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Bird pages: Land Birds Shore Birds Red-shouldered Hawks Duke Gardens exotic ducks Audubon Swamp Garden Zoo Birds    Insect (by taxonomic order) pages: Archaeognatha (Jumping Bristletails) Coleoptera (Beetles) Dermaptera (Earwigs) Diptera (True Flies) Ephemeroptera (Mayflies) Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha (Cicadas and Hoppers) Hemiptera: Heteroptera (True Bugs) Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha (Aphids, Scale Insects, Whiteflies, and Jumping Plant Lice) Hymenoptera (Bees, Wasps, Sawflies and Ants) Isoptera (Termites) Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea (True Butterflies) and Skippers (Hesperoidea) Lepidoptera: Moths Mantodea (Mantids) Mecoptera (Scorpionflies) Mecoptera (Hangingflies) Megaloptera (Fishflies, Dobsonflies) Neuroptera (Lacewings and Antlions) Odonata: Anisoptera (Dragonflies) Odonata: Zygoptera (Damselflies) Orthoptera (Stick Insects, Grasshoppers, Katydids and Crickets) Psocoptera (Bark Lice) Plecoptera (Stoneflies) Raphidioptera (Snakeflies) Thysanoptera (Thrips) Tricoptera (Caddisflies) Zygentoma (Silverfish)    Reptile/Amphibian/Alligator pages: Snakes Lizards Alligators Audubon Swamp Garden (Alligators, turtles) Turtles Frogs and Toads Salamanders Zoo Reptiles    Spiders, other animal pages: Spiders Ticks and Mites Mammals Zoo Mammals Fish Crustaceans Springtails Centipedes Millipedes Pseudoscorpions Harvestmen Annelids (segmented worms) Mollusks Horsehair Worms    Plants: Wildflowers by Classification Wildflowers by Flower Color Non-flowering Plants    Natural areas: Habitats: Main Page Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula (NC) American Tobacco Trail (Durham, NC) Audubon Swamp Garden (Charleston, SC) Bay St. Louis and Waveland (MS) Bogue Banks (barrier island, NC) Boone and surrounding areas (northwest NC) Buccaneer State Park (Waveland, MS) Carolina Beach State Park (New Hanover County, NC) Carolina Beach: Carolina Lake (New Hanover County, NC) Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge (NC) Duke Forest (NC) Duke Gardens exotic ducks (Durham, NC) My Durham drainage ditch (NC) My Durham neighborhood swamp (NC) My Durham neighborhood power line cut (NC) Ebenezer Church Recreational Area (Chatham County, NC) Eno River State Park (NC) Flat River Impoundment (Durham County, NC) Fort Fisher (New Hanover County, NC) Francis Marion National Forest (SC) Greenville (NC) Goose Creek State Park (NC) Gulf Shores National Seashore (Ocean Springs, MS) Gulfport (MS) Hanging Rock State Park (Stokes County, NC) Haw River State Park (Rockingham/Guilford Counties, NC) Indian Creek Wildlife Observation Trail (Chatham County, NC) Johnston Mill Nature Preserve (Orange County, NC) B. Everett Jordan Lake Dam (Chatham County, NC) B. Everett Jordan Lake near 751 bridge (Chatham County, NC) Lake Crabtree County Park (Morrisville, NC) Marin County, CA and Nearby Areas Mason Farm Biological Preserve (Chapel Hill, NC) Montreat (NC) Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve (Dare County, NC) North Carolina Botanical Garden (Orange County, NC) Occoneechee Mountain Natural Area (Hillsborough, NC) Ocracoke Island (Hyde County, NC) Peaks of Otter (Bedford County, VA) Penny's Bend Nature Preserve (Durham, NC) Pettigrew State Park (Creswell, NC) Pitt County Arboretum (Greenville, NC) Prairie Ridge Ecostation (Raleigh, NC) Puerto Rico J.C. Raulston Arboretum (Raleigh, NC) Rio Grande Valley (Hidalgo County, TX) Riverbend Park (Catawba County, NC) San Antonio (TX) St. Augustine, FL Sandy Creek Park (Durham, NC) Sanibel and Captiva Islands (FL) Santee State Park (Santee, SC) Sarasota County (FL) South Texas (Mustang Island, Corpus Christi Southern Appalachians (NC) Third Fork Creek Trail(Durham County, NC) Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve (Moore County, NC) White Pines Nature Preserve (Chatham County, NC)

