No-See-um Update

Well, hi. So less than 24 hours later I need to update the gnat info. They are now at the "drive you insane" stage.

I took a very brave and good-natured group out on a little adventure this morning down to the lake side. Once we got to the beach all was well. It was just traveling from the parking lot to the beach and back that gave everyone a wonderful taste (sometimes literally) of the extent of the gnats on the island. Everyone was covered in them. None of us had head nets. So all of us got swarmed and chewed on.

I've considered buying head nets for visiting school groups. I think I'll follow up on that idea.

No-See-ums

The biting gnats (no-see-ums) have been hatching for the past couple of weeks. For the most part they haven't really been a problem or noticeable at all. But today, they're noticible. Not enough to make you go mad, but enough to get your attention.

There are thousands of species that are commonly referred to as biting gnats, biting midges, or no-see-ums. What we think we have here at Antelope Island are Bodega Black Gnats. But the jury is still out on just exactly what we do have here. I mean, come on, with thousands of species, it's sometimes hard to narrow it down. Especially when the critter is mere millimeters in size. But here is what do know: they are very small and they bite.

But let me be perfectly clear - not every single insect a person encounters on Antelope Island is of the biting variety. We have many, many insects. There are four that are quite common: biting gnats, mosquitoes, non-biting midges and brine flies. There are others, like horse flies and such. But those four are the main attractions.

Biting gnats and mosquitoes, obviously, bite. While you can generally keep mosquitoes away with insect repellant, the gnats aren't bothered by it in the least. The solution for the gnats is a fine mesh head net. You may look funny to others around you, but believe me, they will be singing a different tune when they realize you are having a marvelous time on that hike, while they are being eaten alive.

The non-biting midges and the brine flies are quite harmless. They do tend to swarm in large numbers, but they don't bite. So how can you tell the difference between those that want to eat you whole, and those that could care less? Well, if you can see them, and they are in a large swarm, you are just fine. Remember, no-see-um perfectly describes the little biters - you can't see 'em. And mosquitoes, while they can be plentiful, don't generally swarm.

You will find the non-biting midges along the roads, generally, in large columns. Brine flies you will find along the beaches in staggering numbers.

Biting gnats you will find, well, just about everywhere. So go get yourself a head net, and come out to the Island anyway. This is a perfectly beautiful time of year.

And the birds are singing about it!

Winter Intects

Have you ever been out snowshoeing or skiing and noticed any insects flying around or hanging out on the snow?

I have. And contrary to what you might think, there are quite a few of them. Especially on milder days later in the winter.

Here are a couple of examples.

 Male Non-biting Midge. While out snowshoeing today and yesterday I saw many, many of these. 

Snow Scorpionfly

A Snow Cranefly (Image from here)

A Stonefly (image from here)

And these are Springtails, also known as Snow Fleas (image from here)

See? All kinds of critters out there in the winter. And seeing the many Midges out and about makes me happy also because it means the swallows will be back soon. 

Yeah!

Autumn Walk

I recognize that I've been neglecting myself lately. While going on walks, or taking hikes, I have not allowed my inner child to explore and look and watch and wait. I realize now how easy it is to forget how to look and see. I need to apologize to myself, and allow the wonder back in.

The changing leaves are wonderfully vibrant this year. With their help in luring me out, I took a walk to capture whatever captured me.

A small hornet's nest on a Hawthorn tree

A bumblebee supping at the flowers of a Goldenrod

Beautiful fall colors along the hiking trail

Part of the reason I went out today was just to enjoy what I could find. But somewhere inside I had the hope of maybe catching a quick view of a snake slithering across the trail, or in the brush off to the side. As I walked, I heard several small animals up in the trees, or down in leaves and grass. Then I heard the sound I was looking for - a soft, constant, rustle of leaves. And there it was, a small Eastern Racer, slowly moving along the side of the trail. 

I followed it, mostly by sound, hoping it would stop in a place where I could get a nice look without scaring it away. Well camouflaged, it did stop. And it took some time to locate it with my camera. 

I did finally find it's cute little head. Every time I moved slightly, the little black tongue would pop out, tasting the air. 

Continuing down the trail, there were more beautiful colors to enjoy.

On my return trip, to my delight, what appeared to be the same snake came into view again and stopped with it's head perfectly framed by surrounding leaves. Immediately after I took this picture it was on it's way again. And so was I.

A Day Out

I was out a lot today with three separate school groups. The day was beautiful. The weather was perfect, the leaves are amazingly bright and vibrant.

We looked at seeds, trees, scat, tracks, picked apples, learned about history, took hikes...It was a great day.

A couple of fun photographic finds:

A Rock Squirrel

What? I don't have anything.

And a Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar on its Milkweed plant. The kids thought that was pretty amazing. Heck, I thought it was pretty amazing. It's not everyday we see monarch caterpillars.

Cool Wasps

It's looking at ya.

These Bald-faced Hornets (actually, they are wasps) were building a nice hive on the wall of the visitor center. I knew the hive would eventually be removed by the maintenance guys, but I didn't say anything to them about it, wanting to let them live as long as possible. It was fun to watch them slowly build that paper hive larger and larger.

