Category: Ecology

I spotted a bee tucked inside a flower and it was suspiciously still.  I poked it and it rotated in an odd manner, but it was not active at all.  On the other side of the flower was Misumena vatia, the Goldenrod Crab Spider.  These spiders eat pollinators by ambushing from the flower rather than …

I was exploring a town forest in southern New Hampshire a few days ago and at one point I heard a lot of nearby birds causing a ruckus.  I started rambling on about bird language, telling my hiking partner that we most likely triggered this alarm.  Moments later my partner pointed to a tree and …

I recently spent the night in a lean-to in the Whites.  While cooking dinner near the pond I saw a leafless tree covered in bumps along every twig.  For some reason I said “Larch” out loud, even though I was thinking Tamarack (Larix laricina) as I approached the tree.  I was puzzled by that initially, …