Snake!

 

I saw this northern water snake lounging on a tangle of branches on the shore of a pond in a park in Evesham Township, New Jersey. It was about four feet long. Big! The northern water snake feeds on fish and amphibians, which it swallows alive. These snakes are supposed to be common in the eastern United States, especially in the north -- but I rarely see them. I think it's draped nicely over the branches, like the pose of a snake on a caduceus. Click to enlarge the photo and follow its long twining tail through the twigs. Blends in, doesn't it?

And a nice zinnia for color. Zinnias are having their moment right now.

Golden Northern Bumblebee

One of the great things about summer -- golden northern bumblebees on red zinnias.

This is my favorite bee: so fluffy, so pretty, so eye-catchingly yellow-all-over. The golden northern bumblebee is an American native, found mainly in the northern states and particularly in the northeast.

 Click to enlarge.

It's just as pretty on pink zinnias.

Eastern Eyed Click Beetle

 

Sometimes all I have to do it sit still outside and a blog subject lands next to me. Like this eastern eyed  click beetle. It's about an inch and a half long. It has spots on top that look like eyes. They aren't, although they might fool a would-be predator into thinking the beetle is much larger, like proportionate to the big eye spots. (Which are just spots.) This is known as "self mimicry' wherein a body part mimics another. And the click? That part of the beetle's common name comes from its trick of snapping itself upright with an audible clicking sound if it has been turned on its back or just needs to get away fast. The click and the snap can startle -- long enough for a beetle in danger to escape. Click to enlarge.

With a pink zinnia for color.

Happy 4th of July

 

No blog today, just some holiday-appropriate red, white, and blue local birds. Like this perky northern cardinal gathering a gift of grapes. Click to enlarge.

A great egret in a sultry summer pond.

And a handsome insouciant blue jay. Have a great holiday! Click to enlarge.

Raccoon This Morning

 

I woke up early today. So early that not all the creatures of the night had settled down to sleep. Like this raccoon lounging in the maple tree in my yard.

Looks very relaxed, right? I was going to blog about something else today but raccoons in the yard take precedence over everything.

I went out to take a closer look and the raccoon pulled its arm in, backed up, sat still, and did a raccoon mind trick: "This is not the raccoon you are looking for.You can go about your business. Move along." Then it turned around, curled up with its back to the door and disappeared. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Suummer Is Here

Today marks the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Let the easy season begin. 

It's time for bees in flowers. Here is a golden northern bumble bee in a rose. It's a favorite bee of mine for which I obsessively search all summer long. Click to enlarge.  

And a haiku for the occasion by Kobayashi Issa:  

 

 

 

 

the sky colors
of dawn have changed
to summer clothes

Meet Brood X

 

The 17-year periodical cicadas we were expecting are here. I saw lots of them this week in Central New Jersey at Sourland Mountain, Skillman, and all over Princeton. If you'd like to see them, head to any park in those areas. Or maybe visit Grovers Mill in West Windsor Township. (The town in which the imaginary alien invasion was set in the War of the Worlds.) Click to enlarge.

After spending 17 years underground in dark quiet, the cicadas have these few weeks in the sun to sing, and fly, and mate. I am thrilled to witness the spectacle.

You hear them before you see them. At first they sound like the familiar cicadas of August, but as you get close, they get loud, really loud, because there are so many of them. At full volume the high whirring song makes me think of spaceships landing.

For South Jersey people who would like to search for Brood X locally, they were reported during the last emergence in 2004 in Stockton, Marlton, and Browns Mills. 

Here's to Brood X. See you in 2038.