[Life] 🌳 Paradise: The Nature Club

Got my clearest chipmunk photo yet and found a Pidgey fledgling wren in a Christmas tree!





And some more of my past moths: the Ash-Tip Borer, Cross-Lined Wave, Explicit Arches, Gray-Edged Bomolocha, Ironweed Root Moth, Orange-Tufted Oneida Moth, Rustic Quaker, Small Bird Dropping Moth, Hebrew Moth, and White-Blotched Heterocampa

What a beautiful collection of months! The chipmunk and wren was also a great surprise!

I have been enjoying hearing the birds sing this summer, and watching them shower in the bird bath. They are frequent visitors around my house, hunting for insects and fruit in the garden.

I was thinking that it might be nice to install a birdhouse to make things more cozy for them in the backyard. Maybe even a feeder when the seasons change to help them out when food gets more scarce for to find.

One thing that does give me pause though is that the next door neighbors keep their cats outside. The cats come and go as they please from yard to yard, roaming the neighborhood, and wear no collars with bells to announce their presence, so I worry about them hunting and catching birds and other small animals. I realize that they are just following their natural hunting instincts, so I don't blame the cats, I like them too actually, and have one of my own. I just wish that more people who acquire cats would also raise them carefully to avoid harming the local wildlife population for no reason.
I was hoping to feed the birds outside, and was wondering if it might be possible to do this, and maybe even have a house for them, but also keep predators from getting too close. Is there a relatively low risk way to do this?

I have heard some tips like making sure birdhouses are in extra high trees to make climbing more difficult and avoiding ones with perches, and using metal feeders might be good because the cat might slide down. Alternatively areas with open spaces so that it's harder for cats to conceal themselves. I'm sure that there's even more I can do, and thought I would ask around the nature club though for any advice that may be useful that I might not yet have heard. Are there any other materials or designs or openings ways to that might keep cats away? Feeders that rodents can't access would also be good.

While I am here, I thought I would ask everyone this topic question.

What birds reside in your area?

I usually notice cardinals where I live. They are the official bird of my state in fact. They are pretty and quite distinctive bird all dressed up in red.

I also encounter robins, oriels, finches, sometimes woodpeckers, maybe a mockingbird and on special ocassions I might see a hummingbird! I would love to have more of those guys :)

Spotted my first Pipevine Swallowtail yesterday! Started wanting one a few years ago when it occurred to me that Shiny Venomoth might have some kind of connection to them. Not the greatest shot though since my usual camera was charging. Distasteful (and potentially fatal) to predators thanks to their larval diet, several species mimic the appearance of these toxic butterflies.



Wish I was also able to get a shot of the inside of its wings. Males have such shiny hindwings. *_*

Found a few other new things over the past few days as well: a Broad-Headed Sharpshooter, Pink-Washed Leafroller Moth, and an Orange-Headed Epicallima



And though I found a Red-Spotted Purple Admiral cat. before, this was my first time seeing the reddish early instar. Looking fierce!

VisionofMilotic said:

What birds reside in your area?

Click to expand...

Already posted most (if not all) of my birds earlier in the thread, but some of our birds that have caught my eye include ruby-throated hummingbirds, woodpeckers, brown thrashers, European starlings, bluejays, cardinals, Carolina wrens, tufted titmice, eastern towhees(*), chipping sparrows, hooded warblers(*), scarlet tanagers(*), mourning doves, bluebirds, hawks, turkeys, herons(*), goldfinches, chickadees, and brown-headed cowbirds. (Those marked with an asterisk are less common.)

We've also got owls and whip-poor-wills, but I've never seen the latter and only saw the owl that Dad brought home to rehabilitate.

EDIT: Bad pic, but I spotted a hawk in the rain yesterday that seemed a bit more "pink" than the kind we usually get. Turned out to be a red-shouldered hawk!

Some new insect friends from the past week or so:











What's that? You want another batch of moths too? Have some more then! Here's a Yellow-Shouldered Slug Moth, Splendid Palpita, Spiny Oak-Slug Moth, Saddled Prominent, Peachtree Borer Moth (female), Lesser Maple Spanworm Moth, Greater Oak Dagger, Eastern Panthea, Curve-Toothed Geometer, and Assembly Moth (aka Stained Glass Moth).

I just recently discovered a lovely little recipe for cookies made with rose petals. We have so many beautiful flowers in the garden that I wanted to do more to make use of them.

They are simple to make, just a few ingredients, sugar, flour, rose water, petals and butter. Because I don't use dairy products I made it with a vegan country crock butter that is made with palm kernel and canola oil, and it was a great substitute, the cookies were fluffy, buttery and soft. These cookies taste kinda like thick, homemade sugar cookies, but with these pretty fruit-like spectacles. I thought I'd share this with the nature club because they were made with home-grown roses. Beside it is rose cut from a new, gorgeous addition of red rose bush. It's called the opening night hybrid tea rose, the petals are like velvet and smells like cherries.



