Another inlet

Yesterday was First Wed sitting in the shade. After the others headed home, Jeanne and I decided to take a walk along another inlet. So we were able to find a few more treasures. And we managed to stay in the shade too, mostly.

First, the Horace’s Duskywing on a lovely Ironweed!

A Garden Spider found a meal. It was out over edge of the bank. So there was no chance I was leaning out to get closer. LOL

Frogfruit was plentiful above on the level ground. Of course, there were multiple green bees taking advantage of the frogfruit’s generosity!

An Eastern Tailed-blue was there too. However, it would not hold still, turning this way and that.

Jeanne spotted this predated nest. Mostly a likely a turtle’s which would have made a fine meal for someone!

Of course, we ended up down in the sandy bottom of the inlet. A puddle was still here. At first I thought it was eggs. Moments before, we had just seen a puddle filled with minnows that were now stranded.

With a small stick, Jeanne was able to snag one. Turns out, it was a bunch of black tiny snails!

A Water-primrose (Ludwigia peploides) had plenty of pollen scattered!

A bug spotted! I thought it was going to be a bee. So I was surprised to see it was a Smaller Sand Cricket (Ellipes minuta)! It must have been a nymph because it was even smaller that ones I had previously found on different occasions.

With sweat pouring down my face, it was time to call it a morning. As we headed up the bank, Jeanne spotted the dead cicada. It was a dead Superb Dog-Day Cicada (Neotibicen superbus). The Eastern Black Carpenter Ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) were having a feast! Their foods include “sweets and protein, acquired from extrafloral nectaries, honeydew of aphids and hoppers, and scavenging or hunting soft-bodied insects.” Thanks Diane for ID’ing the ant!


Do you wonder what stories this beautiful tree has to tell? Indeed, it probably saw many critters in its long life. Not to mention the people sitting in its shade of its branches at their campsites. Or perhaps a birdwatcher watching a chickadee hunt for bugs. Additionally, now as a snag it still has life. Equally important, as it decomposes it harbors more life such as the bugs, fungi, and maybe woodpeckers hunting for bugs or a place for a home.

So tomorrow will conclude our finds on First Wednesday.

Meet the Great Seed Detective

This Map Lets You Plug in Your Address to See How It’s Changed Over the Past 750 Million Years

Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know.

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