Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Nature
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 07-04-2018, 04:56 AM
 
Location: LI,NY zone 7a
2,221 posts, read 2,070,437 times
Reputation: 2757

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by MaryMeriMarry View Post
I saw what I thought was a moth flying around my flower garden. I did a double take when it put its head into a flower while hovering, and when the head came out, I saw it had a tiny beak. Although it was a colour I'd never seen before, I decided it must be a very young hummingbird.

Ironically, later that day a friend posted a picture of the same type of little creature, wondering if anyone could identify it. Several people told her it was a hummingbird moth. Looked it up, and sure enough hummingbird moths exist and don't appear to be considered a rarity.

How I made it this far in life without ever seeing one before is a mystery, but it was nice to see and learn something new.
Here's one from last year on my butterfly bush. I see them throughout the summer, but boy is it hard to get a pic of them, hence this is the only two photos I have so far.


Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-04-2018, 08:41 AM
 
4,168 posts, read 3,358,936 times
Reputation: 9096
I've never seen a hummingbird moth, and I'm 7a, too....I would probably pass out, thinking it was a giant bee.

Watched fireflies, two nights in a row, wondering if they start from the grass and end up in the treetops. I also saw the planet Venus. It's HUGE. And bright gold. Big enough to make you think it's a spaceship. Planets are nature, right?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-04-2018, 09:22 AM
 
6,893 posts, read 7,523,007 times
Reputation: 21668
The fireflies (lightnin' bugs) here in humid eastern SD have been just BEAUTIFUL in the evenings this year. Where I live it gets pitch black unless the moon is shining unobstructed by clouds, so the light shows put on by these creatures have been just wondrous. One got stuck between the screen and the glass pane on my screened door and it wouldn't leave, so I had a little light beam on my front door for a while. It's been very rainy this year, so maybe that has brought out more of them?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-04-2018, 04:19 PM
 
Location: The Driftless Area, WI
7,114 posts, read 4,953,776 times
Reputation: 17447
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Freddy View Post

It is unknown why they (fireflies) have never existed west of Kansas.

They're not found west of Kansas for the same reason you don't find penguins there either: wrong habitat.


We had plenty of them in 'burbs surrounding Chicago when I lived there, and plenty of them here in WI. They're becoming locally extinct due to habitat loss from building development..

Last edited by guidoLaMoto; 07-04-2018 at 04:28 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-04-2018, 04:27 PM
 
Location: The Driftless Area, WI
7,114 posts, read 4,953,776 times
Reputation: 17447
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nonchalance View Post

Watched fireflies, two nights in a row, wondering if they start from the grass and end up in the treetops.

Time-lapse photography shows us that each species flies & lights up in a particular, repeated pattern. Some trace out a "J" and others a "Z" etc. It's part of their mating ritual.


Stuff like that makes it really hard to believe sometimes that evolution is all a matter of chance.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-08-2018, 04:31 PM
 
Location: Bloomington IN
8,590 posts, read 12,227,293 times
Reputation: 24241
On the fireflies, we have a lot! I love watching them at night. We also must have several species. I remember as a kid growing up in a different part of the state we didn't see them until at least June. I've seen them here as early as April. Once in awhile, if we get a December "heat wave, I'll see them then too.

My latest sightings--The last 2 mornings two white doves were flying around our backyard. This afternoon I was enjoying the sunshine, and they came back. They flew off when a crow flew overhead. I've never seen white doves here.

Another first a few weeks ago--a mother skunk and 4 or 5 babies. We see plenty of skunks, but I've never seen the babies. Mother was coming out of the wood's edge with the babies following her in the late afternoon.

Saw a young fawn yesterday. I was a bit concerned because I don't recall seeing one without the mother nearby before. It finally darted off into the woods after watching us humans for about 15 minutes.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-10-2018, 10:06 AM
 
6,893 posts, read 7,523,007 times
Reputation: 21668
Do you all think that raccoons and skunks hang out with one another?

Last night I watched a group of raccoons as they left the woods and walked over to the equipment barn together. I SWEAR there was a black and white critter about the same size in the group.

It wasn't one of the tuxedo barn cats, as they were all locked up for the night. I guess it could have been a feral cat I don't know about. Or a weirdly colored raccoon. But I think it was a skunk (I couldn't see it's tail.) I do know that skunks live in the woods.

But I didn't think that a skunk would be roaming among a raccoon group.

So, ?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-10-2018, 10:13 AM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,694,412 times
Reputation: 30347
Quote:
Originally Posted by rrah View Post
On the fireflies, we have a lot! I love watching them at night. We also must have several species. I remember as a kid growing up in a different part of the state we didn't see them until at least June. I've seen them here as early as April. Once in awhile, if we get a December "heat wave, I'll see them then too.

My latest sightings--The last 2 mornings two white doves were flying around our backyard. This afternoon I was enjoying the sunshine, and they came back. They flew off when a crow flew overhead. I've never seen white doves here.

Another first a few weeks ago--a mother skunk and 4 or 5 babies. We see plenty of skunks, but I've never seen the babies. Mother was coming out of the wood's edge with the babies following her in the late afternoon.

Saw a young fawn yesterday. I was a bit concerned because I don't recall seeing one without the mother nearby before. It finally darted off into the woods after watching us humans for about 15 minutes.
Great sightings...never seen little skunks!

I worry over single fawns too...hopefully she was around and you just didn't see her.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-10-2018, 10:15 AM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,694,412 times
Reputation: 30347
I don't know, someone else might...

wonder if it was a juvenile skunk separated from it's family who hooked up with the raccoons...?
Interesting!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-13-2018, 01:06 PM
 
Location: So Cal
19,212 posts, read 15,079,779 times
Reputation: 20215
I just saw a hummingbird chase off a butterfly from a flower. There were plenty of flowers to go around! Mean hummingbird!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Nature
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top