Drama in our garden !
In the late afternoon I have witnessed an amazing event. A young wall lizard got caught in the web of a pair of common house spiders, and hanging by the tail, was unable to get away. After waiting for a couple of hours the female spider made its move, and started to secure its prey.
EDIT: after struggling in the web for nearly 24 hours (and being repeatedly bitten in the tail by the female spider) a beam of direct warm afternoon sunlight gave just enough extra energy to the lizard that it managed to break itself free.
Tandem pair snagged by an Eastern Pondhawk (129470443). Didn't see them at the time; found them later in photos of the pondhawk.
All food found was given to a begging crow- presumably offspring from last season
leucistic American Crow with 10 other black crows
I don't know, what it is. I need your help.
Wet mossy vertical cliffs in spray zone of river (Ghunsa Khola). Tens of thousands in bloom. Scale is in cm with mm divisions. KATH Herbarium collection 143010. E. Byers # 2032.
Junior Bioblitz - Kwapa Training Camp, Okavango
One of the 2 is fake - guess which one.
Solution for all who are still wondering: The plastic rattle snake has been put in the entrance of the camp kitchen as a deterrent against the local troop of Malbrouck Monkeys, which used to raid the stored food, and surprisingly they never ever entered the kitchen since then.
This skink, however, equipped with astounding cognitive abilities, shows off with his balls of steel.
Err, I think it's a female....
@ozzicada Apparently rental properties are in short supply!!
Aphid of some sort but the suction cup structure beneath is what is confusing. Any ideas/information?
On Salvia fruticosa/triloba
A female Giant Ichneumon wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus) oviposits into the side of a tree.
I was honored to have this observation selected as observation of the day for June 11, 2020, and again as observation of the week (week of June 21, 2020). It is covered in this blog post: A Trip to Texas Provides a Long Sought Photographic Opportunity - Observation of the Week, 6/21/20.
more or less 30mm in lenght and 10mm wide
This little fern's story is just so cool!
GC #23
also observed here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/41766540
Mount Townsend, Olympic National Forest, Washington, USA
Elevation ~ 1900 meters 6250 feet)
i062506 053
This gull tried unsuccessfully to swallow this starfish for several minutes. It was already dead and hardened so the gull couldn't fit it down its throat.
Observation for the starfish and neighboring starfish on same rock: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/18647750
Found at the entrance of the gardens.