It’s caterpillar season

We just got back from Whitefish Point. Where ever we are at this time of year it’s when we end up finding a lot of caterpillars. I’m not saying that we didn’t find a lot during the summer, but there are more now as many species are in their final instar (molts) and are gettingContinue reading “It’s caterpillar season”

Furstenberg moth night – July

Before we headed north to Whitefish Point we took part in another moth night in Ann Arbor. As always it was nice seeing friends and people who are not yet friends. Besides the organizers who set up sheets and lights (5 of us) there were an additional 35+ people. The evening ran from 9PM untilContinue reading “Furstenberg moth night – July”

Moth night – Matthaei Botanical Gardens – 2025

We arrived at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens early enough to set up our stations before beople started showing up. The start of the evening as people starting appearing. Some of the 68 participants hearing about where the stations were and how we were doing things. One of our further stations before people were on theContinue reading “Moth night – Matthaei Botanical Gardens – 2025”

Traveling in the South – Staying on a cattle ranch

Before heading north, back to Michigan we spent a couple of days on a cattle ranch at the Florida-Alabama border. We had no Internet so couldn’t post anything. This place was wonderful. The ranch/farm was some 300 acres, which we had access to. This was our cabin, which was quite comfortable. and had all theContinue reading “Traveling in the South – Staying on a cattle ranch”

Traveling in the South – Longleaf Pine Preserve

We watched an amazing sunrise sipping coffee with our friends Patsy and Ken before heading out on our next adventure to the Longleaf Pine Preserve where we first met in February, 2020. These are two flowering butterworts, which are carnivorous plants. Yellow butterwort is on the left and Blue butterwort is on the right. HereContinue reading “Traveling in the South – Longleaf Pine Preserve”

Traveling in the South – Time for a Bioblitz

Sunset the other night as Susan and I were settin up moth sheets at the Marine Discovery Center in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The bright object in the sky is Mercury. Perhaps our most interesting moth was a Four-spotted Palpitha Moth.in a flowering shrub near one of our set-ups. During the day we found EchoContinue reading “Traveling in the South – Time for a Bioblitz”

Traveling south – another day

Susan had a sheet set for moths and the moth trap set. In the morning I managed to get a few photos of moths after we had breakfast. This Red-patched emerald was my favorite of the morning. After eating lunch we went back to the Savannah Wildlife Refuge where we had another fun afternoon. ThisContinue reading “Traveling south – another day”

Last moth night of 2024?

It was on the morning of 31 October that was checked on the moth trap that was set up the previous evening. The trap was set over one of our garden beds as pictured on the right. The left photo is Susan photographing moths before we released them back into the wild. The interesting thingContinue reading “Last moth night of 2024?”

The past few moth nights in Ann Arbor

In late August we had a moth night at Black Pond Woods. We had a large group of people and some interesting insects. We had three sheets set up and the “lighthouse.” The “lighthouse” is an Ikea portable wardrobe with the Lep-led inside with a power source. The jakery power source will last all nightContinue reading “The past few moth nights in Ann Arbor”