Comments for Nature Inquiries

Comment on First Candle on the Cake by natureinquiries

natureinquiries — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:59:18 +0000

Hi, Hal,
Sure, for instance chapter 4 gets into awareness techniques.

Comment on First Candle on the Cake by Hal Atherton

Hal Atherton — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Hi Carl,
I am definitely looking forward to this series. I will guess that Tom Brown may be mentioned.

Best regards, Hal

Comment on Range Extension by So, Which Is It? « Nature Inquiries

So, Which Is It? « Nature Inquiries — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:55:54 +0000

[...] warmer days I was walking through the south savanna at Mayslake when I heard what sounded like a broad-winged tree cricket singing. I had heard some a few weeks earlier, but hadn’t taken the time to find one to [...]

Comment on Meet Conrad by Jacqui, and Mayslake Restoration « Nature Inquiries

Jacqui, and Mayslake Restoration « Nature Inquiries — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:44:00 +0000

[...] became aware of the impressive restoration progress being made out beyond the mansion grounds by Conrad Fialkowski. I can think of no better word to describe Jacqui and Conrad than dynamos. They are out there at [...]

Comment on Culver Seedling Identified by Culver Seedling Survived « Nature Inquiries

Culver Seedling Survived « Nature Inquiries — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:53:31 +0000

[...] seedling that appeared in the middle of winter in a swampy spot at Culver, Indiana. The seedling proved to be a common privet. It soon was overtopped by the large leaves of surrounding skunk cabbages, and I was curious as to [...]

Comment on Mixed Flocks by Mayslake Birds Update « Nature Inquiries

Mayslake Birds Update « Nature Inquiries — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:27:18 +0000

[...] Mixed flocks of warblers and other songbirds stopped by the preserve for fuel in September, and gave way in October to birds that winter in the U.S. These included blackbirds, with large grackle flocks foraging on the mansion lawns on some days. [...]

Comment on Leaf Miners 3 by Understory Leaf Miners 2009 « Nature Inquiries

Understory Leaf Miners 2009 « Nature Inquiries — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:09:39 +0000

[...] aspect of the study is a comparison of leaf miner occurrence in the canopy versus the understory. Today I’ll report this year’s results for the understory, having gathered those data in [...]

Comment on A Salute to the NYC Cricket Crawl by natureinquiries

natureinquiries — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:21:18 +0000

Range extensions have been one of the more interesting aspects of singing insects study for me. Last winter I posted on the first one I found, the broad-winged tree cricket. In the spring I posted an account on the expansion of the introduced Roesel’s katydid. I would have posted on the jumping bush cricket, which occurs all across the southern half of my county, at least, but haven’t gotten a photo yet. Handsome trig would be another. As I mentioned in the broad-winged tree cricket post, these are not always attributable to global climate change, but that might be a factor in some cases.

Comment on A Salute to the NYC Cricket Crawl by Scott

Scott — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:35:58 +0000

This is very interesting, and I wish there was something like this around here. I participate in Frogwatch and bird counts, and would like to learn the insect songs better so that I could start to monitor them as well.

It is interesting that one of the species they monitor is the Jumping Bush Cricket. Based on the range maps on the Songs of Insects webpage, it doesn’t look like this species is shown in New York. Are ranges of some of these insects (including Handsome Trig) increasing drastically in recent years, or are there just more people looking for them?

Comment on Return to Pachyschelus by natureinquiries

natureinquiries — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:06:06 +0000

Hi, Ted,
So far I’ve seen them feeding only on bitternut and geranium leaves. The original observations were in the 1980’s, when I was in Meacham Grove Forest Preserve most weekends of the growing season for several successive years. On the other hand, I was generally surveying herbivores of understory plants there and at Maple Grove, so only part of my attention was devoted to these species. Thanks to what I have learned from you, I’ll be going back there more and also staying alert for this beetle in other woodlands. It may well prove to be more generalized than I had thought.