Here is the video if anyone wants to make cookies from fresh flowers. I really think they are pleasant and unique, delicate flavor and look just a dainty and pretty. I didn't wait overnight for the dough to absorb the flavor, a few hours was sufficient for me. I'm too greedy. Happy summer folks!

My mom has a few rose bushes, so I'll have to send her that link!

- - -

One of the cats found this gorgeous Tufted Bird Dropping Moth trapped inside the kitchen window the other day. Caught and turned loose after its photo session. It's handsome as is, but it looks absolutely stunning when the light catches those scales just right. I'm hoping another shows up so I can try to better capture those incredible colors.



Also spotted these really tiny guys:

Skullcap Skeletonizer Moth

Hard Maple Budminer Moth

Clemens' Philonome Moth

Basswood Square-Blotch Miner Moth

And a new addition to the RealDex, a Codling Moth caterpillar for Applin. Don't worry, it wasn't an unpleasant surprise!



Got a few other things, but I'll save those for my next batch.

Last night marked the first night of National Moth Week 2022!

While I didn't get any new moths last night, I did get my first adult Monkey Slug, the Hag Moth, yesterday!

Aaand Moth Week 2022 has concluded! Didn't have a lot of activity here, unfortunately. I only got one new moth, the Belted Grass-Veneer, but that's better than nothing!



I also got a few new non-moths recently:

Zebra Swallowtail caterpillar

Cryptocephalus mutabilis, a case-bearing leaf beetle (NSFW)

Eastern Phantom Crane Fly

I'd been wanting to get a photo of the phantom crane fly for a while. I've spotted them before, but their broken silhouettes make it easy to lose track of them. They look almost surreal in flight!

A few recent moths: the Flowing-Line Snout, a particularly dark/boldly-marked Leaf Crumpler Moth, and one of the leaf miners, Parectopa plantaginisella



And some more past moths: the Black Bit Moth, Common Oak Moth, Desmia sp., Filbertworm Moth, Julia's Dicymolomia Moth, Morning-Glory Prominent (darker form), Rough or White-Spotted Prominent, Skiff Moth, Unspotted or Copper Looper, and Walnut Shoot Moth

As someone who adores bagworms, I've got a little bit of a grudge against Julia's Dicymolomia Moth. Its caterpillars prey on their eggs/larvae! Helps keep the population under control though, I guess.

Resembling a Pokémon egg, Shroomish may draw inspiration from the early, egg-like stage of certain gilled mushrooms. With its orange cap and neck ruffle, could Shiny Breloom have a connection to Caesar mushrooms?



What? Nincada is evolving!



Cross this juvenile cardinal with a Carolina wren and you'd have a nearly perfect Pidgey.

Only one more batch of moths after this one! Hoping for more newbies this fall!

Bold-Feathered Grass Moth, Confused Eusarca, Eyed Dysodia, Hibiscus Leaf Caterpillar Moth, Hubner's Pero, Pale-Winged Crocidophora, Ragweed Flower Moth, Sorghum Webworm Moth, The Beggar, and Yellow-Striped Armyworm Moth

Hadn't noticed until recently, but the aerial tubers of the Chinese mountain yam kind of resemble Chikorita, don't they?



Also found a Pipevine Swallowtail chrysalis (hatched) thanks to the fresh adult hanging out next to it and finally got an open-winged shot of the butterfly. Still trying to find a Papilio chrysalis for Metapod!



And this Brilliant Jumping Spider hiding out in some daylilies.

'Tis the season for caterpillars! Found my first Trumpet Vine Hornworm last week. Not the most colorful stage of the caterpillar, but I dig the blue tail!



Also found this Moonseed Moth caterpillar and my first later instar Hickory Horned Devil today. They were practically right next to each other!



EDIT: Aaand another one marked off the wishlist: the Crowned Slug Caterpillar!

I feel like I am viewing a wonderful encyclopedia thanks to all these crisp, eye-popping photographs by Icycatelf of the world of insects and nature walks. It's an Odyssey to come to this club, and see a these updates and additions, like a photographic journal. Impressive! My favorites include the Virginian tiger moth-- it look like frosmoth, and the Chikorita I mean the Chinese Mountain Yam and the beautiful azure bluet i.e shiny yanmega. The northern flicker bird is nice too. The hibiscus leaf caterpillar also has a great color.

Autumn has come to us here on the Northern Hemisphere, and while I'll always be a summer girl, I can still appreciate this time of year too, and each and every season for it's good qualities.

I thought I would pose the question, "What are your favorite things about autumn/fall?"

I'm currently enjoying the milder temperatures, and I also like all the autumn harvest festivals and holidays. Halloween is definitely one of my favorites. I love the magic of the costumes, and scarying eachother by telling ghost stories and watching horror movies, and putting up creative decor, going to events. It's a fun time of year.