But, just as I expected, the maintenance crew have been cleaning, clearing and painting the visitor center the past couple of days, so I wasn't surprised when I passed by this area and saw that the hive was gone. I suppose it is best as these wasps can be quite aggressive if provoked.

But what cool insects. Black and white, and not so small. Very impressive.

Feeling Better

The entire first half of this year, and much of last, chemicals have been firing wrong in my brain. All things wonderful and beautiful were becoming more and more absent from my life because I couldn't find the energy or desire to pursue them. And even when I did, they did little for me.

Finally I wised up, got a mild prescription from my doctor, and began feeling better almost instantly. Now I am at the point were all things wonderful and beautiful are catching my eye and heart once again. It feels really good.

Here is what caught my eye yesterday:

First, a large and lovely Cat-faced Spider (Araneus gemmoides).

Do you see the kitty cat resemblance?

These are one of the most common, but unusual spiders encountered by people. They are representative of orb weaver spiders. Their webs are beautiful. Despite their size and appearance, they are harmless to humans, and actually quite beneficial as natural enemies to many garden insects. I hope to get another, better picture of it later.

Other fun things that caught my eye...

Peek-a-boo

I think my mind, and therefore my eyes, were focused on insects (though of course, spiders are not insects) because I had been reading about them all day, preparing for an evening program.

It's nice to be back.

Photo A Day - July 11

I took a walk along a recently built trail, and was so happy to see that in addition to the plethora of thistle growing on the fringes, there was also an abundance of Showy Milkweed.



Butterflies, especially Monarch Butterflies, love and even depend on these plants. I am so glad they are here to provide not only beauty, but life and security. And a promise of tomorrow.

Photo A Day - July 3

I got to work feeling very grumpy today. Then I learned my dog had another one of her "accidents". I don't thinks it's an accident anymore. Now I think she's just plain stubborn.

Anyway, not long after I arrived at work, felt grumpy, and nearly decided to just forget the whole day, I decided to make an effort to feel better by taking a little walk.

I just learned we have a couple of fledgling Great Horned Owls on our Visitor Center trail. I had to see if I could find them. Just so you don't die from anticipation, I didn't find them. But I did see many other fun little glimpses of life out there.

Here are a few of my favorites:




After the hike, though, I found a wonderful little gem of a picture. I think, today, this wins my vote for favorites:

Bio Blitz, Part Two

Well, 24 hours of surveying complete. I look forward to seeing the final species list compiled from all the groups, but in the meantime here are some snaps of what I experienced.

(click to enlarge any of the images)

Setting up camp in an open field. Not much time was spent here, so it wasn't anything fancy.

Antelope Island is home to a herd of about 300-400 Bison. A good chunk of them were on the north side of the island where most of the surveys took place, so we came across quite a few.

More Bison. They are just so massive.

At one point, four big bulls came running by, not too far from where I was camped. I stayed well back and behind my truck in case they decided to check our little camp out. They didn't; just kept heading south.

Getting ready for our scorpion surveys.

Our scorpion expert had a few specimens to show us during a little education bit as we waited for it to get dark.
Don't ask me the names of these guys; I don't know. But I do know that we don't grow them that big or black out here.

Holding one of his living, non-lethal ones for all to see. Quite a bit of "wow" factor here. These we do have.

Here he is holding it by the stinger - the best way to hold them. I didn't try.

It got very cold once the sun went down, plus it was a full moon. Two strikes against seeing any scorpions. We were about a month too early.


However, we still searched for about an hour and a half with black lights - they actually fluoresce under black light. That's how you find them. However, we had no luck finding any. So our guide put his out on the sand so we could all see how it reacted under the fluorescent lights.

It was too cold for it to move too fast. So we all got good looks at him. Very cool.

The next day started early. I was up by about 4:45am, got a few groups off to where they needed to be, watched the sunrise, then spent the rest of the day birding and bugging (don't know if that is a real term, but that's what we did - looked for and tried to escape from bugs).

Sunrise over the water.

Of course, while out looking for birds and bugs, other things are seen as well. Here is a Pronghorn, also known as Antelope - for which the Island is named. The funny thing is, they aren't even Antelope. Just like the Bison on the Island are sometimes called Buffalo, but aren't.

Catching and examining insects. I tried to get some pics of the little critters, but that mesh net didn't allow any clear looks.

One of the many Red-winged Blackbirds seen over the course of the day.

Fellow surveyors and birders.

We found several mushrooms, but I don't know my fungi, so I'll leave that up to the mycologists.

Here's another.

A Western Meadowlark.

A Long-eared Owl hunkered very low in the nest. That was a fun find.

Can you see what's out there? They certainly aren't birds.

Here's a closer look. A couple of Coyotes.

This was a fun find. A Common Raven in it's nest. It was so well hidden up there, and so still that if it hadn't been blinking, we would have thought it was dead.

Another awesome find. A Great Horned Owl high up in the trees. He and his mate had a nest in the hollow of a tree. There were two chicks in there, but they never poked their heads out while we were watching.

Finally at the end of the day, we all gathered together for a nice dinner. Some of the bug and plant folks brought a few specimens back to ID.



It was a great day. A lot of fun. Great people. If you ever hear about a Bio Blitz going on in your area, I highly recommend joining in. You don't have to be an expert, but the experience is well worth it.