Big Year Week 13

April 2-8

While perusing the dormant vegetable garden, I happened to notice an unusual clump of grayish hair.  Upon further investigation, it was an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) nest that was full of baby bunnies.  

Eastern Cottontails are the only rabbit species that are indigenous to Indiana.  Strict herbivores, they do consume a fair amount of my vegetable garden annually.  In the wild they are short lived and are the target of many predators such as coyotes and hawks, which possibly explains their ability to reproduce abundantly.  

Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) Nest with Babies

Flies are not something that I'm good with, and sawflies can be particularly mind boggling, but thanks to the folks at bugguide.net, the consensus is that this individual is of the genus Dolerus.  Of the 11 North American species in the genus Dolerus, only one is pure black, and that is Dolerus nitens, which is actually an introduced species from Europe.  

Dolerus nitens is said to be one of the earliest emerging flying insects, and since its larvae feed off of grasses and sedges, it is often found close to ground.  The name "sawfly" comes from the saw-like resemblance of the female's ovipositor, which acts like a saw to create a hole in the blades of grasses where its eggs are laid.  I don't claim with 100% certainty that this photograph is actually Dolerus nitens.  It seems to fit the bill, but I'm certainly open to expert opinion.

Dolerus nitens?  (No Common Name)

  

Week 13 running totals:

Birds:  20

Mammals:  4

Insects: 3

Vascular Plants:  1

Big Year Week 12

March 26-April 1

I've been a complete slacker for the past couple of weeks, but I did manage to grab a few new species in this the first week of spring.  The photo below was taking in my kitchen.  This is the Indian Meal Moth (Plodia interpunctella).  This South American native is the adult form of the pesky wax-worm like caterpillar that frequents your flour containers.

Indian Meal Moth (Plodia interpunctella)

Our second species of the week comes to us via one of my house cats who left this White-Footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) as a present for us.  

White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus)

Thanks to some baiting with bread, I was finally able to get an American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) to come to near the window.  Said to be one of the most intelligent of all birds, American Crows appear to be making a comeback after being hit hard with outbreaks of West Nile Virus.

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

The first flower of the year appeared on March 30.  Here is the Common Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis). A member of the lily family, this is a species that is native to northern Europe, but I think that it's fairly common product in gardening centers.  These bulbs were presumably planted my home's previous owner sometime in the 1960's-80's, and they are the first thing to flower every spring.

Common Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)

Another sure sign that spring has arrived is the return of the Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis).  Although we don't have habitat for Sandhills to use as a stopping point, I do see and hear them flying overhead every spring on their way back northward for the summer.

Migrating Flock of Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis)

Week 12 running totals:

Birds:  20
Mammals:  3
Insects:  2
Vascular Plants:  1