This is a red velvet mite. I snapped the photo yesterday at Blandford Nature Center.

A few weeks ago Cynthia and I went for a long walk through Seidman Park, a beautiful bunch of trails which cover a gamut of terrain, from marsh to ravine, to field and forest. Around the south end of the park we noticed that some trees had several odd-looking objects hanging from the branches. Curiosity drove me to pull one off and bring it home:

I suspected that it was a cocoon of some kind, and a few minutes of browsing the internet confirmed that it was the cocoon of a Promethea Moth (Callosamia promethea). I left it on a table in my house for a few weeks, then this afternoon, upon returning home from a truly whacky day, I discovered that it had hatched.

It was still shaky and soft and moving slowly, pumping its wings up to full size and letting the tissues dry and firm up. This made it quite easy to photograph.

I left it alone and went out. Upon returning a few hours later I saw that it seemed to be ready to be let out, so I took it to my back yard and set it on a low branch.

About an hour later I looked outside just in time to see a small piece of midnight flutter past a streetlight on its way to places unknown.

The saturniid moths, never all that common, are becoming increasingly rare due, in no small part, to light pollution. During mating season they orient themselves by the light of the moon, and with so many bright man-made lights out in the world, the moths get confused as to where they should fly, and so miss one another. When your entire adult life lasts a week, getting stood up for a date is a deeply tragic affair.

Posted because Cynthia helped identify this one.

I have been trying to get back into the habit of carrying my camera around, and Monday after work, while walking to my car, it paid off with this photo.

At the beginning of the month Cynthia and I drove to Muskegon State Park and spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon wandering the dunes, looking at the lake and chasing birds.

The WWII submarine USS Silversides is moored to the south bank of the channel which connects Muskegon Lake to Lake Michigan.

The right place at the right time: I just happened to snap a photo of some terrists infiltrating our defenses. Let this be a demonstration that a patriotic American Citizen, armed only with a semi-obsolete digital camera, can be a buffer between the Axles of Evil and the Free World!

The clear sky and late fall sun made the dunes bright enough that they were hard to look at.

The lee side of the dunes had a little more variety. In particular, lots of plants covered with tiny burrs.

This is the Muskegon-to-Milwaukee ferry, sitting undefended at the edge of Muskegon Lake. If those terrists capture the Silversides, they could cause untold damage to our Freedom (© 2006 USA) — No! Our God Given Right (© 2006 USA) — to cross the Big Lake on a boat! I will immediately propose a bill to extend the Terrists Dressed Like Ducks season to the entire year!

The knife-edge of a dune. This photo does a good job of demonstrating how bright and contrast-ey everything looked.

A view from the big lake, looking back along the channel to the east.

Cynthia and I decided that this is a snow bunting.

Facing north from the breakwater. State park, as far as the eye can see.

Cynthia walking along the dunes on our way back to the car.

A longhorn beetle which I have not yet successfully identified. Photo taken in late May.