Archived-by-Date Pages

March 2012

The new leaves came out around March 21, and so did the pine pollen, which shows up in a number of pictures.  The month in Durham was perhaps most notable for the irruption of inchworms, hanging out of trees by the hundreds.  Then, perhaps only coincidentally, another irruption, that of large, fast-moving ground beetles (Calosoma scrutata) appeared and the inchworms quickly began to vanish.  Since ground beetles are carnivorous, there might have been a connection.

Myakka River State Park, Sarasota County, FL  3/31/12 Queen butterfly Black-necked Stilt Lesser Yellowlegs White Pelicans Sandhill Cranes, with American Coots. This couple had a system: one eat while the other watched for predators.     Roseate Spoonbills White Pelican Wasp nest American Alligator     Black-necked Stilt View from the canopy walkway American Alligator     Sarasota, FL  3/30/12 The birds appeared on the Ringling Museum of Art grounds, and so did the statue being taken over by the banyan tree. White Peacock Common Moorhen Pied-billed Grebe Anhinga Late-instar Wheel Bug nymph Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei), an invasive species native to Cuba and the Bahamas Flowers Pink Wood Sorrel leaves, with bud Statue being taken over by a banyan tree Sarasota Jungle Gardens, Sarasota, FL  3/30/12   Flamingo Tricolored Heron (probably just a visitor) Common Moorhens: an apparent attempt at mating The web of a Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver       Flamingo Fighting flamingos Red-eared Slider     South Lido Park, Lido Key, FL  3/30/12 This is one of the great natural areas in this otherwise heavily developed urban area. There are a variety of habitats here: beach, forest, grassy, and of course that of human-made structures. Great Blue Heron Headshot of a Great Blue Heron Great Egret Plover (Black-bellied, non-breeding plumage?) Reddish Egret in flight   A Fish Crow looking for food at a garbage can while keeping an eye on me Decisions, decisions! Who are you, anyway? Back to work...   Sarasota, FL  3/29/12   Florida Tasselflower (Emilia fosbergii) Common Moorhen Snowy Egret Little Blue Heron     Anole Pink Wood Sorrel Tree Florida Tasselflower (Emilia fosbergii)   Durham, NC  3/28/12         Flowers          Durham, NC  3/27/12 Wasp        Third Fork Creek Trail, Durham, NC  3/26/12   Sleepy Orange, dorsal view Mating march flies: the female is on the left Jumping spider (Habronattus decorus) Wisteria          Ground beetle Tadpoles by the side of the trail       Durham, NC  3/25/12   Carolina Wren The Third Fork Creek Trail after heavy rain Male Fragile Forktail  Forest Tent Caterpillar Chinese Witchhazel, an ornamental import from Japan       Large Bee Fly (Bombilius major) Wasp Eastern Tailed Blue     Penny's Bend Nature Preserve, Durham County, NC 3/22/12 Falcate Orangetip on a Spring Beauty Blue Corporal Ground beetle (Calosoma scrutata), a large beetle that crawled on my sneaker as I struggled to block its frantic dash for cover Cabbage White on Ground Ivy Buprestid beetle (Acmaeodera ornata) Dutchman's Breeches Dutchman's Breeches  Bowl-and-doily Spider Flower fly (Toxomerus genus) Eastern Bluestar buds Spring Beauty Wild Chervil (Chaerophyllum procumbens) Early Saxifrage Ground Ivy Bee fly at rest.  Pine pollen grains all over it! Bee fly hovering   Northern Cricket Frog Rue Anemone Yellow Buckeye Rue Anemone Beetle   Unidentifiable wildflower, with an aphid  Same wildflower  Same wildflower  Early Saxifrage          Mayapple with four parts Mayapple with five parts Mayapple with six parts       Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC  3/21/12   Juvenal's Duskywing Red Admiral Northern Cricket Frog Gemmed Satyr   Durham, NC  3/21/12       My local marsh, across a field Miniswamp after a rain       Durham, NC  3/20/12 Chinch Bug Crab spider (Xysticus genus) Grass spider A rather anomalus Paraphidippus aurantius