Finding dog excrement on a trail or a beach always disgusts me, especially in a provincial or national park. I have to wonder where the owner was or what he or she was thinking. I’ve heard the “organic” argument on many occasions, and true enough it is organic and does break down over time. However, what often isn’t factored into …
Invertebrates
Backyard Beetle
This interesting Ground Beetle (Pterostichus sp.) was hiding underneath some rotting wood in my mother-in-law’s backyard. I found some small black beetles underneath rotting wood up at my mother-in-law’s place in Black Creek a couple of weeks ago and had a chance to check on whether or not they were still there. What I discovered was a large Ground Beetle …
A Galling Discovery
We’ve had some good weather lately and I’ve been walking the country roads around my place of work. Earlier in the year I noticed a large section of Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) alongside the road with a large number of galls on the stems. I know that galls are usually a plant’s response to the eggs (and subsequently, larva) that are …
Gorgeous Ground Beetles
One of the joys about having a backyard garden is the opportunity to discover something new. It might be a strange looking slug, an odd looking sow bug, or in this case, a gorgeous beetle. The European Ground Beetle (Carabus nemoralis), a gorgeous introduced ground beetle that can be found in many North American gardens. This week I was prepping …
Meet the Meadow Slug
If you’ve got a garden or a flowerbed it’s always fun to leave some boards lying around on the ground. Come back in a week or so and you’ll discover some of the organisms that live in your garden but perhaps have never seen before under this makeshift shelter. A warning to the squeamish – you may not like what …
What’s that Woodlouse?
My 3 year-old son and I spent some quality time in the garden looking under pieces of wood and brick left on the ground from last fall. We discovered all sorts of “bugs” (Alden’s word for them) and watched them scurry from the newly exposed surface for the safety and moisture of the dark underside of the wood and other …
Book Review – Insects of the Pacific Northwest
Insects of the Pacific Northwest Peter and Judy Haggard Timber Press Inc. Paperback 296 pages 2006 Insects of the Pacific Northwest – Peter and Judy Haggard I’ve been fighting a bit of the flu lately which means that I’ve had some time to catch up on my reading and thinking about spring days searching for insects. One of the inspiring …
Amongst the Lily Seeds
A side view of the pod showing the seeds inside. Managed to get out to the garden with the kids today and did a little bit of fall clean-up. Today I focused on trimming the lily seed heads and collecting the seeds. From what I’ve read on-line, growing lilies from seed is a bit of a hit and miss project …
In the Small, Small, Pond
Mosquito larva hanging out in the water column. We’ve had a couple of days of rain and several centimetres of water has been sitting in a small Rubbermaid tote that we use when gardening. I happened to look into it earlier this week when getting ready to put the yard waste out for Courtenay’s recycling program to pick up and …
Yellow Bears on the Move
Yellow Bear (Spilosoma virginica) caterpillars are active in the fall. It’s that time of year again. A sure sign of fall is the appearance of woolly bear caterpillars. I was taking a walk around the Courtenay Airpark Lagoon and came across a Yellow Bear crossing the path. The Yellow Bear is the caterpillar of the Virginian Tiger Moth (Spilosoma virginica). …