Fall Insect Life

The coral mums are attracting a lot of insect action.  Some visitors may be looking for nectar and some may be attracted to the deteriorating plants.

Ailanthus webworm moth

The mums are beautiful from a distance, but many flowers are past their prime.

A honey bee of some sort coming for nectar.

Spotted cucumber beetle

This hover fly appeared to be mostly dead and the fly was checking out both the flower and the insect.

Below are other creatures I saw on the mums yesterday.

Above are various flies and moths that I captured in pictures on the mums.  Some were too small or fast moving to catch.  There was one giant bumble bee near the geraniums that moved to quickly to catch in a photo.

I noticed that there were tiny insects on the nasturtium flowers, too.  The nasturtiums have really been beautiful this fall.

 I took a little time yesterday to use twisty ties to attach the raspberry vines to the fence.  Earlier in the summer I cut off this years vines when they had finished producing fruit.  Now the vines that grew this year will have raspberries next year.

 In early October I noticed a lot of aphids on the swamp milkweed plants.  I wondered what predator would come to feast on them.

Yesterday I saw a half dozen lady bugs running up and down the branches of the milkweed, without an aphid in sight.  I love it when these beneficial insects take care of the problem with no cost to me or harm to the environment.

I will throw in a picture from a walk at the Little Red Schoolhouse path in the forest preserve last week.

The yellow and orange leaves of this sassafras tree caught my attention.  There was a little stand of sassafras trees, which is not that common in this neck of the woods.

Back to another week of work, but I really enjoyed getting out in the autumn colors this weekend!

Golden-Crowned Kinglet and Moths

Birds are migrating.  Insects are slowing down.  The last flowers are blooming.  The last vegetables are being harvested.  Here are a few pictures.

Two weeks ago I saw this golden-crowned kinglet hopping around the crabapple tree.

I am not sure what kind of moth this was, but it let me get close as it gathered nectar from the marigolds today.

This little moth was taking shelter under a nasturtium leaf.

We still have a monarch butterfly hanging around the zinnias.  When the zinnias are covered with fall shade for a while in the afternoon the monarch moves to the pole beans.

Nearby a grasshopper was moving slowly.

I think this is a black cricket, also on the pole beans.

The coral mums have been blooming for a while, attracting a lot of bees and flies.

A closer look at the mums.  I think that is a hover fly, though it could be a bee…

The pineapple sage is blooming wonderfully, but the hummingbirds have left to fly south now.  I think there are still a variety of small pollinators enjoying these red tubular flowers.

Just a few gaillardia flowers are still blooming, but the bumble bees really love them.  The white flowers are alyssum.

The ‘morning light’ miscanthus grass is at its peak now and is at least 6 feet tall this year.

Seed heads of ‘little bunny’ pennisetum grass

Strawberry flower and little strawberry.  You never know what you will find around the garden.

We are gradually adding brussel sprouts to our soup each Sunday.

I took a look today and there are a lot of green tomatoes in the garden!  I don’t see frost in the forecast, but I will keep my eye on the weather report.

My Arab neighbor friend is back from Jordan and came to gather a bag full of collard leaves.  Quite a few of the collard leaves are chewed by worms, and she did not want those, because I think she uses them to roll up a spicy meat dish.  We totally welcome someone to share these greens with.

Last Saturday was my first day with a volunteer team of around 20 people that were cutting brush and burning.  We were almost exclusively cutting back Eurasian bush honeysuckle.  We had two big bonfires going.

Today Dan and I just took a wonderful early morning walk through the prairie and forest at Spears Woods in the Palos forest preserve.  We bumped into the volunteer crew as we were leaving. They were getting ready for another productive day.  By clearing the invasive shrubs they are opening up the ground for native plants to thrive, which in turn provides habitat for a greater variety of birds, insects, and other wildlife.  With habitats diminishing everywhere for so many species this is valuable work, in order to maintain healthy ecosystems.

Look Closely

What a beautiful fall day! Here are a few pictures of things I saw today.

Small red and blue insect on small nasturtium leaf.  This critter was so small I almost missed it, but I got out my camera to try to magnify it a bit.  I took a quick look in Illinois insects and did not see a picture that looked like this.  It might be in a grasshopper or tree hopper family with its yellow legs and orange behind.  Though of course it could be a flying object.

I am not sure if this helps, but from the side you can see a black line around the head.

I have been waiting all summer to see a black swallowtail caterpillar on my parsley and today I saw two of them!

I saw three different kinds of bees on my asters today.

White snakeroot plant.  I guess this seed was dropped by a bird into the garden and the plant was blooming before I noticed it.  I saw some white snakeroot in the prairie of the forest preserve today and I guess the bees like it.  It is poisonous to cattle and humans if we drink milk from cattle that have eaten it in the pasture.  Apparently the roots were used for snake bites in traditional medical practices.

I went to Spear Woods in the Palos Forest Preserves this morning for a nature walk and talk about the Palos Restoration Project.  I had never been to this part of the forest preserve before and enjoyed the walk led by someone who has been working on this site for 26 years to restore the native habitat.

We did some seed collection of three plants: blazing star, lead plant, and rattlesnake master.  All ages were involved from elementary school to retired people.  I think I am finding my people…  Though I would love to spend some time with birders, too…

Praying Mantis, Spider, and Forest Restoration

I have been looking around the yard for a praying mantis this summer and I finally found my first one.

Yesterday I noticed this praying mantis in the tall Miscanthus ornamental grass. Its head was following me as I tried to get a good photo.  I am not sure if this is a Chinese mantis or a praying mantis that is native to Illinois.

There are a lot of little grasshoppers like the one in this picture in our little unmowed meadow.  That was why I started looking for a hungry praying mantis.

While I was looking around in the meadow I saw this black and yellow garden spider.

Here is the view of the spider from the other side.  If you look closely you can see the spider web.

Today I went looking for the praying mantis again.  It was not in the miscanthus, but I found if in the mums that are  getting ready to bloom.

I will have to keep an eye out for her egg sac when I clean up the garden this fall.  I enjoy having these mostly beneficial insects around.

I have not seen any monarch caterpillars on the swamp milkweed, but the aphids are certainly invading.  I guess something will be interested in an aphid lunch…

Yesterday was such a rainy day.  It has been dark, cool and rainy all week.  I guess the house sparrow was able to sit out in the rain.

The rain seemed to benefit the nasturtium leaves that are gorgeously green.

This picture is taken through the screen on the office window.  I can watch the hummingbirds on the pineapple sage, though they are too fast to capture in a picture.  The tall plant in back is brussel sprouts.

Here is a little closer look at the brussel sprouts plant.  The zinnias continue to attract the hummingbird and butterflies.

Painted lady butterfly on pink zinnia

A century old oak tree was but down across the street from us this week, as it was too close to their house.  There will be fewer leaves to rake, but fewer leaves for the compost pile, too.

I have not had many chances to get out and look for migrating birds this week.  But I barely captured this hawk flying over the neighborhood.

A group of ten of us volunteered today to clear out honeysuckle bushes at the Palos Forest Preserve.

Here is a cleared out area surrounded by brush piles on either side.  We were not able to burn the brush piles today, because there was not enough wind to blow the smoke away, so someone will have to have a bonfire another time.

This is an area of the forest that was cleared earlier.