Asparagus beetles are insects that belong to the family Chrysomelidae. Like the name suggests, these beetles can cause damage to asparagus plants. The two most common species of asparagus beetles are the common asparagus beetle (Crioceris asparagi) and the spotted asparagus beetle (Crioceris duodecimpunctata). Both species are native to Europe but have now spread to other parts of the world, …
Courtenay
Eight Bolts – 1/365 Day Project
1/365Eight Bolts Think it’s time for another 365 Day Project—expect an eclectic mix of urban abstracts, back alleys, and epic landscapes as well as some off the wall feral shopping carts! I did one of these in 2015 (should really bundle those images into a book) and loved the creative challenge. I’ll be looking to create and post at least one …
Down at the Brown’s
Brown’s River falls have been on my “must visit” photography list for a while—the problem was that I really didn’t have a clear idea of where exactly they were. The Comox Valley Camera Club did a field trip there earlier in the month but I had a scheduling conflict and couldn’t attend. There are a couple of different ways to …
Trent River Falls
Last fall when I hiked up the Trent River I met some people who told me about a spectacular waterfall on the downstream side of the Inland Island Highway. At that time I did a bit of research on-line and talked to a couple of friends who had been into the Trent River falls—it sounded like an easy walk (aside …
An Admirable Red Admiral
Our 11 year old neighbour who lives across the back alley from our house in Courtenay is always calling us over to check out insects or plants that he’s found—this week J. came over to tell us that there was a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) in his backyard. Typically, Lorquin’s Admirals (Limentis lorquini ssp. ilgae) are much more readily seen on …
Lorquin’s Admiral
Out for a family walk at Morrison Creek Park yesterday and we came upon a number of butterflies puddling on the wet mud beside one of the creeks. There were several Lorquin’s Admirals (Limentis lorquini ssp. ilgae) busy in the mud and I was able to get relatively close to one with my new Fuji X100S. The upper wings of …
Citrine Wagtail still in the Comox Valley!
Update: March 24, 2013 Last confirmed sighting of the Citrine Wagtail on eBird was Thursday, March 21. However, since that time, access to the farm lane has been restricted due to active farming and the lane is gated. Original Post I have to admit that during the dark days of January, 2013 I had written the citrine wagtail (Motacilla citreola) off. Originally …
Downy Woodpecker Drops In
Having a backyard (or in this case, front yard) suet feeder is great for easy, coffee drinking (shade grown/bird friendly of course), birdwatching. Since we’ve finally gotten around to putting our feeders up, we can settle in to enjoy the show. Over the course of a week a flock of bushtits make regular appearances, chestnut-backed chickadees stop in, and a …
Feral Carts Return
It’s been a while since I’ve posted observations on the natural history of feral carts that I’ve found and photographed here on Vancouver Island—I moved my cart related posts over to a separate blog but it’s now time to bring them back home. No real reason to keep them separate and it’s just too time consuming to keep multiple blogs …
Citrine Wagtail – Mega Twitch Dip Tick
Update: March 24, 2013 Last confirmed sighting of the Citrine Wagtail on eBird was Thursday, March 21. However, since that time, access to the farm lane has been restricted due to active farming and the lane is gated. Update: March 6, 2013 Checked the original farm site on Wednesday, March 6 with Viktor Davare and had a really nice look at the …