This week in central NY has been gorgeous!

I saw a bald eagle…

A tree frog on a broken tree limb

And FLYING SQUIRRELS! They like to nest in the top of our insect traps…

They are really cute and only 6in long or so…but man, when they are flying right at your head its a little frightening

Io Moth

Crane Fly

Female Eastern Dobsonfly

Frog

Frog Eye

White-Tailed Buck

White-Tailed Buck and Foxgloves

Josh and I picked up a new baby last weekend….another german shorthaired pointer. Say hello to Wes (or “Dude” as my coworkers have all been calling him).

More pictures of the squirt to come…

Ok, not a bug…but a baby kangaroo:

The kangaroo is one of the most bizarre looking mammals and its reproductive process appears equally peculiar. Its tiny fetus compelled to make an unaided march from womb to pouch after only weeks of existence. Here, a 2 week old red kangaroo joey in the pouch. (Photo credit © Hannah James / Pioneer Productions)

As you may know, National Geographic has been doing a series lately called “Inside the Womb”. The series has previously looked at fetal development of human babies, cats and dogs. They have another episode airing in time for Mother’s Day (5/10/2009 @ 9PM ET/PT) profiling a shark, penguin, kangaroo, and parasitic wasp.

From Nat. Geo:

“In The Womb: Extreme Animals explores the extraordinary methods of reproduction and gestation of four different animals: fish, bird, mammal and insect.  Using real-time 4-D ultrasound images, specially created visual effects and fetal imaging techniques, the two-hour special follows unusual developmental challenges in utero: the shark embryos’ nutrient supply transforms into a placenta; the penguins find an ingenious way to keep their eggs from freezing in the Antarctic; the kangaroo fetuses actually leave the womb to finish growing in the pouch; and the larvae of parasitic wasps invade the bodies of other creatures.”

Check out this short, but very cool, video trailer for the parasitic wasp part of the episode:

– Body Invaders” – A parasitic wasp has injected her eggs into a caterpillar — and now they’re ready to hatch: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/feeds/cv-seo/Animals–Nature/All-Videos/Caterpillars-Host-Wasp-Larvae.html

Its not every day that you get the chance to go inside of the host and see what the parasitoids are actually doing in there…so check out the link and watch the show this Sunday.

I got to dust off the ol’ bug net today and it got its first use of the season…

For the last couple nights Josh and I have been hearing some noises after we have gone to bed. The other night I told Josh that it sounded like a bat. I was right.

He decided to join us for some pizza and tv tonight. Maya proved that she is more versatile than just a “bird” dog, and she almost got him a couple times. The cat on the other hand, could not be bothered to get off his perch after checking out what was going on during the initial ruckus. He’s useless and definitely not pullin’ his weight around here, but I digress.

Now I am no mammalogist, but I think it is the garden variety Little Brown Bat. Correct me if I am wrong…

Josh, being the normal person he is, instinctually grabbed his coat thinking he was going to catch the bat with it…me on the other hand, we entomologists try to find any way possible to inundate our insect nets into every situation. I am planning on fighting crime with it one day.

Anyway, just for the record, I won.

Yes, this is what an entomologist does on a Friday night.

The snow is finally gone and hopefully wont return for another couple months. I can’t tell you how much I have needed some sun and green…

Photos from my backyard:

Black-Capped Chicadee

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Pileated Woodpecker

My baby sister claims she is sick of seeing the spider every time she checks the site for updates…so time to change to something not so arachnid-like…

Or maybe not. Check out the pseudoscorpion that was wandering my dining room wall tonight.

I really need to upgrade to a new lens…my current long-distance lens is getting on my nerves, but check out this 3-legged deer I saw about a week ago. Not every day you see one of these.

Man, I am really itching for spring and for the insects to start popping.

I have been harassed by my baby sister for not posting anything lately. What can I say though, its the middle of Jan. and there is about 2 foot of snow on the ground. Not a happening time for the bugs

We have been splitting some trees at work to remove Sirex noctilio (European woodwasp) larvae for a study. You can check out some of my older posts to learn more about the bug, but in short they are an invasive that kills pine trees.

The trees can be so full of larvae…at times we have been able to find trees infested with more than a hundred larvae in just one meter of tree section.

My other excuse for not posting is that we have been in the middle of renovating the house we just recently bought. We move in this weekend. So posting should resume more frequently soon.