A Buggy Day at Nature Class and at Home

Today at Nature Class, we looked for signs of overwintering insects. Surprisingly, we saw a few active bugs in addition to frass, and holes in leaves and bark. There was a tiny spider, a mite, several springtails and a pillbug.



There was another bald eagle perched in a tree overlooking the Hudson. Too obscured by a tangle of branches to get a good photo, but still awe inspiring to stand 20 feet away from such a creature! I would never have imagined that seeing these majestic birds would become almost routine. It's amazing how far we've come since the 1970s, when DDT had depleted the population in New York down to one nesting pair, whose eggs inevitably cracked. There's a wonderful web page describing the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's very successful efforts to restore the eagle population at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/9380.html

And speaking of the DEC, they have launched a kid's magazine, which is available free online at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/education/40248.html The first issue is up, and has features on being a wildlife detective and animal tracks in winter, (and they have a grown-up's version, which looks very cool and is extremely reasonable to subscribe to (and currently on sale!) at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/40467.html) and then there's the free literature on New York State Wildlife, which is just perfect for a unit study, methinks... http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/4791.html

After we got home, I was watching birds at the feeders when I noticed some promising lumps on the branches of a leafless bush silhouetted against the neighbor's white fence. I ran out to investigate when there was a lull in the bird activity, and confirmed my suspicions-- two additional praying mantis egg cases. One was near the tip of a branch, so I clipped it and dropped it into a mesh bug enclosure, then hung it up where neither elderly cat nor young entomologist can get to it without help. Can't wait to see if they hatch! Neither can Mikro, who is doing a bug watch version of "Are we there yet?"



Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet? Have they hatched yet?

Ad infinitum...