Notes from my patio

Grampa Don said:
Pretty good rain last night. Cloudy but clearing today with a little sun.

Yesterday I noticed a tiny speck on my bathroom wall that moved. I captured it in a pill bottle and put it in the freezer overnight. Today I took it out and examined it with a magnifier. It is a tiny beetle just a little over 1mm long. I took this photo through my microscope and did a Google search on it.

View attachment 485483

It's a common carpet beetle. I've never seen one before. The beetle only lives a couple days and is harmless. But, its larva lives a couple years and eats organic fibers, leather, and photographs. And the larva isn't much larger than the beetle and looks like a tiny wooly caterpillar.

Hopefully this guy just stumbled into my house and I don't have an infestation to worry about. So now I have to be on the lookout for tiny specks that move.

It's always something.
Click to expand...

Your microscope photos are amazing. Can you keep them in a group with the identifying information?
 
Grampa Don said:
Pretty good rain last night. Cloudy but clearing today with a little sun.

Yesterday I noticed a tiny speck on my bathroom wall that moved. I captured it in a pill bottle and put it in the freezer overnight. Today I took it out and examined it with a magnifier. It is a tiny beetle just a little over 1mm long. I took this photo through my microscope and did a Google search on it.

View attachment 485483

It's a common carpet beetle. I've never seen one before. The beetle only lives a couple days and is harmless. But, its larva lives a couple years and eats organic fibers, leather, and photographs. And the larva isn't much larger than the beetle and looks like a tiny wooly caterpillar.

Hopefully this guy just stumbled into my house and I don't have an infestation to worry about. So now I have to be on the lookout for tiny specks that move.

It's always something.
Click to expand...

Your post is very interesting... to those of us who like insects and nature. ☺️

But of course we don't like those tiny larvae eating our belongings!
Keep us posted on that, as you keep a close eye out.
 
Grampa Don said:
My pomegranate is beginning to leaf out already, maybe because of the heat we've been having. It still has a few of the old leaves on it.

View attachment 484533

Here are some photos that aren't new, but I want to share a few of the insect visitors I've had. The first one is a morning glory plume moth resting on my kitchen door screen. The skinny wings fold out when it wants to fly.

View attachment 484534

Next is a katydid on my patio cupboard. I rotated the photo to make it upright. Pretty thing.

View attachment 484536

This is a cute little leaf beetle. He's only about a cm long. See his little black eyes?

View attachment 484538

And finally, a spider mite on the bottom of a geranium leaf. This was taken through my microscope. Did you know that geranium leaves were spiky underneath?

View attachment 484542
Click to expand...
Love these pictures, Don.🙂
 
Sunny and warm today, but another storm coming this weekend.

Some drama in the back yard. I went out to check the hummingbird feeder and noticed a squirrel near the garage. Then I noticed a Cooper’s hawk sitting on the bird bath. I figured this might be interesting. Will the hawk take on the squirrel, or vice versa? They were about equal size.

I don’t know if the squirrel saw the hawk or not. He just kept hopping around, but was getting closer to the birdbath. The hawk just sat there. Finally the squirrel was right under the hawk and he did a surprising thing. He raised up on his haunches and stared at the hawk. They were nose to nose about a foot apart. The hawk flipped his wings a bit a couple times, but held his ground. The squirrel just kept nosing around the bird bath. Finally it just headed off towards the pomegranate and the hawk flew off.

Squirrels are pretty brave. I once saw one chase off 3 crows that were after its peanuts. And, I’ve seen a cat stalk a squirrel and the squirrel didn’t seem to be too worried.

Here's a better picture of the carpet beetle.

beet2.jpg
 
Since some of you liked the photos through the microscope, I'll post a few more. This is an Aedes mosquito. They are an invasive species here and can carry yellow fever. I used to see more of them , but this year I've only been bitten a few times.

aedes mosquito.JPG

This is a boatman fly. A very tiny fly that sits and waves its wings like it's rowing a boat.

boatman fly.jpg

An aphid.

aphid.JPG

And lastly, a tiny fungus gnat. Its larva causes root damage in plants. It can be a house plant problem.

fungus gnat.jpg
 
Grampa Don said:
Pretty good rain last night. Cloudy but clearing today with a little sun.

Yesterday I noticed a tiny speck on my bathroom wall that moved. I captured it in a pill bottle and put it in the freezer overnight. Today I took it out and examined it with a magnifier. It is a tiny beetle just a little over 1mm long. I took this photo through my microscope and did a Google search on it.