One of the biggest highlights I find is that this is thd time of year where the sweet olive trees smell the most fragrant. When I step outside I am always taken by the aroma, some people say they smell like apricots, I thought it was more of a baby powder scent, whatever the case- it's wondrous.

I also love all the fall baking, and being able to take advantage of all the seasonal foods, drinking hot apple cider and making delicious pumpkin bread.

If you are living in the United States I found a nice interactive map to track the autumn leaves as they change around the country, and predict what they will look like in your area or a state that you plan to travel to in the upcoming months.

Right now everything still look bright green and like summer in my state, and most of the country, but at the start of October some leaves are going to start turning light golden yellow in my home of North Carolina, warm orange by the middle of month, and at the end there will be brilliant reds. My dad likes to go on autumn road trips through the mountains, so we should be seeing a grand view of the fall leaves soon.

https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/

I was trying to experience a bit of fall again before giving my answer. I haven't been spotting too much wildlife and the temperatures have been pretty random, so I'mma stick with the obvious "painterly fall colors." Below are a couple things that I did find though.

Canopy Jumping Spider with tree cricket prey

Acrotaphus wiltii, a festive-looking ichneumonid wasp. This species specializes in parasitizing the Arabesque Orb Weaver.

Fall festivals were a welcome change-up from the norm back when I was in school. I got some of my very first Pokémon cards during one!

EDIT: A couple more finds!

Green Darner (female)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail chrysalis (aka Metapod... or maybe Pupitar?)

Probably last batch of moths until next year: the American Idia, Common Spring Moth, Delicate Cycnia (aka Dogbane Tiger Moth), Friendly Probole, Juniper Geometer, Obtuse Euchlaena, Saddleback Caterpillar Moth, Sooty-Winged Chalcoela (alongside an Elegant Grass-Veener), Venerable Dart, and Yellow-Collared Scape Moth

Wasps normally parasitize moths, but the Sooty-Winged Chalcoela parasitizes wasps! It lays its eggs in the nests of paper wasp nests, which hatch into carnivorous caterpillars that consume the wasp's larvae and pupate there.

I think about the impact that pollution has on our planet, and would support ways to reduce the harm that we currently do to the environment, and am interested in what could be more sustainable alternatives for the future than what we have now.

I saw an interesting video in Insider about how seaweed can be used more for packaging instead of the plastic we rely on today. There's a woman in India who has a business called Zero Circle, and they make a plastic-like material from it than can be used for shopping bags, food wrappers, tea bag packets, clothing bags etc. It is supposed to be non-toxic, edible and it can dissolve in water fast. That's awesome because it could get rid of the problem of all the plastic floating around the world's oceans, taking up space and hurting the marine life. It can also be recycled into compost and break down naturally.

This was the news clip I saw, which explains it all in more depth.



I learned from watching that also that fashion designer Tom Ford has a plastic innovation prize. He is working with a foundation called Lonely Whale that does ocean conservation work. They have a contest with a million dollar award for the participant who proposes the best biodegradable alternatives to plastic, and will help that product launch on the global market. Zero Circle is a finalist. Half or more of the finalists are using seaweed, and think that could be the way of the future.

What do ya think?

Three new moths so far this year, and one's a greenie!

Lunate Zale

Green Pug

Bethune's Pinion

I also spotted a Pileated Woodpecker, a better candidate for Pikipek.

And I recently commissioned art of my "TrainerSona" (literally just anime me) with his team, based on some of the things I've found IRL (plus my cat) and inspired by this meme. Massive thanks to SmittenRainbowKitten @GaiaOnline! :D

VisionofMilotic said:

I saw an interesting video in Insider about how seaweed can be used more for packaging instead of the plastic we rely on today. There's a woman in India who has a business called Zero Circle, and they make a plastic-like material from it than can be used for shopping bags, food wrappers, tea bag packets, clothing bags etc. It is supposed to be non-toxic, edible and it can dissolve in water fast. That's awesome because it could get rid of the problem of all the plastic floating around the world's oceans, taking up space and hurting the marine life. It can also be recycled into compost and break down naturally.

Click to expand...

I'm all for earth-friendly plastic alternatives. Sadly, as long as the production of plastic is legal and remains the notably cheaper alternative, it's hard to imagine these having a humongous impact. :/

Not great pics, but I recently found my first peacock moth (a Peacock Brenthia Moth) and today a Rainbow Darter! I'd never seen such a colorful fish around here.

Some more finds from over the past few weeks:

Angle-Lined Prominent


Chinquapin Leafminer Moth


Decantha sp.


Pyreferra sp. caterpillar


Guenée's Pearl


Spotted Salamader larva?


Yellow-Sided Skimmer (female)


Greater Ant-Mimic Corinne Spider (male)


Common Raccoon