A Record

Here in Connecticut the weather tied a record yesterday for the latest date for snowfall in the state. It didn't amount to much, and didn't stick around, but there was snow. So, I didn't do a bug walk. Granted, the high temperature was actually around 50ºF, but I didn't do one anyway. Then today, it was mostly sunny the temperature got up to at least 65ºF, but I hypothesized that there would not be a lot of bugs around because we had a freeze last night. I thought that having such low overnight temperatures would keep the bugs hidden away in spite of the mild afternoon. I was right, at least in that I did not find a lot of bugs. Whether I was right about the reason for that I have no idea.

Amazingly, though, I did find two new species for me for Backyard Co-Bugs of the Day. It was toward the beginning of my bug walk, and I found them both on the same tree trunk. If I had better timing and reactions, I could have taken a picture of both together, but it would have been hard to see them both, because one of them was so small, one of those bugs that is so small that you only spot it if it is moving. Neither one was cooperative.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 At first I thought this was a fly, but when I got closer I could see that it looks like some kind of leaf hopper.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 I think this is some kind of springtail.

 

 Check out that amazing eye.

Other Bugs:

 This bee is feeding on a plant called garlic mustard. It is an invasive plant that is all over sections of our new property. If you crush the leaves it definitely smells like garlic. I have read that it is edible, and I can imagine what it must taste like. So here's what I wonder... Sometimes you see honey that lists what kinds of flowers the bees collected nectar from to make their honey. My husband just bought a bottle of orange blossom honey, and I have seen clover honey. I am not honey connoisseur, but the point is supposed to be that different flowers give the honey a different taste, and I can imagine why that would be so. Then... what does honey made from nectar from the garlic mustard plant taste like? Does the nectar taste sweet and floral like other nectars, or is this bee's honey going to taste like garlic? If I was a beekeeper I would probably hate this plant.

 Hover fly on dandelion

 Candy striped leaf hopper

Ants on leafy spurge

 I found something very sad in the backyard today:

 Sometime between late yesterday afternoon, when I saw the turkey on her nest, and the time I did my bug walk today, something devoured all of the turkey eggs.

 This looks intact, but it's only half a shell. I found them strewed all around the area of the nest, and the mother was gone. Turkeys only raise one clutch per year, I think, so I don't think she will lay more eggs. I am so sad about this. I know this is the way nature works, and that most eggs don't end up as adult birds, or even as hatchlings, but it makes me sad anyway. There are any number of animals that could have done it. I know from when I found the nest that if a predator came along the mother would have fled rather than defending the nest. I guess if she can't really defend herself it makes sense–if she is killed by a predator then the eggs won't survive anyway; this way she could live to lay more eggs next spring. But I am sad about it anyway, even knowing that some other animal, the one that ate the eggs, was nourished by them. I don't like to take sides in nature's battles, but that doesn't mean I don't mourn the ones that fall.

 Here's the nest.

As for some other eggs:

It has been about a month since the salamander eggs were laid in the small pond. From what I read they take 20-60 days, which is a pretty huge range. Right now the water level in the pond is pretty low, and these are almost high and dry. The green is algae that grows inside the egg mass and is food for the developing salamander larvae.