Nestlings and more (12 June 2017)

Shara and I stopped at the Ziibiwing Center last night (12 June) to check on the bluebird nesting boxes.  First up was the single Eastern Bluebird nest.  Here is what they looked like yesterday.

Eastern Bluebird nestlings on 12 June 2017 (photo by Shara LeValley)

For comparison, the same nest on June 6th.  Those little buggers have grown a lot in a week!

Eastern Bluebird nestlings on 06 June 2017 (photo by Shara LeValley)

 We also checked on the four Tree Swallow nests.  One nest had chicks that appeared to have hatched in the last 24 hours.  The chicks in the other three nests are a five to ten days old.  Here is a picture of  one of the older nests.  Unfortunately most of the other photos were too dark and blurry.

Tree Swallow nestlings on 12 June 2017 (photo by Shara LeValley)

The birds were not the only babies that we found.  While walking across the lawn, we noticed a patch of Common Milkweed and out of habit began to search for Monarch eggs and caterpillars.  We found one - our first caterpillar of the year!  Because grounds was at that time mowing the lawn, we knew this caterpillar would not survive where it was found.  We collected it and took it home to rear.  We'll release it once it metamorphoses as an adult.

Monarch caterpillar (photo by Shara LeValley)

Finally, we discovered paper wasps creating a nest on the underside of a sculpture.  Wasps create these nests by chewing up wood fibers and mixing it with their saliva to create a paper-like substance.  The hexagonal shape of each cell allows the wasps to fit the maximum number of cells in a small space.

Paper wasps (photo by Shara LeValley)

Paper wasp nest on coneflower sculpture (photo by Shara LeValley)

Native Pollinator Garden Update (14 and 15 SEP 2016)

Yesterday afternoon I photographed the Native Pollinator Garden at the Saginaw Chippewa Academy.  This year was a transition year for this garden.  The portable classroom that bordered it on the west was removed this spring.  This meant that the garden no longer gets water running off the roof and it is exposed to full sun for the entire day.  I was not sure how it would react to the changes.

Native plants are tough.  Most of them took the changes in stride, with no obvious ill effects. A few plants were noticeably shorter than in previous years, but everything survived.  Here are some pictures.

Looking north into the garden - the portable classroom used to be on the left

Honey bees were very abundant

 

Looking east toward the school - the bright yellow flower is Cup Plant

Butterflyweed explodes into seeds

Blue Vervain flowers

A wasp with a millipede it has captured

 

Culver's Root leaves

Cup Plant leaves

This morning (15 September), I stopped at the Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum to take a few photographs of their Native Pollinator Garden.  This garden is wild looking right now!  I love seeing how these gardens evolve from year to year.

Native Pollinator Garden at the Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum

Stiff Goldenrod is in bloom

Native grasses sprawl into the walkway

Prairie Dock silhouetted against the sky

A few Prairie Dock flowers remain in bloom

 

Horsemint

The tall plants to the right are Evening Primrose which is threatening to take over the garden

Asters are just beginning to bloom

Insect Photos

Yesterday I posted a worksheet that I use during a presentation on Michigan's Insects.  Today I am going to share the Powerpoint slides that I use during the same presentation.  I use these photos to show Third Grade students the diversity of insect species that can be found in the local habitats and to illustrate the various adaptations that insects have developed including warning coloration, mimicry, false eyespots, etc.. 

As before, if you can use these images for an academic purpose please feel free to borrow them.  Many of these photos appear elsewhere on this blog.

 There are 57 more slides below the break...