cecropia moths, millipedes and other wonders
TIME FOR A LITTLE NON-PLANT MOMENT, captured in a quick jumble of other-than-botanical snapshots from around the garden lately. There are moths and millipedes of size XL proportion; baby birds everywhere–the stuff you get to see if, and only if, you keep your eyes, and ears, open and don’t move too fast on to that next garden chore.
Click on the first thumbnail to start the show, then toggle from slide to slide using the arrows on your keyboard or the ones beside each caption.
Useful Related Links:
- More about Cecropia moths
- More about Millipedes and other arthropods
- More about American robins
- More about blue jays
Bob Scherer says
Thanks for sharing. Love that moth! The millipede not so much. And of course you have to have a frog!
Wendy says
Love all your snapshots Margaret, thks so much, you help me so much in my garden.
Any more of Jack?
Coastal Jan says
In my neck of the woods (northwest coast of Canada) starlings are increasingly displacing robins making it even more difficult for the lovely harbingers of spring/summer to survive.
The photos of the nests and newborns touched my heart, and I want to say “Thrive, little one, thrive!”
Jan
Lucy Corrander says
Fantastic post. Really enjoyed the little show. Impressed by the moth. Impressed by the millipede too but think I might be disconcerted if I came across many. Perphaps I’d get used to them though?
Lucy
Marty says
When I’m in the garden I think of you with all your creatures. We came across a rattle snake last week. I must say the critters of the lizard, frog and snake kind unnerve me and take some of the peace of gardening. I must say that the moth is, to me, an amazing evidence of the divine.
Tammy says
I do think I prefer the common name Robin to Turdus migratorius. :)
Thanks for the slideshow. Enjoyed it !
Lynda Chernek says
Loved your slide show. Always partial to frogs. I have bottle brid houses around me house which are always nested by Sparrows. They even chase the Blue Birds away. They are now on their 3rd clutch ! Recently added Wren houses & always their noisy antics. I shall watch for the Cecropia Moth . . . beautiful !
eileen says
I had a beautiful swallowtail on an allium yesterday. the yellow against the purple was really striking but no camera so I had to just take it in. It doesn’t seem like we have as many butterflies and moths as when I was a kid…of course, I’m about 2000 miles from where I grew up but there aren’t that many around here. I am shameless in my courting of hummingbirds & bees and have lots in my yard. I would think that the butterflies & moths would like more of the same but I will have to research that and see what I can do to help them out
Dee says
I didn’t realize that robins reused their nests, but apparently they do. We had a family with three fledglings in the fig tree by the kitchen window in early spring, and now mom and pop are back, apparently caring for more eggs. Smart choice, the fig tree — easy source of food.
Ronnie Gunn Tucker says
Enjoyed this post very much. Thanks, Margaret. What I’m noticing in Georgia seems to be a resurgence of lightning bugs. An evening delight to see them blinking quietly in the garden and adjoining woods.
Meryl Natchez says
Thanks for the lovely photos. They are an inspiration!
Pam G says
Love your nature slideshow! How come other birds seem to be afraid of the jays? Also, I was checking out your hydrandeas and wonder if you have a tip for why one of my many many H. plants is always beautifully green but never blooms-the one right next to it does.
Margaret says
Welcome, Pam. They are pretty raucous birds, loud and social, and are much bigger than many of our other common feeder birds/songbirds, so I suppose they are something to be reckoned with for those reasons. They do eat the occasional egg but apparently are not the terrible plunderers we thought after all.
As for the Hydrangea, that’s curious. What prevents hydrangeas or other flowering things from blooming is usually too much shade, too much Nitrogen fertilizer (makes leaves at the expense of blooms) or improper pruning. What is different about the way this one is being handled — if anything?
Susan says
I always love the slide shows; the baby robins look SO frail!
I wonder if you are having more problems with earwigs, and what you are doing
to discourage them??
thanks
Karen Leslie says
dear Margaret, So magical to see your moth, as I had a first visit on July 21st, 2009 on the glass front door of my cottage in Elizaville, NY. It was a Cecropia also, later found out also known as a Robin Moth. The name has such personal resonance for me and my family. And, too, last spring, for the first time since living in the Hudson Valley, I captured photos of a ‘Robin’s’ nest…3 baby blue eggs, and a very obliging mother. It made my year. Want you to know, finding your book, at the perfect moment in my life, when I so longed to read word’s expressed exactly like yours, helped me down the path of my own creative destiny. And so many of the beauties in nature that I have been blessed enough to discover these last few years, gave me that blissful jolt of visceral connection with my senses, it all adds to my song of life…Hurray! I really do think you are one of the ‘sparkly’ people, and your garden looks to be like paradise. best, Karen Leslie
Margaret says
Welcome, Karen. I am so touched by your kind comment, and the fact that we are both, not so far away, seeing the same magical things this spring and summer. Nice — or as you say, hurray!
Smallpeace says
I love moths…and lightening bugs…and lady birds…and praying mantis. When I was a little girl, I’d capture the poor creatures in a jam jar and set them on my nightstand to watch them as I fell asleep. Then, in the morning, I’d release them back into the wild. Flying flowers I used to call them.
Margaret says
Me, too, Smallpeace, as you can tell. I love your coining the phrase “flying flowers.” Beautiful!
Linda B Horn says
Watching 15 Swallowtail Butterfly larvae feed on my fennel. Slowly they are disappearing and looked under the fennel to discover Mr. Green Frog waiting for them to be in reaching distance. Moved Mr. Frog and he was back in two days. Only 2 caterpillars left. Dog eat dog food world. L
Dahlink says
I’m with Tammy on preferring the name “Robin” to that Latin insult! No wonder they can be bad-tempered. It’s the catbirds that get us, though–one carries on ad nauseam when our two rescue cats are outside. “Cat! CAT!! Caaaaat!!!”
We have a bounty of green frogs in our small pond this year. I’m now seeing them setting out for other ponds, I think. I’ve seen three mid-sized frogs far away from the pond. Every frog wants to be king, I guess. I also think we may have a bullfrog lurking–so far I’ve only seen the top of its head, but it looks much bigger than any other frog in residence. As soon as it spots me, it disappears under water.