View attachment 485483

It's a common carpet beetle. I've never seen one before. The beetle only lives a couple days and is harmless. But, its larva lives a couple years and eats organic fibers, leather, and photographs. And the larva isn't much larger than the beetle and looks like a tiny wooly caterpillar.

Hopefully this guy just stumbled into my house and I don't have an infestation to worry about. So now I have to be on the lookout for tiny specks that move.

It's always something.
Click to expand...
Keep an eye on them. I am currently fighting an infestation. I have seen a couple larvae i disturbed when cleaning. Had to tear the bed apart and hose it down with Raid multi-insect. They have destroyed the fabric on one side of the mattress.

I'm trying to stay on top of regular cleaning and spraying. I get them every year. Not sure if they're coming up from the basement maybe.

Good luck.
 
MarciKS said:
Keep an eye on them. I am currently fighting an infestation. I have seen a couple larvae i disturbed when cleaning. Had to tear the bed apart and hose it down with Raid multi-insect. They have destroyed the fabric on one side of the mattress.

I'm trying to stay on top of regular cleaning and spraying. I get them every year. Not sure if they're coming up from the basement maybe.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I sure will.
 
Sad part is I had no clue they infested homes. I just kept killing them and figured they were just seasonal til I ended up with a bunk mate at 3 in the morning. 😭
 
Cool and overcast with occasional sun today. A storm coming in tonight. They say we might even get some thunderstorms or small tornadoes. Tornadoes here are nothing like the ones in the mid west. They’re more like big whirlwinds and usually only cause some minor damage. They are rare, but they do happen.

Sitting here with a mini can of Pepsi. I picked up a pack of them this week while doing my marketing. I haven’t had a Pepsi in years. I used to drink a lot of them. The first one tasted really weird to me. This can’t be the same Pepsi. But, after drinking a few more I realized it is the same. I just forgot how they taste.

February is already half over. The weeks and months just fly by for me. I guess that’s because every day is pretty much the same. That’s how it goes as I drift through my final years. My mind is full of the past. I have a lifetime of memories and sometimes I sit and recall some. Most of the people and places in them are gone.

I fixed an egg salad sandwich for lunch. It would have been better with a little lettuce, but it was OK without it. Tonight I’m having a pork chop, Stove Top stuffing and apple sauce for dinner. Bon appetit.
 
I planted my tomatoes this morning. I'm putting a shade cloth over them for a couple days. They're predicting 94 degrees here tomorrow.

I need to get after those weeds.

tom plant.JPG

There was a mockingbird on the fence this morning with a twig in its beak. Must be nest building time.

The other day I was sitting in the patio with a half cup of coffee in my hand. I closed my eyes for just a second. I woke up with a lap full of coffee. Lesson learned.
 
It's gonna be hot today. The news is calling it a false summer.

Yesterday I was sitting in the garage and heard a loud fluttering. I looked over and there was a yellow rump warbler flapping against the window trying to get out. It had come in the open doorway. I went over and wrapped my hand around it to carry it out. When I did, it went completely limp, no struggle at all.

I took it outside and opened my hand and it just laid there for a few seconds before coming around, and then it flew off. Such a pretty little thing. It has a bright yellow spot just ahead of its tail.

Last evening after dinner I took my tea out to the patio and watched the hummers hunting for insects. You can tell when they’re doing that because of the way the flit. They stay low to the grass, hover and dash over and over. Sugar water gives them energy, but they need insects for protein. A microscopic fly landed on my hand. It was just a tiny speck. Amazing. That’s probably what the hummers were after.

When it started to get dark, they all gathered at the feeder to load up for the night. The feeder has five flowers and there were 9 or10 hummers trying to get their share. About the time it got dark there were just two stragglers left.

And a couple towhees showed up for a last bite of oatmeal. I finished my tea and came in.
 
Friday the 13th. It's gonna be hot again today. But the patio was pleasant this morning. So I took my tea and pipe out to sit a spell. I watched hummers at the feeder and my towhees picking up oatmeal that I scattered and a few high clouds drifting by. A slight breeze and the air was fresh. I put fresh cool water in the bird bath. The last few days I've noticed there is a crow who visits it for a drink. He's a big bugger compared to the other birds.

I was a little concerned about my tomatoes in this heat, but they seem to be holding up OK. The ones I planted are determinant, so I have a couple more in pots in the house. I will put them out later to try to stretch my season. Can't have too many vine ripened tomatoes.

Susan's she shed is almost complete. She's really excited about it and it makes my heart glad to see it. Worth every penny.

Just as I ran out of tea and smoke, a beautiful bluebird landed not five feet from me. He didn't stay but a couple seconds, but it was an unexpected treat. So far, it's been a lucky day.
 
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