It is my belief that we do not have a fundamental right to pilfer and plunder our natural world, and that what we do have is a fundamental responsibility to do what we can to protect our planet's waters, soils, air, and the diverse wildlife that we share these resources with. The former does not ensure economic prosperity for all; the latter does. When one learns that certain actions have consequences--say, that morning coffee ritual from a business that heavily uses styrofoam cups, a product that simply and effectively trashes the earth--is there not only one ethical and moral thing to do? To start buying coffee from a business that does more for the environment? Change is necessary if we care about all the generations behind us--human and wildlife alike. But change is a complicated thing.

Therein lies the conundrum.

My pledge: to embrace change, and to find solutions to the conundrum.


Friday, September 16, 2011

Eggplants and Insects

Naughty little conehead eating my eggplant leaves!  Must say, it was too impressive to do anything but take pictures of it.  :~)  Favorite bug ID website here.

Busy little bumblebee collecting precious stores of pollen from my eggplant flowers (which are a bit more intense in coler due to adjusting tonal levels with my picture software).  Look at those bundles of pollen on its quarters!  Did you know that bees pack pollen grains into the tiny hairs on their back legs?  Pollen baskets!  They feed their young with pollen.  :~)
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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Black Swallowtail Butterfly

The easiest way to distinguish Black Swallowtails from Spicebush Swallowtails (the two species that are most often confused, especially if you don't have the plants, and thus caterpillars, to rely on--as those are quite different) is by the yellow spotting on the topside wings.  Black Swallowtails have yellow spotting ABOVE the blue, while Spicebush's is typically below the blue, if at all present!  'Course, that's the case with the males, anyway.  Females are a whole different thing (but aren't we always!  Ha!).

There are lots of great sites online to check into when looking for butterflies.  But you probably already know this.

Have a great day -- thanks for visiting!
Hanging annual (in NH, anyway) is Lantana.
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