Photo of the Day

It was cool and rainy today so I was looking for tiger salamanders. But instead I found this big fat caterpillar. At first it looked like a rolled up leaf. It wasn't crawling around, but it seemed intact and it did move when I touched it. I think it's the caterpillar of the Elm Sphinx moth, also known as the Four-horned Sphinx. They come down out of the trees when they're ready to pupate. That might have been what this one was doing. It has two color phases - green like this one, or a darker brownish color. The moth is 3 to 4 inches in size - that seems large. I wish I saw more moths, but they're mostly active at night.

I was listening to a podcast on my iPhone (11 pro max) so that's what I used to take the photos. It does a surprisingly good job on closeups. I don't remember my previous iPhones being able to focus so close.

Photo of the Day

I spotted this guy on a web on the railing of the 42nd street bridge as I was walking home. It was quite large - its body was about the size of a dime and its legs would have hung over the sides of a twonie. I think it's a Cat-faced Orbweaver.

Photos of the Week

I opened the shed to get my bike and noticed two moths on the door. One immediately crawled away to a dark inaccessible corner, but the other posed in the open long enough for me to get my camera out. I think it's a Copper Underwing. You can see where the name comes from in this iNaturalist photo.

We're past the peak of the flowers but there are still some around. I like the details of the lilies.

There was no wind for a change this morning so the reflections were very clear. Hard to even tell this is a reflection until you notice the water lilies floating in the "air".

Approaching slowly while it scolded me, this red squirrel let me get quite close before scampering up the tree. Squirrels seem to be getting more common in Saskatoon. I'd assume that was global warming, but there are lots of squirrels further north.

There are lots of these funnel weaver grass spiders around this time of the year. Usually if you approach too quickly they retreat into their funnel. But as I took photos of this one, it started coming further out - a strangely aggressive spider. But on my way home I spotted it again and waved my hand to see if it would come out again. This time it retreated as they usually do. Thinking about it, I wonder if it was seeing its reflection in the camera lens and thinking it was another spider, had come out to chase it away.

The jackrabbits are also unpredictable. Sometimes they run away as soon as they see you. Other times (or other jackrabbits) they let you get quite close. This one was keeping an eye on me, but it was busy eating fallen apples and let me get quite close.

The bumblebees like the globe thistles. And with lots of little flowers, they kept this Tricolored Bumblebee busy long enough to get some video. It seemed to be collecting nectar and not pollen.

See all 11 photos in this album

More Ambush Bugs

I wasn’t really happy with my recent photos of the Jagged Ambush Bugs. They weren’t bad considering how small they are, the camera I was using, and that I was hand holding in the field. But a couple of days later I spotted them again, on the same thistles, and I decided I’d take a few home and see if I could do better. I used a ziplock bag from my lunch and hoped the three bugs wouldn’t kill and eat each other before I got home.

They made it home intact and I transferred them to plastic food containers, separate ones, just in case. I didn’t have any idea how/what to feed them but I hoped they’d survive overnight. (Bugs are pretty tough.)

Saturday morning I put the macro lens on the EM1 and got out my Peak Designs tripod. I started with them in a white Corel bowl. Most bugs can’t climb the slippery sides but these guys had no problems. Luckily they didn’t move too fast and I could catch them and move them back into position. (Shelley had given me strict instructions not to let them loose in the house.)

I tried focus stacking first, but they kept moving on me and there wasn’t enough light to use a fast shutter speed. Despite that, this shot came out fairly well. It's nice to get a clear look at those front claws.

I switched to using the tiny flash that came with the EM1. That gave enough light to use a small aperture to get a decent depth of field. And one of the benefits of electronic flash is that it’s so fast it helps freeze any movement.

As much as it was convenient to shoot indoors, it wasn’t a very natural setting so I decided to try outdoors. We don’t have any thistles like I found them on, so I made do with a random flower, although I have no idea if an Ambush bug would choose this kind of flower. When I put it on the flower it got dusted with pollen (sticky stuff). I had a hard time getting a decent angle since the bug was busy crawling around, but I got a few decent shots.

