Morels

a morel is the fruiting body, or spore-producing reproductive structure of an ascomycete fungus.

Red Milkweed Beetles Mating

Milkweeds support more than just the monarch butterfly. Several other species of insect including the red milkweed beetle have coevolved with, and are dependent on milkweed species for their food, and therefore survival. Red milkweed beetle mating on common milkweed in our garden (beetle: "Tetraopes tetrophthalmus", family Cerambycidae; plant: "Asclepias syriaca", family Apocynaceae).

Black Squirrel I

High in the canopy of an old black walnut, a black squirrel is eating a pendulous catkin. In other words, the squirrel is eating the male flowers of the walnut tree (tree: "Juglans nigra", squirrel: melanistic eastern grey, "Sciurus carolinensis").

Robber Fly Consuming a Japanese Beetle

This robber fly is one of my favourite insects in our biodiversity garden. First, it is a bumble bee mimic. Second, it is a predatory fly, and it's eating a Japanese beetle, a notorious introduced plant pest that feeds on an unusually wide variety of plants -- and always your favourite one! (robber fly: "Laphria" sp., family Asilidae; beetle: "Popillia japonica", family Scarabaeidae").

Amplexus

Amplexus in gray tree frog, "Hyla versicolor" in late June in our biodiversity garden in Ontario. The male is on top. They remained in this mating position for the better part of the morning. The night before, we photo-documented five males calling in the area. Amphibians are in decline worldwide. It is heartening to know that our native tree frog is doing well, at least in our little neck of the woods.

Katydid After Molting

The translucent pale colour of this katydid won't last long. It had just molted, and the new exoskeleton is in the process of hardening and darkening. After an hour or so, the exoskeleton will be a darker, opaque green (much like the leaves in the photo) providing the perfect camo.

Remains of a Horseshoe Crab

Horshoe crabs are marine arthropods that are more closely related to spiders than they are to crustaceans (crabs, shrimps, etc.). During the breeding season they migrate to shallow coastal waters and produce thousands of eggs which are a major food source for migratory birds. Atlantic horseshoe crabs are in decline and their population is threatened, which in turn threatens the birds that depend on them for food. Major threats to horseshoe crabs include over-harvesting (for medical applications), overfishing (for bait to catch eel) and shoreline development. Delaware Seashore, Atlantic coast, USA ("Limulus polyphemus").

Great Crested Flycatcher on Red Oak

Dune Grasshopper

Another excellent example of crypsis is the perfectly camouflaged immature dune or maritime grasshopper. By blending in with beach sand of its Atlantic coastal habitat it remains hidden from predators such as birds. Immatures are especially vulnerable because they cannot yet fly. Delaware seashore, USA (probably "Trimerotropis maritima").

Canada Gosling

A baby Canada goose.

Mollusca on Skunk Cabbage

Lovely native freshwater aquatic snails on one of my favourite native plants, skunk cabbage. Skunk cabbage is an important wetland indicator species (plant: "Symplocarpus foetidus").

Dragonfly

A female long-tailed skimmer, or whitetail dragonfly, "Plathemis lydia", photographed in our Ontario biodiversity garden.

#Cuteness

Chipmunk cuteness blast for the day. Chipmunks are ground-dwelling squirrels (eastern chipmunk, "Tamias striatus": Rodentia: Sciuridae).

Leaf Beetles on Butterfly Milkweed

The milkweed leaf beetle is another insect species dependent on milkweeds for survival (a member of the family Chrysomelidae). In our biodiversity garden they are more commonly found on butterfly milkweed (beetle, "Labidomera clivicollis". plant "Asclepias tuberosa").

White-tailed Deer

In mid-June in Ontario, a male whitetail with antlers still in velvet. White-tailed deer are generalist herbivores, and they have adapted to a variety of habitats. They are known to eat plants that are poisonous to other animals. They regularly feed on milkweed in our garden. Found from Canada through North, Central and parts of South America, it is the most widely distributed native ungulate in the Americas. Due to their ability to adapt to disturbed habitat, and the loss of natural predators such as wolves, their population is increasing across their range.

