I saw a banded woollybear caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella) this week. Have you heard the folklore about their ability to predict the coming winter’s weather? Some people say that the wider the rusty band, the milder the winter will be. There’s a Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk, NC every October. They have a caterpillar race,… Continue reading Banded Woollybear Weather Folklore
Category: Animals
Beaver Dam at Bond Park
Have you seen the beaver dam at Bond Park? This is a stream at the south end of Bond Lake, where the Lake Trail and Oxxford Hunt Greenway intersect. It’s amazing what a couple of beavers can do!
Biting Insects
Have you ever been bitten by a horsefly? Wow, that hurts! When I’m outside, I expect ticks to jump on me and mosquitos to bite me. Otherwise, bugs tend to leave you alone if you leave them alone. Right? I guess not. I walked out my front door and felt something like a razor hit… Continue reading Biting Insects
Black and Yellow Garden Spider
Fall is a great time to observe spiders. This is a black and yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia). The female spider, shown above, can be over an inch long! Notice the zigzag pattern inside the web. This is called the stabilimentum. It is unclear what its function is, but it might be a warning to… Continue reading Black and Yellow Garden Spider
Box Turtles
Have you seen any box turtles (Terrapene carolina) this summer? I’ve seen three box turtles just in the last week, so I decided it would be a good time to learn a little bit more about them. Box turtles move very slowly. Their territory is usually under two acres and they have a very strong… Continue reading Box Turtles
Buffleheads
We went out for a walk on Sunday afternoon. It was National Bird Day, but it was very cold and cloudy. There weren’t any birds to be seen. We walked down the Shiloh Greenway toward Church Street Park. There was a pair of mallard ducks swimming in the pond there. We stopped to watch them… Continue reading Buffleheads
Bug Encounters- June 2025
When I’m out taking pictures of flowers, I often find interesting bugs on the plants. Bugs are tricky to photograph because they move, and very often they are tiny! These are some of the bugs that I’ve seen over the last week. Many of them I’ve never seen before. I tried to identify them as… Continue reading Bug Encounters- June 2025
Cicada Brood XIX is Happening Now
The periodical cicadas are here! Brood XIX is scheduled to emerge from the ground this summer. This brood has a 13 year life cycle (other broods have a 17 year life cycle). Above ground, they live for 3 to 4 weeks, just long enough to find a mate and lay their eggs. When the eggs… Continue reading Cicada Brood XIX is Happening Now
Cicada Brood XIX Molting
I went for a walk around 9am today. I headed for the Shiloh greenway and was welcomed by the sound of the periodical cicadas! I posted about my first sighting earlier this week. I headed for the older trees to look for cicadas. I found a bunch of discarded shells on the trees, leaves and… Continue reading Cicada Brood XIX Molting
Clearwing Moths
Have you ever seen any clearwing moths? There are two very common clearwing moths in North Carolina: the hummingbird clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) and the snowberry clearwing (Hemaris diffinis). I was fooled the first time I saw each of these moths. The hummingbird clearwing looks like a small hummingbird. From the back, it is green on… Continue reading Clearwing Moths