Showing Shelley some of the photos she mentioned how hard it was to judge size from the photos. The bugs look huge in the closeups but they're about the size of a ladybug (but flatter). So I figured I’d get a photo of it with a dime for scale. Except it refused to sit still. So I put it in the fridge for a while hoping to slow it down. (Most bugs are more lethargic when cold.) Shelley shook her head when she found a bug in the fridge, but luckily she’s a good sport about my eccentric hobbies. It didn’t help much. Either it wasn’t bothered by the cold, or it warmed up too quickly. Eventually I managed a few shots with queen Elizabeth.

I decided I had enough hundreds of photos of Ambush bugs and let them go in the garden. When I went to wash out the food containers I noticed some specks in the bottom of one. My first thought was that it was bug droppings, but they were stuck to the bottom and didn’t look quite like that. (Based on my not very extensive experience of bug droppings.) I still had the camera set up on the tripod so I took a few shots and zoomed in on the computer. Interestingly, they were clearly eggs rather than droppings. One of my bugs obviously must have been a female. I have the eggs on my dresser. I wonder how long they'll take to hatch. Given the size of the eggs, the babies are going to be very tiny!

See all 10 photos in this album

33 in 3:15

I ran the 33km loop around the new north and south bridges this morning. It started out nice and cool, but the sun was hot, and it was a little too warm by the end. But it’s supposed to be 34c tomorrow so I can’t complain. 

For some reason my heart rate was unusually high for the first hour or so. Normally it wouldn't get that high unless I was pushing quite hard, but I was pacing myself for a long run and not going fast at all. Nor was I breathing hard, which would also usually go with that kind of heart rate. Either I hadn't recovered completely from recent runs, or my heart rate monitor was misbehaving. I use a chest strap because the optical wrist heart rate is completely unreliable for me. Usually the chest strap seems to work well. Other than being puzzled, I ignored it and continued, and after about an hour my heart rate dropped back to more what I would expect, although still a bit high for my pace.

Just after the north bridge a fit looking cyclist came up from behind and asked "How far are you going today?". I answered "30". There was a long pause, and then he said sarcastically, "Just 30, eh." Another pause and he said "I did 18 yesterday." I felt a little bad at one-upping him.  "Are you training for a race?" he asked. "No, just running for fun." I answered. Of course, it's somewhat type 2 fun, the kind you enjoy having done, as much as you enjoy the doing. (Like climbing often was.) Although, for the most part, I do enjoy my runs, even if they're tough sometimes.

25 km in I ended up behind a guy running, pushing a baby chariot, with a large dog on a leash, and shepherding another small child on a bicycle. Between them they were pretty much completely blocking the trail. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get past them, when I realized that I wasn't really gaining on them. If I'd been on a shorter run, I'm pretty sure my ego would have goaded me into speeding up to pass them. But by this point my ego was tired and I lived with the shame of running behind a guy with a baby carriage. Of course, he was probably 30+ years younger than me, and probably wasn't running anywhere near as far. At least that’s what I told myself! (Thankfully they turned around not long after.)

I wasn't aiming for a fast pace since it was the longest I'd run this summer. I still managed to run the second half a bit faster than the first, despite the fact that it always takes more effort to maintain the pace as a long run progresses. I was definitely tired by the end, but not totally spent. And best of all, my feet and knees seem to have tolerated it quite well, which isn't always the case with going further than usual. Another 9 km would have made it a marathon (42 km). Could I have managed it today? Probably, but it wouldn't have been pleasant. And I was out of water. I do these long runs with a vest and two half liter bottles, but when it's warm that's not really enough for 3 hours, let alone 4. I used to take advantage of the water fountains, but they never got turned on this summer, I assume due to Covid. I need to stash a resupply somewhere to go longer. But that's not easy to do when I'm running one long loop.

Rusty Tussock Moth

I was walking across Innovation Place headed for Starbucks (since the coffee shop here is still closed due to Covid). As usual, I was scanning for whatever I might see, and I noticed this pair of fancy caterpillars. According to Seek, they're Rusty Tussock Moth caterpillars.