Juvenal's Duskwying (Erynnis juvenalis)     White-tailed Deer Winged elm seeds  Mushrooms     Durham, NC  3/19/12         Sunset         Third Fork Creek Trail, Durham, NC  3/17/12 Jumping spider (Synemosyna formica) Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle Pond with oily sheen  Crab spider (Synema parvulum) Spider (Tetragnatha genus)       Crab spider (Synema parvulum) Aphid       Durham, NC  3/16/12   American Toads, found in a large puddle in mostly dried-up Third Fork Creek. Two very young Camellia bushes in a neighbor's yard Asian Multi-colored Ladybug Beetle Two-lined Leatherwing Beetle    Third Fork Creek Trail, Durham, NC  3/15/12 Seed bug (Cymus angustatus).  ID thanks to Yurika Alexander. Yellow-margined Leaf Beetle (Microtheca ocroloma), caught while flying Scarab beetle (Hoplia trivialis) Another Hoplia trivialis Boxelder Bug     Redbud Midge Mouseear Chickweed (Cerastium vulgatum)      Durham, NC  3/14/12   Adult aphid Tiny beetle clinging to human hairs Unusual, large violet seen in large numbers in a particular area Japanese Mazus     Flowers of an ornamental fruit tree Sugar Maple flowers Violet, with leaves, similar to those of a Common Blue Violet Jumping spider (Eris militaris)   Pitt County Arboretum, Greenville, NC  3/13/12   Variegated Fritillary Carpenter Bee and Redbud Bluets Henbit     Northern Mockingbird Field pansy flowers Akebia quintata, reported being seen in the wild in Orange and Madison counties, North Carolina. Cabbage White on jump-up violets           Male House Finch         North River Park, Greenville, Pitt County, NC  3/13/12       Blueberry flowers Double-crested Cormorant       Greenville, Pitt County, NC  3/12/12   Cherry flowers? Saucer Magnolia Female midge Crane fly   Goose Creek State Park, Beaufort County, NC  3/12/12       Orchard Spider, seen just off the boardwalk Deer       Washington, Beaufort County, NC  3/12/12 Great Egret American Coot taking little bites out of a piece of bread (not put there by me!) American Coot not doing anything in particular American Coot scratching, showing a fascinating big foot (they have grid patterns!) American Coots in conflict       One beaver caught up with the other and they both wound up underwater. Note that the beaver on the right is carrying a twig. This fast-moving beaver created fascinating patterns in the water.               Mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum), a member of the Viscaceae family, subclass Rosidae, the only mistletoe species found in North Carolina.         Durham, NC  3/11/12   Cedar Waxwing Eastern Bluebird Field Mustard (Brassica rapa) Northern Cardinal       Common Yellow Wood-Sorrel Common Blue Violets     Durham, NC  3/10/12   American Robin Wolf spider Red-shouldered Hawk Field Pansy   Durham, NC  3/9/12       Common Vetch Violet          Durham, NC  3/8/12 Oconeechee Mountain Natural Area, Orange County, NC 3/8/12     White-lined Burrower Bug on Common Dandelion Aphid Fly     Brown Snake Ornamental tree "British Soldier" Lichens (Cladonia cristatella), reindeer moss, regular moss.  More on this lichen species: Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month  A cliff on the new trail, thumbnail inexplicably rotated 90 degrees for a bizarre effect Galax Mason Farm Biological Reserve, Orange County, NC  3/7/12   Male Falcate Orangetip Closer view of the Falcate Orangetip Field Pansies (Viola bicolor) Small true bug found on the car         Henbit Spring Beauty flowers       Durham, NC  3/7/12         Aquatic worm         Durham, NC  3/6/12         Mourning Dove         Durham, NC 3/5/12     Common Blue Violet Field Pansy Moth      Eno River State Park, Old Cole Mill Road access 3/1/12     Great Blue Heron Great Blue Heron in flight Great Blue Heron, again in flight

Copyright © 2012-2021 by Dorothy E. Pugh.  All rights reserved.  Please contact for rights to use photos.

 

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