Organisation: Buglife - Conserving the small things that run the world
 
Who are we? Buglife -The Invertebrate Conservation Trust is a registered UK charity and the first organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates. Buglife was first registered in December 2000 and its formation was announced with widespread support from the [...]

The wonderful Woolly Bear Caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella) is a common sight once October rolls around in temperate regions of the United States east of the Mississippi. The wooly bear, known also as the woolly worm, fuzzy bear, and black-ended bear, is reputed to signal the severity of the coming winter to those who understand the [...]

In Albany’s Pine Bush recently Daisy and I came across a pair of moths that were, we assume, mating. Neither of us had ever seen such a moth, nor had we ever seen any moths mating so it was, um, interesting. Anyway, I sent some pictures over to Patrick and he quickly responded with an [...]

During this past summer whenever I was outdoors and the birds weren’t showing I took pictures of the dragonflies that I spotted. I’ve managed to identify some of them but I am certainly not an expert. As I’ve mentioned before, they are “a serious identification challenge and figuring them out is an interesting, [...]

It seems like Tennessee, Bay Breasted and Cape May Warblers are being reported a bit more often than usual this fall migration. I realized this when, on the same day that Will, Zack, and I found a Bay-breasted Warbler and a Tennessee Warbler in the same foraging flock at Vischer Ferry, my friend Tom [...]

Earlier this month I found and photographed this spider in my grandmother’s backyard. I finally got around to trying to figure out what it was today by searching obsessively through web page after web page. Well, I think I mostly figured it out, narrowing it down to its family, the Agelenidae, [...]

I may not have been able to get to Bolsa Chica during my all too brief stay in Long Beach, Los Angeles, but I did manage to spend a whole 90 minutes wandering up and down some flower beds by an entrance to one of the public beaches taking photos of insects…I know, I [...]

After six weeks off work with a seriously painful back, I am (slightly reluctantly I admit) back in the saddle and “at abroad” again (as the phrase goes).
Before I started flying for a living I used to get really excited thinking about the birds I’d be able to see from my hotel window, as - [...]

Some weeks back I wrote that a visiting Hornet Vespa crabro seemed to have succeeded in driving away the two Median Wasps Dolichovespula media that had been coming to some stinky old Mango Chutney I was using as a "lure"(see Big and Beautiful - The Hornet for details).

I needn’t have worried, because within a few [...]

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriacea) is an easily recognizable plant with a range that encompasses virtually all of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It is one of over 140 species of milkweed, the genus Asclepias. Its common name comes from the white fluid released when the plant is harmed, and the scientific name derives [...]

The spoonfuls of Mango Chutney I ladled onto an old wooden bird feeder a few days ago paid dividends again when out of the blue (yes, literally, the sun was actually out again!) a Hornet Vespa crabro turned up. The largest and most fearsome-looking of the UK’s wasps, the beautiful Hornet is actually no more [...]

My 10,000 Birds colleague Corey mailed me to ask what I’d been up to lately (as I’d been noticeably absent from the blog). Well, to tell the truth, I’ve hardly left my house for about a fortnight. I’m still off work with my back (which, thanks for asking, is much better and I should be [...]

Just like butterflies, I honestly don’t know much about dragonflies. They look cool, they don’t bite people except maybe if you are handling them, and this past Sunday one was flying around, trying to catch and eat the deerflies that were trying to eat me and my fellow birders. Here is the coolest [...]

As a person who is still relatively new to the world of birding I feel that I have made some pretty big strides in figuring out the wide variety of birds that I see and hear. I might not identify them all but I definitely manage to put a name to the vast majority that [...]

The following is taken from the excellent Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BCT) website:

"In the UK there are 6 species of cuckoo bumblebees. These were once like other bumblebees, but they have switched to a parasitic existence. The females kill or evict the queen and take over her workers as their own, using them to rear their [...]

I’m having internet issues that will hopefully be resolved soon…in the meantime, enjoy this spiderweb that was alongside the trail on the way up Wakely Mountain.

Mike at 10000birds is hosting the 21st edition of Circus of the Spineless.  Go check it out because bugs are cool.

Welcome to the twenty-first edition of Circus of the Spineless, the blog carnival concerned with the intricacies of invertebrate life. A preponderance of earthly animal life exists unencumbered by the stricture of a spinal column, yet inverts rarely get the glory afforded to the higher order organisms. That trend is certainly not going to be [...]

Ringwood State Park in northern New Jersey is about as close as you can get to New York and not cross the border. A Saturday afternoon there with Daisy and her family was a stomach-stuffing experience of monumental proportions. We had a good time and enjoyed the outdoors, the company, and did I [...]

The striking beetle above was the coolest thing I saw in my stroll around Five Rivers EEC this evening. I have no idea what it is. I also spent some time near blooming apple trees hoping to get pictures of other cool bugs but had no luck (I have been carrying my macro [...]