morning observations in Bishops mills

[Frederick W. Schueler]

...Chickadee picking seeds off the Giant Ragweed... Harmonia Asiatic
Ladybird Beetles chewing on the Pokeweed berries... and a Pileated
woodpecker [probably] eating the berries off Cathartic Buckthorn.

I looked over the barn to see the Woodpecker after hearing its trumpeted
'flicker' call, and as it moved through the canopy of Buckthorn and
Manitoba Maple, a few times I saw it working the Buckthorn as if picking
berries, clearly not 'pecking' at wood - but it might have been eating
Manitoba Maple seeds.

Its movement reminded me of Audubon's painting of Pileateds eating
grapes, but perhaps with less enthusiasm for a less tasty fruit. Our
grapes here are now dried up, but I've seen still-fleshy ones at Oxford
Mills and elsewhere.

fred.
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Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
Fragile Inheritance Natural History - https://fragileinheritance.ca/
Kemptville Creek Anthem -
https://soundcloud.com/aletakarstad/kemptville-creek-anthem
'Daily' Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/
6 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44.87156° N 75.70095° W
(613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca>
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annual letter: https://clt1233162.bmeurl.co/DAF048D

[Frederick W. Schueler]

On 23-Oct-2022 3:28 p.m., Frederick W. Schueler wrote:

> Harmonia Asiatic Ladybird Beetles chewing on the Pokeweed berries...

* we had lots of these invasive Ladybirds on the Poke berries in 2021
and 2022, clustering on the racemes of berries and sucking the juice out
of them, fewer in 2023, and now only 9 on the ripe berries of the two
biggest plants, though the berries aren't uniformly ripe, since we had
to cut both plants back to clear a path between them.

These Ladybirds are said to thrive on an Aphid species that infests Soy
plants, and there's no Soy planted in nearby fields, so maybe this is
what has resulted in lower populations in the past couple of years.

fred.
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---------Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad ------------

Fragile Inheritance Natural History - https://fragileinheritance.ca/

6 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44.87156° N 75.70095° W

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[Bev Wigney]

Fred and all (if this actually gets through to the naturelist).

I've recently been thinking that I'm not seeing many Harmonia axyridis around lately -- probably true for the past 2 or 3 years.  There are no soy bean fields in this area, so that wouldn't be a factor one way or the other.  However, perhaps lack of aphids would be an issue.  Can't say I'm seeing many of them, and as I have commented in recent months, not seeing nearly the Lepidoptera that I was seeing up until 2022.  Have barely seen a grasshopper in 2 years, but used to see tons of them in the little meadow behind my house.  Barely seeing any Araneus or Argiope spiders anymore when I used to see many.  Monarch caterpillars and butterflies have had a second very poor year after years when many enclosed in my Milkweed patch.  Pretty disturbing, actually.

bev

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[Candice Vetter]

I was in Alberta this summer during a very hot dry spell and the grasshoppers there were a plague. Couldn't take a step in grass without dozens flying and hopping up. Here in Russell there have been very few which I attributed to the wet climate this year. It's been a plague of mosquitoes this year.

---

Candice Vetter

 

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[Frederick W. Schueler]

On 01-Oct-24 2:17 p.m., 'Candice Vetter' via NatureList wrote:

> I was in Alberta this summer during a very hot dry spell and the
> grasshoppers there were a plague. Couldn't take a step in grass without
> dozens flying and hopping up.

* so delicious if you have an insect net and a frying pan!

> Here in Russell there have been very few
> which I attributed to the wet climate this year. It's been a plague of
> mosquitoes this year.

* very few here this year - only 6 Melanoplus on the roads, with special
attention being paid to them, which is about half of usual.

A terrific summer-long plague of small Mosquitoes has recently ceased here.