Mantis

Mantises have stereo vision. As their hunting relies heavily on vision, mantises are primarily diurnal. Many species, however, fly at night, and then may be attracted to artificial lights. Flying at night exposes mantises to fewer bird predators than diurnal flight would. Many mantises also have an auditory thoracic organ that helps them avoid bats by detecting their echolocation calls and responding evasively. This one was on my front porch. It was at least 10 inches long

Yellow swallow tail

Sphinx moth

Sphinx and hawk moths are common pollinators and are known to collect nectar from flowers. As caterpillars they feed on a huge diversity of host plants and as adults they prefer nectar over flowers. Because of thier large size and ability to hover slightly mid-air while feeding they are sometimes mistaken as hummingbirds. This one was the size of a half dollar coin.

Fall hiking spree

Celebrate the Summit Metro Parks Centennial with a self-guided tour. We learned how 20 different parks and trails came into existence, what makes them unique and where they are headed next. In addition to earnings our annual hiking badge, we got earned an extra to celebrate the Parks' 100 year history.

Breksville Station

Sunflowers

Wild common sunflowers can be grown as a crop for its oil, wild bird food, livestock forrage, or for ornamental domestic gardens. These were part of a Metroparks trail, and were numerous and beautiful.

Blue heron

Take flight

Katydid

Katydids are a large group of insects in the order Orthoptera, related to grasshoppers and crickets. Some katydids have been called long-horned grasshoppers because of their long and slender shape, but actually katydids are more closely related to crickets than to any type of grasshopper. There are about 6,400 species worldwide, with the greatest diversity in the tropics. During the day they rest in a specific diurnal roosting posture to make them look even more like just a leaf on the plant. Wing form varies widely, with most having long wings that cover the body, but some species have short wings or are nearly wingless. They tend to be poor flyers, and some only flutter their wings during leaps. Every so often a pink katydid shows up. It’s been estimated that pink coloration occurs in one of about 500 individuals, a condition called erythrism. It is caused by recessive genes, similar to the situation for albino animals. The New Orleans Audubon Insectarium acquired a pink male and a pink female katydid to produce a brood of pink katydids which are now on display there. These individuals would really stand out in their normal green environment and therefore would not be likely to survive as predators could find them too easily. But in the protected insectarium they grow and live just like regular green katydids.

Lupines

Lupin, Lupine or regionaly known as blue bonnets, these flowers grow all over North and South America and the seeds were even used by Native Americans as a food crop.

Russian Lilac

The Beauty of Moscow Lilac is a Russian cultivar. The double flowers are white, pearled with a lavender-pink blush. It definitely is a heavy bloomer yet exceptionally fine. It has extremely fragrant blooms and dark, glossy, green foliage. Mature growth for this lilac shrub is around 10-12' tall and wide. This one grows along my sidewalk next to the garage.

Unexpected snow day

We woke up yesterday to 5 inches of snow! We built a snow man. This morning it was 60* and the snow was melting rapidly.

Dogwood

It displeases me to inform you our neighborhood and my back yard have a number of flowering dogwood trees. While beautiful, I think they smell like wet dog.

Orange Jelly

Darcrymyces palmatus is a nonpoisonous fungi. A number of jelly fungi can be eaten raw; poisonous jelly are rare. However, many have an unpalatable texture or taste, which is described as similar to that of soil.

Hampton Flag

Not sure if I ever posted this, but it belongs here. Hilton wanted us to create individual flags for our hotels to represent our community. They were displayed at the global Hilton general manager conference. Ours did not win any trophies, but I was proud of it anyhow. The pink towers represent Malley's Chocolate Factory, the leg for The Christmas Story House, and the footballs for the Browns.

Botanical Garden

Check out the giant butterfly and the small brown, tan, and red bird in the upper right quadrant of this other picture. Desert biome at the Botanical Gardens downtown.

Dragonfly

This guy was warming himself on the bench next to the fire pit at work.  It got down to 45* last night.

How Hot Is It?

That poor little squirrel is trying to cool off in the shade. He's fine, really.

Flag Iris

Blue and yellow.

Merry Christmas