Location, Location, Location!

On June 10, 2015, while walking the brief portion of the trail that joins Roaches Pond park with the paved trail along the McIntosh Run, I happened upon some of my first dragonflies of the season. What was interesting about this encounter was that I found three different species sharing the same dead brush along the sunny east side of the trail. The first, which I think is a teneral belted whiteface, Leucorrhinia proxima, attracted me by being disturbed as I approached the spot along the trail. It's movement, in turn, disturbed a second dragonfly...

...which subsequently landed on a sapling beside the dead brush. This is a "common" baskettail, Epitheca cynosura. A side note: I dislike—intensely—the use of abundance measures such as "common" in the colloquial (there's my dislike of that word "common" again) names of organisms...it serves no useful purpose as a descriptor. Now that I've got that off my chest, once my eyes were opened to the presence of these two species of dragonflies, I promptly noticed a third species there represented by...

...not one, but two, freshly emerged individuals of the springtime darner, Basiaeschna janata. The most intriguing thing, besides finding these three species together in the same spot at the same time? This spot along the trail is nowhere near water and is about equidistant from both the pond and the run. Still, as we all know, and as these dragonflies had obviously figured out, life is better on the sunny side—it's all about location, location, location!

An Infrequent Event: Orchid Cactus Flower! 

My orchid cactus, an Epiphyllum sp. hybrid originally acquired as a leaf/stem from a plant in the York University greenhouse in the early 90s, bloomed this year. This is a decidedly uncommon event because twice—first our move to Texas in '97 and then our move to Nova Scotia in '07—it has been reduced to that original leaf/stem! My current cultivation regime is also less than ideal. The plant bloomed frequently when I had it in a greenhouse in Texas but getting one of these epiphytes to bloom on a windowsill is much (much!) harder. The flowers of Epiphyllum are "dinner plate" size and this one didn't disappoint, I measured it at slightly more than 20 cm (8") in diameter.

Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle... 

I always look forward to encountering six-spotted tiger beetles, Cicindela sexguttata, along woodland paths in the early spring. They're tough to get close to but I managed to get this shot on May 25, 2015, near Mt. Uniacke.

A Couple of Uncommon Early Spring Wildflowers...

I've been trying to get good photos of the red (or purple, if you prefer) trilliums, Trillium erectum, here in Nova Scotia, looking to replace my old Ontario slide film photos with digital shots, for a few years now. But I was always too late and the flowers were in pretty bad shape, definitely not what could be called photogenic. But this year I caught them, in Elderkin Ravine in Kentville on May 19, 2015, at the height of bloom in about as perfect condition as possible.

This is another early spring bloomer that I've been trying to catch in flower. I've frequently seen them in fruit but this is the first time, also May 19, 2015 at Elderkin Ravine in Kentville, that I've found the flowers. Most commonly known as February Daphne (although that would be April/May here in Nova Scotia, which might explain why spurge laurel is its colloquial name here), Daphne mezereum, is a non-native shrub that is highly poisonous.

It's Elfin Season Again...

One of the joys of spring is that Elfins are in season! These little Lycaenid butterflies only have a single generation per year so you gotta get out and see them while you can. Nova Scotia has five (possibly six, see note below) species and I've already seen and photographed three of them, including a "lifer" (a new species that I haven't seen before), so far this year. This one is an Eastern Pine Elfin, Callophrys niphon, photographed at Roaches Pond in Spryfield on May 15, 2015. Note that there is a chance, albeit a small one, that NS may also have a sixth Elfin species, the Western Pine Elfin, Callophrys eryphon, since they are known in New Brunswick...Cumberland & Colchester Co. butterfly watchers should get out and look!

The second species I've encountered this year is the most common (both most numerous and most widespread) species, the Brown Elfin, Callophrys augustinus, photographed near Mt, Uniacke on May 16, 2015. Looking at this photo of a fresh specimen you might wonder why it's not called the "purple" or the "violet" Elfin? Unfortunately those stunning violet scales are soon lost and for most of their flight period they are generally just another LBJ (a little brown job).

Finally, my lifer, a fresh Hoary Elfin, Callophrys polios, photographed near Mt, Uniacke on May 16, 2015. I don't know why it has taken so long for me to finally see and photograph one of these but I'd never seen one before this one. This particular butterfly was what I call "partially cooperative," meaning that it hung around and allowed me to repeatedly get "portrait close" but it kept landing in places where it was shaded or partly obscured by grass or twigs. The consequence of shooting a shaded, dark-coloured butterfly is "blown-out" background highlights! Hopefully I'll find some more soon and get some opportunities for better photos (though maybe I should just consider myself lucky and be thankful?).

Some Stupendous Spring Spiders...

Spring has finally sprung in Nova Scotia! After a l-o-n-g cold and very (very!) snowy winter, this insect (and other macro nature) photographer was overjoyed to finally get out and get some photos. Some of the first "insects" that I've encountered have been some new, and I don't hesitate to say stupendous, spiders. This little Salticid or jumping spider, Habronattus decorus, barely 5mm or so long (less than 1/4") with its bold blue-white and cinnamon colouration, was particularly common as it hunted around the early blooming mayflowers (Epigaea repens). Photographed at Roaches Pond on May 10, 2015.

As far as I can recall this is the very first "running crab spider" that I've ever encountered. I found a number of these dark Tmarus angulatus spiders sunning themselves on alder and birch saplings near Mt. Uniacke on May 5, 2015. A week later they were nowhere to be found...

Finally, the pièce de résistance of my spring spider surprises is my first Nova Scotia encounter with a lichenmarked orbweaver, Araneus bicentenarius. These spiders grow to monumental proportions in the southern part of their range and it is not uncommon to find specimens that are 5 cm (2") or more from chelicerae to spinnerets, with webs that are 6 metres (20 feet) or more across. This one, photographed May 16, 2015 in the Pockwock watershed near Mt. Uniacke, was about 13mm (1/2") long, a respectable size for an early spring orbweaver. I do have to admit that I never really appreciated the "lichenmarked" colloquial name until I saw this one (as you can no doubt see yourself).

One Big Honking Sawfly!  

This has been a good year for finding some unusual bugs here in Nova Scotia. As one example, this year I encountered and photographed both male and female, and for the second time, the larva (shown here, photographed at the Pockwock Watershed lands on September 28th) of the Elm Sawfly, Cimbex americana. To be succinct, this is one big honking sawfly!

This is the adult male Elm Sawfly, photographed at McIntosh Run in Spryfield on July 10th. These large relatives of bees, wasps and ants, are about the same size as large bumble bees, and when one flies past your head, you know it.

Here's the adult female Elm Sawfly, photographed on a cool, cloudy day at Roaches Pond in Spryfield on July 29th. The abdomen can also be black or brick red/orange but the legs and antennae are always bright yellow.

The first time I encountered the larva of the Elm Sawfly was at Dollar Lake on August 8th, 2012. These large caterpillar-like larvae are about 50 mm or 2 in. long, have obvious simple eyes (ocelli), three "true" legs and six or more prolegs—moth and butterfly caterpillars have 5 or fewer prolegs and multiple ocelli that are usually not at all obvious.

Like my most recent encounter with Elm Sawfly larvae, this one is feeding on willow, though why it would choose to feed on the twig rather than the leaf is a mystery. The spiral body shape necessary to feed on the twig puzzled me for quite some time before I finally figured out it was a sawfly larva and not a caterpillar.