Dolomedes I

A female fishing spider is protecting her offspring. She is using her palps to hold the egg sac under her body, and will carry it around for nearly two weeks until the adorable spiderlings hatch. Most will become food for others animals but several will undoubtedly survive to adulthood (Araneae: Pisauridae: probably "Dolomedes tenebrosus").

Brown-eyed Susan

A red milkweed beetle wandering off its host plant, on a leaf of swamp rose mallow. Brown-eyed susan in the background.

Chipmunk on Nannyberry

The eastern chipmunk is a ground squirrel that often climbs small trees and shrubs in our biodiversity garden. Here the chipmunk is on nannyberry, with cheek pouches full of tasty fruits.

Marmot

Our local marmot, groundhog, woodchuck, or ground squirrel, selectively eating dandelion leaves (Rodentia: Sciuridae: "Marmota monax").

Red-bellied Woodpecker, Male

Medway Valley Heritage Forest Environmentally Significant Area, London, Ontario.

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

Another awesome example of crypsis. The colour pattern of the feathers of this female red-bellied woodpecker provides excellent camo as she forages for insects on a dead tree. Medway Valley Heritage Forest, London, Ontario

Boogie-Woogie Aphids on Beech

Endearing tiny dancing insects that won't do any serious damage to their host plant, American Beech. It is also commonly called the beech blight aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae: "Grylloprociphilus imbricator").

Urban Raccoon

With agile hands the raccoon was caught destroying our halloween pumpkin. We didn't mind, it was worth the laughs.

Red-Tailed Hawk

Red-tailed hawk ("Buteo jamaicensis") in the Medway Valley Heritage Forest in London, Ontario, Canada.

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker ("Dryobates pubescens") female in Medway Valley Heritage Forest, London, Ontario, Canada.

Ice Storm

One of my favourite native trees, American beech ("Fagus grandifolia") during a spring ice storm. Medway Valley Heritage Forest Environmentally Significant Area, London Ontario, Canada.

Monarch on Silphium

Monarchs are large butterflies, yet they forage on the minuscule florets of a native daisy called cup plant. The large inflorescence provides a landing pad (plant: cup plant, "Silphium perfoliatum" in the daisy family Asteraceae).

Cooper's Hawk

A Cooper's hawk in Medway Valley Heritage Forest, London, Ontario, Canada (Accipiter cooperii").

Parasitoid Wasp on Heliopsis

The long needle-like extension on the tip of the abdomen is the ovipositor, or egg-laying structure of this female parasitoid wasp. I watched her thrust the ovipositor down into the centre of the native daisy multiple times. This type of behaviour suggests she was laying eggs inside a host, probably some type of arthropod living concealed inside the disc florets. It serves as a reminder that in gardens and habitats with a diversity of native plants, tri-trophic interactions are more likely to occur because most native insects depend on native plants for survival (plant is native oxeye sunflower: "Heliopsis helianthoides", family Asteraceae).

Giant Swallowtail Cat on Hoptree Leaf

Caterpillars themselves are not pollinators, but they grow up to be pollinators. Most cats* feed on fresh green leaves of their food plants, and many are highly specialized on native species. If you want beautiful moths and butterflies flying around your garden, you'll want to plant the food plants of the caterpillars. You'll need to plant native species. Caterpillars are fascinating animals in their own right, and a major food source for birds. Native plants attract the insects, insects attract the birds. This is what biodiversity gardening is all about. The image shows the defensive display of a papilionid. All papilionid cats have an osmeterium (forked red structure), or an everscible gland behind the head that emits a foul odor, warding off potential predators (Cat: Papilionidae: "Papilio cresphontes"; plant: Rutaceae: hop tree, "Ptelea trifoliata"). *those of us that love caterpillars refer to them as "cats" for short.

Virginia Creeper

Virginia creeper is a member of the grape family, and one of the few native vines in Southern Ontario. It is often mistaken for poison-ivy, which has only 3 leaflets; Virginia creeper has five. A white-tailed deer lurks behind ("Parthenocissus quinquefolia": family Vitaceae).

Blue Jay

An iconic native North American bird.

October Moon

Officially, the night before the full moon, October 2017