Here’s part II of my fall feeder birds of New England post. Click here for the original post.
Feeder birds with New England fall backdrop II
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Update on the tomato hornworm
Here’s a quick update on the tomato hornworm I wrote about a few weeks ago. As you can see from the above photo, it didn’t get any better for the tomato hornworm, the caterpillar of the five-spotted sphinx moth. I was pulling some of the dying tomato plants out of the garden the other day when I noticed this scene on a bunch of small pear tomatoes. As you can see, some of the wasp cocoons are empty now as the wasps completed their cycle and flew off into the world.
Confused? Here’s the original story.
Here’s what the caterpillar looked like a few weeks ago:
Don’t let looks fool you
I love when I stumble upon these. Yellow garden spiders may look threatening, but they are harmless and not aggressive towards humans. They can bite humans but will only do so if threatened (handled, stepped on, sat on, etc.) Females are the large, colorful ones we see in gardens and fields. Males are smaller and nondescript. They are native to the U.S. and are beneficial to our landscape, if not intimidating-looking.
Fall scenes
I know it’s not fall officially until Tuesday, but this scene certainly makes me think of fall.
One word: Raccoons
I didn’t see the culprits, but I know damn well it was raccoons. The locking handle was engaged and everything. Those bast… animals are smart and persistent.
Birds and salvia Part 2
As promised, here are a few more shots of birds near my salvia blooms. Click here for the original post if you missed it.
Mantis mania
I was checking milkweed plants for monarch caterpillars and came across this instead. I’ll take it. I’ve seen a lot of Facebook posts lately featuring praying mantises. I guess it was my turn.
Bee on sunflower
The best part of this iPhone photo — aside from showing a pollinator at work — is that the sunflower is a ‘volunteer’ from spilled birdseed. I have a few of them this year.
Queen of the yard
This dainty-looking lady is the queen of my backyard — just ask the other hummingbirds that dare get too close to “her” feeder.
Random iPhone photo from the woods
Like many New Englanders, I’ve been out of power since Tuesday afternoon. Based on the condition of my neighborhood, it may be a while until I’m back online. What a mess. So, with limited resources, here’s an extra photo from my recent trip up north. It was taken with my iPhone and I’m posting this with my iPhone.
Birds of New England.com 