All My Blogs

Sericomyia militaris - The narrow banded pond fly - its larvae are rat-tailed maggots Well, I learned something new today.  I have known about a fly larva called a rat-tailed maggot and I knew about hover flies, but I did not know that rat-tailed maggots were the larvae of hover flies, also called flower flies.  Now, not all flower flies have this kind of larvae, but those that belong to the group of syphids (family Syphidae) in the tribe  Eristalini do.  If you want to see a photo of a rat-tailed maggot, click here . The interesting thing about rat-tailed maggots is that they can thrive in polluted water.  And we're not talking about mildly polluted water, but heavily polluted, stinks to high heaven, filthy, disgusting water.  That's because they don't get their oxygen from the water, but rather from their "rat tail," which is a breathing tube that extends above the waterline.   The water itself, which can actually be more of a mire, contains org...

Alberta wolf spider.  There are 50 species of wolf spider in Alberta alone. What has eight legs, eight eyes, and runs like the wind?  A wolf spider.  Although their venom is not poisonous to humans (outside of mild irritation), their bite is fatal to the prey they catch.  Eating insects about their size or smaller, their method of attack is to run the organism down.  Wolf spiders do not spin webs to assist in catching prey.  Rather, their nimble bodies and good eyesight allow them to track and kill would-be meals.   Most spiders have eight eyes, including wolf spiders.  They have two large eyes facing forward. These are used to track prey and are used at night when light is low.  Wolf spiders' eyes glow in the dark when a light is shone on them.  There is a cool photo here that you can see the effect (if you dare!).  They have another four beneath the large pair that help with picking up motion.  The last pair, located lat...

Male lesser scaup and female (inset).  Notice the bluish beak and golden eye. Scaups are a kind of duck.  Sometimes they are called bluebills, although I have never heard them called that.  They are a medium-sized diving duck, like bufflehead ducks, not dabblers, like mallards.  They eat mostly invertebrates, including mollusks, and will take some vegetation.  They are also highly gregarious and will form large rafts on lakes or oceans, depending upon the species. There are two kinds of scaups found in North America (a third species is found in New Zealand).  Greater scaups prefer saltwater and are typically found along marine ecosystems where they can dive for food, although they may be found inland in places.  Lesser scaups prefer fresh water and can be found in western Canada during the breeding season and in the southern US in winter. Distinguishing between the two species is very difficult, as the feathering is very similar.  Greater scaups a...

Spiders don't swim or fly, so how did they get to New Zealand originally? New Zealand is famous for its endemic wildlife.  Kiwis, tuataras, keas, and many more.  There are also various endemic spiders and insects.  The above photo is of a New Zealand flower crab spider, similar to the ones I have photographed and written blogs on before ( click here for an example ). New Zealand is a remote island that is over 1500 km away from Australia.  Some islands, like Hawaii, formed from volcanic activity and have never been attached to other continental masses.  New Zealand, however, used to be part of the supercontinent of Gondwanaland and was specifically attached to Australia and Antarctica.  However, they separated about 85 million years ago.   It turns out that the flower crab spiders of New Zealand are closely related to the ones in Australia.  Over the last 85 million years, New Zealand has been slowly moving away from its larger relative....

Members of the Corvidea that I have photographed over the years. The chances are that you are familiar with three or four of these birds, if you live in North America, that is.  If you are a birder, you may have seen them all.  There are a few I haven't included here, like the yellow-billed magpie, green jay, and pinion jay, as I have never photographed them (one day!).  Many of them are very comfortable around humans and are often found in urban areas or where people hang out.   The behaviours they have in common is that they tend to be very vocal, they are gregarious, and they have opportunistic eating habits - they will eat just about anything they can catch, steal, or find.  They are also relatively smart, capable of problem-solving, have good memories, and can recognize human faces.  They all tend to be relatively large birds, with the raven being the biggest of the bunch.   As a group, they can be found over most of North America, with ...

Munson Pond has a healthy western turtle population.  That may change if the road goes through. A thesis, written by Jessica D. Derksen, states that "Road development threatens freshwater turtles globally."  In her paper, titled " The impact of roadway mortality on a long-lived freshwater turtle ", she states that even small changes in mortality can have "a significant impact on western painted turtle populations." Those for the road construction would argue that the pond has a significantly sizeable area of land for breeding.  Their position relies on the existing land area surrounding the pond, as shown in the above photograph.  Not all of it is suitable for turtles to lay their eggs, however.  There are ditches (to the north), swamps (to the south), and a school field (to the west).  Each of these may have additional barriers, such as fences, that prevent turtles from accessing nesting sites.   While barriers can be constructed to prevent turtl...