driveabout today to see how it’s doing.

 

 

Fully functional and cared for.

 

This is how we play

 

 

…at the puppy park when there are other dogs there.

 

Pressed up against mom.

 

Livestreaming an execution?

 

 

The FBI has a Violent Crime Section.

 

“If an actual murder, kidnapping, or physical assault is recorded and distributed, the FBI investigates the case as a violent crime, homicide, or civil rights violation.”

 

Just saying…

 

 

Two cars

 

 

Comfortably tucked in.

 

Just the right amount of room between them.

 

But now that we can get them both in side by side, we can see how much the carport roof doesn’t fully cover the outside car.  Now that the support has been extended, it’s time to extend the carport roof out that extra distance as well.  That will finish up the job properly.

 

The Gateway Arch

 

 

From a post in the way.

 

 

To wide open.

 

An east west beam to support the north south beam, and the bothersome post is gone.

 

Plenty of room for two cars side by side.  Perfectly functional.

 

And now that it’s built, we can see exactly what else to do to make it just right.

 

Another milestone

 

 

The weather forecast

 

Every day, less than 90 degrees.  Seems like we just hit our first forecast for every day below triple digits!  But another sure sign of fall.  Some thunderstorms, and (relatively) cooler weather.

 

Poof

 

 

Three days ago we had swarms of hummingbirds.  We were refilling feeders every day.  Suddenly, now, barely a bird.  One or two here and there.  There are still a few ruby-throated migrants, but not very many.  As migrants, they might hang around for a few days, or even a week each, but eventually they move on.  Even though they don’t flock, they don’t travel as a defined group, they might still arrive or leave together.  That seems to be what happened.  They all got the same idea at the same time, and poof.

 

 

 

Words of Wisdom

 

 

If you’re going to throw deep, don’t send a short receiver downfield.  The farther away they go, the smaller they get.  Send a 6”2, 6’4” receiver with a bigger catch radius.

 

Tom Brady.

 

 

 

The deluge

 

 

It happened right after yesterday’s photo.

 

 

A neighbor’s rain gauge recorded four inches of rain in the next hour or so.

 

Right at the same time as this photo, it turns out there was an Amazon delivery.  There might sometimes be an Amazon delivery van, but Amazon also contracts with various private drivers to make their deliveries, so there is no consistency for who shows up with the packages.  Rather than having inexperienced people driving all around the park trying to find lot numbers, there is an Amazon delivery box inside the park at the office.  We’re gated, so to get inside and access the delivery box, the driver has to stop at the gate, punch the button to call the office, and the office will trigger the gate to open.  Once inside, the driver puts each delivery for the day in the delivery box, snaps a photo to document the deed, and leaves.

 

Apparently, the office didn’t pick up for this driver’s call yesterday, so the driver faced a conundrum.  I have deliveries to make.  The gate won’t open.  What to do?  Delay the delivery and try again the next day?  No.  Different decision.  This is the photo we got to announce our Amazon delivery.

 

 

All the deliveries for that day.  Piled on the ground at the foot of the call box.

 

 

Moments before the deluge.

 

 

A chance of rain

 

 

 

 

 

In this bush

 

 

There is a Chachalaca.

 

 

It’s a big chickenlike bird.  It ranges from the south tip of Texas down through Eastern Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula.  Noisy at dusk and dawn, it sits quietly in cover during a hot summer day.

 

 

Not really visible in the first picture, it appears in the one above.

 

 

And now we can see another one right below it.

 

 

These are the only ones I saw, but there could be so many more that went unnoticed.