The one above was quite a bit smaller, which might means it's male. The larger one below is perhaps a female.

As with just about any creature you investigate, Rusty Tussock Moths have some interesting details. The adult male moth is a fairly normal looking brown moth. But the adult female doesn't have wings and doesn't look like a moth at all. The adult female stays beside her cocoon, attracts the male moths via pheromones (scent), and then lays her eggs in the same spot.

Ambush Assassins

Out for a walk around Innovation Place at lunch time, I noticed a big bumblebee visiting a thistle flower. It didn't seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere so I pulled out my camera.

Looking closer, I saw there were several other bugs on the same flower. I took some photos and Seek later identified it as a Jagged Ambush Bug which is a kind of Assassin bug.

They are ambush predators like crab spiders, waiting on a flower and pouncing on visiting insects. If you look closely in the photo above you can see it has big front "claws" almost like a praying mantis.

Also like crab spiders, ambush bugs will take on prey bigger than themselves. But I think the bumblebee was a little too big. (The ambush bug is to the left of the bumblebee's head.)

Although the little ZS100 does pretty well at closeups, it would have been nice to have the big camera and macro lens. Although even a phone does pretty well these days, like with these Woodland Skippers.

Bat in the Boardroom

 Boardrooms are visited by a variety of creatures, but most of them wear suits.

 I'm not sure how this bat (Little Brown?) got inside our office.

It's amazing what evolution comes up with. Nice of it to show off its wing for me. 

Running

Once I get up to about 25 km on my weekly long run, I usually start alternating longer and shorter weeks. This week was a shorter one. I was thinking about 20 km but the route I took ended up being 23 km,

It was only 12c when I started so I threw on an extra long sleeved shirt. It took me about 5 minutes before I was too hot and I took it off. Then I got out into the 30 km/hr wind and I was too cold. Can't win!

I decided to run by heart rate, at a moderate level (115 to 120). Not really easy, but not pushing either. That went well. For the most part I stayed in my target range fairly naturally. The pace felt quite reasonable. I resisted looking at my actual pace. (Or even the time and distance since then I can’t resist calculating my pace.)

For the last few months I’ve been walking 30 seconds out of every 10 minutes on my  long runs. That’s down from the 1 out of 10 I was doing previously. I’m tempted to stop the walking, but maybe it’s one of the things that’s been keeping the chronic issues away. Or maybe it’s switching between different pairs of running shoes. (Supposedly a study showed that reduced injuries by 40%.) Or maybe it’s the warmup ritual I’ve been doing religiously before each run. (5 min barefoot on the treadmill, leg swings and raises, etc.) Or maybe it’s pure random chance. Whatever it is, it’s allowed me to gradually raise my volume of running over the last few months, and still stay (mostly) pain free.

I feel like I’m getting fitter, but frustratingly, not much faster. At moderate paces, my heart rate has dropped quite a bit, which seems like a good sign. But my speed at longer distances doesn’t seem to have improved much. 

At 18 km when I took my usual 10 minute coffee break, I finally checked my pace. I tried to predict what it would be, but I’m terrible at that. Today, at least, it was a pleasant surprise - quite a bit faster than I expected, given the perceived effort. The cooler weather probably helped. The last few weeks it’s been quite hot which tends to slow you down. 

Happy about my pace I ran the final 5 km home at an even faster pace. It turned out to be my fastest long run in recent years. So maybe the increased volume has made a difference after all.

Photos of the Day

I glanced out the window and there was a squirrel trying to get the suet at the bird feeder. I managed to get a few photos before it scampered away up the tree. I don't see many squirrels in Saskatoon for some reason.



Who me?


Love that tail!


While I was out in the yard with my camera I grabbed a few shots of the native plants in our flower bed.

Prairie Coneflower


Wild Bergamot


Prairie Onion


Purple Prairie Clover

Walking to Work

Another walk to work, this one fairly interesting nature-wise.

