Now that’s not very nice. I went to secure the 5 caterpillars on the fennel in the garden, and only found 3. The praying mantis was over the carcass of one of the caterpillars, cleaning hisself up after the snack. I suspect that’s where the other one went. […]
I spotted these 2 mourning doves, french kissing on the tree. After a while of that, they knocked boots, then did a little more kissing, before taking off to find dinner 💞
Of the 3 cocoons we have left, #5 emerged today, and is a beautiful girl named Maria. She’s our first female of the season. I hope we get more. She spent time on the lantana, and then on her way to make more butterflies… And I spotted 5 […]
Yesterday we had 4 of the butterflies emerge from their cocoons. All 4 happened to be males, which will help spread the species a little while longer. #2 was our upside down guy, and #4 was still inside when HjL was watching it, and it snuck out the […]
Yesterday, #7, the last caterpillar cocooned. We have all 7 in their chrysalis now. Here’s what it looks like as they enter that phase. This process takes time. The video was sped up just a tad, or you’d all fall asleep … There’s also a full family portrait. […]
Spotted my first Black Swallowtail butterfly in the wild, while walking through PCP. At home, we have 6 caterpillars cocooned, and one is still eating away. And I spotted new eggs on the backyard fennel. 🐛 🦋
Spotted this Yellow Warbler @PCP, inviting a lady to dinner, singing and offering all sorts of tiny insects …
Here’s a prequel to this morning’s Strawberry Supermoon, from last night. I wasn’t gonna be awake at 3am, so 99.8% will have to do … oh, and the color is ‘enhanced’ …
Congratulations, and lots of luck to our DiL, BmL on the Grand Opening of her new store in Massapequa. Se Trouver Boutique is now open for business, and we hope you enjoy the experience of being a small business owner. We love you !!!
5 of the caterpillars have cocooned over the last 2 days, while the younger 2 are still eating and growing. One of these guys is even upside down. We should have beautiful butterflies in about 7-10 days. I even managed to get a nice family portrait … 🐛🐛 […]
I heard these crazy loud ‘caw caws’ outside. Spotted what I hope are very large crows Ravens on a tree across the road. Cause if they’re ravens, they don’t belong here. There were 4 or 5, and they were making a racket. Even had Blue Jays chasing around […]
Our caterpillars have grown quite large, and 5 are getting ready to cocoon. I found another 2 in the garden, so our new total is 7. And now, we have to keep them in the Critter Crib™, or we risk having runners. Like this guy, within moments of […]
Cats, coons and possum… oh my !!! – it’s a regular animal farm in my front garden at night. No wonder all the shrubs are flat, and there’s poop everywhere … I’ll take any ideas to rid us of these varmints.
We spotted NF25 with 4 goslings, at the Malba Jetty. I did another check on her, and got her banding information. She hatched in 2015, near Bronxdale, and was banded in 2016 …
HjL stopped over with 3 more unleashed puppies. Nana had to crochet more dog leashes for these krazy mongrels …
This Mockingbird was putting on quite a show at the Malba Jetty. I hope he got lucky …
It’s probably not allowed, but it was nice to see fishing under the Whitestone Bridge again. And they got lucky. It was a popular spot, back in the day …
It took 5 tries, but he made it work, and left with a smile on his face. She went food shopping …
It was interesting to watch. Tossed out some Dave’s Killer bread, 21 grains , of course, and noticed that the Grackles like to dunk their bread before they eat it. Might have to add an olive oil tray …
Momma keeps showing them how, but These starlings don’t wanna eat alone, and insist on momma stuffing the food in. They’re cute, but, c’mon man …
Our first generation of butterfly eggs hatched. We have about 6 baby caterpillars starting on the fennel. I went to bed the other evening, and the eggs started to turn color, the following morning, all had hatched. Now comes the fun. Watching these miniscule caterpillars grow each day. […]
Besides the praying mantis nymphs, I spotted a grasshopper & ladybug nymph on the basil, as I was taking macro shots of them … 🦗 🐞
Portrait of a Mourning Dove …
The squirrels are quite randy lately. there was a clique of 5 in the front of the neighbors house. 3 grey, and 2 black. One of the black squirrels was working on one of the grey ones, in the guy’s wheel well. She was not happy, and he […]
I was working in the garden, and saw a black Swallowtail flutter by. I look over at the fennel, and momma left us a few surprises. We have our first caterpillar eggs of the season. Took 4 or 5 inside, left a few there. We should have caterpillars […]
We were sitting in the yard, when off in the distance, I spotted something large up a tree about a block away. Turns out it was Rocky Raccoon way up a large tree. He must have got caught out too late to go home before dawn, and took […]
Pics from our animal menagerie, we call it our backyard nature preserve …
If you like street art, checkout Whitestone Village 7-Eleven street mural …
A couple of the praying mantis are still hanging around the fennel in the yard. Hope they don’t go after the butterfly eggs, or caterpillars. One of the buggers even tried to get into the house, using screen door …
That was a caravan of Cormorants crossing College Point, headed north in a perfect V formation …
Jack's Musings - It ain't easy being me 