Prairie på en kall vårmorgon

På farten 37 grad morgon i norra Illinois bestämde jag mig för att damma av min kamera och utforska utvecklingen av “vår”. I hit Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve by 6:30vid, lagom till det första ljuset smälter den fläckiga frosten. A week and a half ago temps were pushing the upper 80’s and summer . . . → Läs mer: Prairie på en kall vårmorgon

Frog Surprise

Over on Arthropoda, fellow SFS blogger Michael Bok shared an image of his field buddy, Plugg the green tree frog. My first thought was of a similar tree frog that haunted welcomed me everywhere I went in Santa Rosa National Park, COSTA RICA. Needless to say, Costa Rica instills a sudden habit of double checking . . . → Läs mer: Frog Surprise

Ta det, ryggradsdjur!

Jag har länge vetat att skalbaggar och andra inverterar ibland har ryggradsdjur på menyn, men jag visste inte riktigt hur stort ett djur de kunde underkasta sig! Även när de udda mantisna tar en kolibri är storleksskillnaden inte lika stor som visas nedan. Denna imponerande video var . . . → Läs mer: Ta det, ryggradsdjur!

Richard Branson är en idiot

 

Source: Wikipedia

It turns out that Richard Branson has a new idea; to save the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) by importing them to his private British Virgin Island. As the article points out Branson spent millions of pounds and years of effort to turn the island intothe most ecologically . . . → Läs mer: Richard Branson är en idiot

The Bison of Catalina

Perhaps the only place in the world where you can find an American bison (vs. buffalo) standing near a beach next to a palm tree. The week on Santa Catalina was an wonderful one, and despite a cool spring with a few unseasonable frosts, some decent collecting was done. Here are just . . . → Läs mer: The Bison of Catalina

Have you seen me?

For those Californians reading, especially those in the south, keep an eye out for this beautiful little spider, Latrodectus geometricusthe brown widow. Arachnologists at UC Riverside are monitoring the spread of this invasive species. Ironically it turns out to not be as dangerous as our native black widow. Nonetheless, it is not . . . → Läs mer: Have you seen me?

The Art of a Goose Chase

For the last four weekends now I have been on a goose chase, for one moth, Heliolonche celeris. It’s a beautiful small Noctuidae with pinkish forewings and stunning orange-red hindwings. It isn’t very often encountered and only found along the northern California mountain ranges feeding on Malacothrix flocciferaa CA endemic flower. Every trip . . . → Läs mer: The Art of a Goose Chase

Nu är vår chans…

Ett 15 fot grå val precis spolats upp i San Francisco Bay. Nu är vår chans för exploderande whale del 2!