A strange moth, a very big spider, a whistling duck, and a caterpillar saga

The other day, a very strange moth appeared on the pool screen.  I've never seen one like it.  It's called a Juniper twig geometer (aka Pantalene olyzonaria for those who care about that stuff).  It doesn't even have a nice common name to use.  It's pretty plain looking, all one neutral color, and  looks bigger because the picture is a close-up, but its wingspan is only about an inch!

Plain-looking moth visits.

Continuing in the insect category, one of the biggest spiders that I've ever seen spun a web between some bushes by our pool pump, and I saw it when I went outside in the dark to investigate a strange sound made by some animal.  The sound was not from the spider thank goodness, but it sure seemed big enough to make some kind of noise.  Not really a welcome sight as I don't love spiders.  This is an orbweaver spider, and it had a nice orb-shaped web.  This guy was as big as it looks in the picture!

A big spider in a big web that was gone by morning.

Now to more normal sightings for the backyard.  We occasionally see a red-bellied whistling duck or two in the backyard.  These guys actually don't quack at all, and both males and females make a whistling sound instead.  It can be a very loud whistle if they really have something to say, or a low little whistle if they are just relaxing. This week one of these cute little ducks, which are my favorites, stopped by.  He visited all the various food sites and drank from the different water bowls and stayed quite a long time before departing for wherever he lives.  I hope he comes back and brings a friend.

Curious guy sampled food everywhere.

I've been moving milkweed plants from inside the patio to outside and back inside again.  I put them outside to try to attract a Monarch butterfly to lay eggs, then when I see eggs, I take the plants inside to protect them from the predators outside.  I usually put the plant with the eggs inside my butterfly enclosure whose fine mesh sides prevents wasps and lizards and other bugs from getting at them while they are turning into caterpillars, growing and then cocooning.  Now I have seven caterpillars, one of which has formed his chrysalis (the proper term for a butterfly cocoon), four that are about to, and two big ones that are still eating but look big enough to pupate.

The oddest thing is that I found five big caterpillars eating a milkweed plant inside the pool screen, but that milkweed has never been outside ever.  How is that even possible?  We had no butterflies inside the screen to lay the eggs!  I water that plant daily and never noticed the big caterpillars.  I guess it will remain a mystery! 

Big guy is eating away.

The mystery plant hosting 5 caterpillars!

My new dahlia plant is starting to bloom.  It's a bright yellow "Cezanne" dahlia.  I guess it got it's name because the artist Paul Cezanne painted quite a few bouquets of dahlias back in the 1870s.  One included a very prominent yellow dahlia.  So whoever named this dahlia knew something about the art world!

Not fully open yet - stay tuned!

 

The gallinules that I spoke of a week ago still have at least 2 of their babies and perhaps more.  They were across the canal the other day but didn't come over to our side to visit.  

You can just see two little heads behind mom.

Finally, in an unusual occurrence, I rescued a big turtle, whose shell was about 9 inches across, from the street in front of the house.  I poured some water on it because it was pretty dry and put it on the ground in the backyard.  It was gone a few hours later, probably having ambled on down into the canal where it belonged.  Sometimes females come out of the canal to lay their eggs, but they don't usually make it to the front yard and certainly not into the street.  She was lucky not to have gotten hurt!