Cicada Nymph Emergence Hike

***

We went out with friends on an after-dark owl hike last night. We did hear a couple of owls hooting. But what it quickly turned into was a nighttime cicada emergence hike instead. They were everywhere!

Cicada Nymph in the Front Lawn

***

My wife found this cicada nymph when we were working out in the yard on Saturday, May 11th, 2024. 

***

Two New Moths

Saw two “new-to-me” moth species tonight under the back porch light. Lacinipolia renigera: a bristly cutworm moth, of the family Noctuidae ~ and Cyclophora nanaria: a dwarf tawny wave, of the family Geometridae. 

Lacinipolia renigera: a bristly cutworm moth

Cyclophora nanaria: a dwarf tawny wave

***

Red Hills State Park April 2024

On Sunday, April 28th, 2024, we went for a walk along the Red Hills State Park South Loop Trail and saw several critters beside the trail. 

Spring Insects and Frogs

Insects appeared en masse on the highways of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky on April 6th and last evening (the 7th) I saw a frog crossing the road. It’s good to see flowering trees everywhere and to occasionally feel the sunlight’s warmth on your skin.  Summer is peeking out from under its covers. 

Cicada Nymph

Yesterday I found a cicada nymph emerging from the dirt in our neighborhood. It is one of the large mountain cicadas that we get here in Greeley every year. We have had many cicadas singing in the trees for weeks now, and a giant cicada killer wasp digging burrows in the neighbors' rocks for several days, so this one seems to be a late riser. I see adults and the exoskeletons of nymphs more often than I actually see a living nymph, so it was cool to see this one. These are definitely larger than the ones that I grew up with in Yuma, Arizona. I placed this one on a tree in the front yard and found the shell on the ground beneath it this morning. Nature is cool!

***

Putnam's Cicadas at Hewlett Gulch in Poudre Canyon, Colorado

*

Wildlife at Grand Teton National Park

*

There are many wonderful sights and vistas to view at Grand Teton National Park. On our first and last days camping in Gros Ventre Campground near the park we saw moose. The first sight upon entering the site was a cow and her calf. On the last morning, as we were leaving, we spotted the bull pictured above. We were at the park from August 30th - September 2nd, 2014.

Bull elk alongside the road towards Jenny Lake.

We spotted the antelope pictured above in the National Elk Refuge between Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the entrance to Grand Teton National Park. We saw many more on our road trip between Fort Collins, CO and Jackson Hole.

This bald eagle was spotted near the Snake River Overlook.

A chipmunk spotted on the Hidden Falls Trail beside Jenny Lake.

Clearwing moth sighted at the Oxbow Bend Turnout.

***

Cicada Larva on Lower Monument Canyon Trail

*

We found this cicada larva walking across the Lower Monument Canyon Trail on June 14th, 2014. We placed it in a bush nearby. Below are a couple of pics and a video.

Cicada Larva Video

***

Nature Walk - June 7th, 2014

***

On today's nature walk, along the Mica Mine Trail and at Connected Lakes, we saw a black-throated gray warbler, yellow warblers, and several other regularly seen seasonal birds. This morning's highlights were a pair of wood ducks, several species of butterflies, a reddish-colored weevil, and a bullfrog.

A reddish weevil on the Mica Mine Trail.
Possibly a Rose Curculio (Merhynchites sp.)
Or more simply... a Rose Weevil.

Weidemeyer's Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii),
Spotted on the Mica Mine Trail.

The water in the Connected Lakes area has risen
dramatically over the last few weeks.

A young, small bullfrog spotted in the Connected Lakes.

A blue damselfly at Connected Lakes.

A pair of wood ducks in Connected Lakes.

***