Author: Mike Dunn
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Fern Canyon
Only spread a fern-frond over a man’s head and worldly cares are cast out, and freedom and beauty and peace come in. ~John Muir The first campground on our recent trip to the redwood forests was at Gold Bluffs Beach in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. It is a beautiful setting on the beach with Read more…
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Land of the Giants
Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. ~John Muir The original plan for the recent California trip was destination Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks, in part to see the Giant Sequoia trees. With the fires, partial closures, and air quality issues, Read more…
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Last Larva?
…one’s first impression might be that this creature has somehow lost its way out of an Amazonian jungle. ~David L. Wagner, describing the Crowned Slug caterpillar in Caterpillars of Eastern North America When I returned from our California trip, I looked around the yard and saw what lies ahead – lots of yard work. Seems Read more…
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West Coast
Things have been quiet on the blog as I have been on an 11 day trip to the coast of California (end it turns out there was almost no cell service in most of the places I visited). This was the sunset last night on the way back to San Francisco for the flight home Read more…
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Munchies
A caterpillar is basically a flexible tube…it is designed purely for eating and growing. ~Michael Chinery, in Butterflies and Day-flying Moths of Britain and Europe Eat, poop, eat, poop…such is the life of a caterpillar. After BugFest, I kept a few of the specimens for a couple of days before releasing them back into the Read more…
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Disguised Beauty
…the repulsive larva, tissue by tissue, is transformed into the superlative beauty of the adult moth. Beauty will come from beauty in disguise. ~Edwin Way Teale, on caterpillar transformation This was a good year for some unusual caterpillars. For some reason, while looking for larvae a couple of weeks ago, we managed to find several Read more…
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KatyDid, But Wishes She Hadn’t
It provides strength to the armor plate of the beetle, keenness to the lancet of the mosquito, endurance to the rasping fiddle and bow of the cricket and the katydid. ~Edwin Way Teale, on the properties of chitin Late summer and early fall are a time of abundance of many types of invertebrates in our Read more…
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You’re Such an Asp
The grace and elegance of every adult butterfly and moth, as it flits about on wings radiant with color, are counterbalanced by the grossness and ugliness of the immature insect. ~Edwin Way Teale As you probably know, if you are a reader of this blog, I don’t agree with this somewhat surprising view held by Read more…
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Spider Zombies
An understanding of the natural world and what’s in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment. ~David Attenborough A quick update on a post I did two years ago on a Tale of Two Spiders. A friend had spotted an odd-looking spider that had spun a web on her Read more…
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A Hot Day at the Refuges
All that is beautiful is difficult. ~Plato That sort of sums up my last trip to Pocosin Lakes and Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuges. It was beautiful, but difficult. Made so by the intense heat and humidity on the day of my tour last week. The heat was stifling, but, my clients and I managed to Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 