I heard some magpies making noise (not unusual) but I saw they were chasing a couple of other birds. The other birds looked like small raptors, I guessed Merlin's since they're the most common. In between chases the magpies and raptors returned to perch on the fence around the new fruit orchard. I managed to get close enough to get some photos, although I only had my little ZS100 and it was almost straight into the sun. Looking at the photos afterwards I realized from the black stripes on their heads that they were American Kestrels. I've seen and photographed them other places but I think this is the first time for me in Saskatoon.


Next I spotted a wasp on some grass seed. It was running around and around the seeds and the wind was blowing so it was a challenge to get a decent shot. Based on looking at the photos later I think it's a Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp. They are a solitary parasitoid wasp that builds nests from mud. The nest has several cells that it stocks with paralyzed spiders and lays eggs in. When the eggs hatch they eat the spiders. So what was it doing on the grass seed? Looking closely at the photos, I think there's a spider in there that the wasp is trying to get at. I wonder what evolutionary path led to the extreme narrow waist.



Arriving at Innovation Place I stopped to take photos of this flower (Mertensia?). I like the candy cane spirals on the flower buds.



On a lily just beside it, I noticed a motionless fly. Another crab spider catch? Sure enough, I could just make out a spider behind the fly. Unlike the one on the roses, this one was perfectly colored to blend in with the flower. The surprise was when I looked at the photos on the computer, I realized there were two spiders - the crab spider behind, and a jumping spider in front. Both appeared to be feeding on the fly. I would guess that the crab spider ambushed the fly and the jumping spider happened upon the feast. I haven't noticed the jumping spiders hunting on the flowers before.



Other spiders left their webs in the plants where they collected water drops from the sprinklers.



The water lilies and bougainvillea continue to bloom.





Taking photos made me late for a work Google Hangout so I joined in on my phone from beside the pond.

At lunch and after work these sparrows were keeping me company. Judging by the yellow around the mouth I think they are juveniles.





This wasp was collecting wood fiber to build it's nest. I think it's a German Yellowjacket.



There were lots of damselflies around the pond. One of the ways to distinguish them is that damselflies perch with their wings together whereas dragonflies perch with their wings spread. But these Spreadwing damselflies perch with their wings partly open. They still have the wide spaced protruding eyes of damselflies.



I normally wouldn't bother taking more photos of the ubiquitous water striders, but this one was stationary while I was photographing the damselfly, so I took advantage of the cooperative subject.



I'm reading Mariposa Road so I've been more on the lookout for butterflies. But there haven't been many cooperative subjects. I'm not sure why this one was just sitting on the path. It didn't seem to be injured. I think it's a Cabbage White.



This one was also sitting on a path a few days ago. I didn't recognize it at first because I'm used to seeing the top of its wings. It's a Mourning Cloak. Usually I notice them in the spring because they overwinter as adults and are one of the first butterflies to emerge. The ones that overwinter are often somewhat ragged. This one looks quite fresh and undamaged.

Photos of the Day

After seeing the crab spider that had caught a bumble bee the other day, I've been looking in the same area. Sure enough, I spotted what is probably the same spider. Can you see it?



This time it was waiting patiently in ambush. It's not very well camouflaged on the red roses, but it was mostly underneath the flower so it wouldn't be very visible to an approaching bee or fly.



I think this is a Goldenrod Crab Spider.

While looking for crab spiders I saw something on a lily. It turned out to be a cute little slug.

Photo of the Day

A closeup of one of the bougainvillea around Innovation Place.



The flowers are the small white part, the big colorful "petals" are actually "bracts" -  specialized leaves. My father, after moving to Saskatchewan from living in East Africa for ten years, liked to say "man should not live where bougainvillea will not grow". I'm pretty sure he meant in the wild though.

While I'm at it, another interesting find today was this Greater Bee Fly. I saw one for the first time here in the spring on a crocus. This one was flying from lily to lily and pausing on the petals. If it was feeding, I'm not sure on what. Their diet includes both nectar and pollen.