Urban Nature Pictures 5/15, plus visiting an old friend

[urbpan]

Two things that get blown out of oak trees in spring: inchworms and oak apples. I looked at this amazing page of eastern Massachusetts caterpillar photos but couldn't identify the inchworm. Small green and non-descript, and an early instar besides. EDIT: But after I posted this, the author/photographer of that caterpillar website commented to say it was the caterpillar of a winter moth! I did find some lovely forest wildflowers.




New England's most well-known orchid, the pink lady's slipper. This is in a park that we used to visit a lot. I may have had to walk past a "do not enter" sign (but through a wide open gate) to get in, so I won't identify it just yet. Guiltily, it was nice to have it to myself.


There have been several changes to the park while it was closed, including this stone circle. As you know, I'm a big fan of arranged rocks but it seemed strange to bring in these metamorphic boulders into a park noted for its unique igneous features.


There were also a lot of newly paved paths, mulched paths, and this boardwalk overlook.


This wildflower is new to me. I'm guessing trumpet (or coral) honeysuckle. Lonicera sempervirens.

Comments

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

and what of the OTHER orchids? :)

and a stone circle, waiting to be stacked? :)

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a comment and several questions

[peppergrass.livejournal.com]

Wonderful photo of larva and gall. I'd never heard them called "oak apples" - love it! We have several of them in the trees behind us - also found one yesterday near our son's soccer field, but I think it was on a maple leaf, is possible?? Would it be the same wasp? Do they only go after oaks? Are all galls are caused by wasps? Or can you only properly call something a "gall" if it was made by a wasp?

We have a ladyslipper blooming just beyond our back deck - we feel extremely excited, secretive, and slightly smug about its presence. ;) There are many at the nearby Francis Carter Preserve, too. I can now spot them even before they bloom - they seem to occur in groups, so if we find one it's suddenly a scavenger hunt to find another, and another..... :)

Caterpillar I.D.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,
It's Sam from the caterpillar site you linked to.
If you are in eastern mass then the caterpillar is almost certainly a Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata). They are an invasive species that's been out of control in the area for the last several years - and they are falling out of oak trees in abundance at the moment.

I wish more people realized how much great nature was right in our back yards - even in the city!
keep up the good work,
-Sam