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Teach Me, Young Grasshopper

September 7, 2015 By Kim
Tagged With: Chicago, insects, nature

The other morning I was out walking with Tesla in the woods when we hit a patch of prairie. The thistles are in bloom, and a busy buzzing bee brought my eyes to the flower below, but by the time I got my camera phone out, she had flown off. And then I noticed this 2-inch long grasshopper taking his morning sip of nectar from the flower. I don’t know that I’ve witnessed that before.

A photo posted by Kim Moldofsky (@kimmoldofsky) on Sep 2, 2015 at 7:20am PDT

I snapped a few shots and, at the risk of sounding like a much older person than I am, sometimes I’m still amazed that I can take pictures with a phone, let along such high quality ones. It’s puts our first 3 MP digital camera to absolute shame! But it’s also nice to have a personal frame of reference to how far our technology has come in just a decade or two. But back to that thistle. I’m not sure if it’s a native prairie variety or an invasive one. And I’m not sure what those other insects are, but here’s a cheat sheet if you want to take a guess.

If you’re headed out on a walk, you don’t have to stop to smell the flowers (who wants to risk getting those little bugs up their nose?), but do move in for a close look at them. Who knows what surprises you’ll find!

Also, in my experience, if a bee is busy pollinating, she has little regard for the humans around her. Take advantage of that to watch her work her magic. It’s really fascinating.

I snapped this shot earlier this summer. Again, kudos to my phone. It was sunny out and I couldn’t even see what was on the screen. I was simply clicking away hoping to get a good photo. It’s so exciting to be able to do that without a fear of wasting film or money to develop it. Okay, hobbling my way back to my rocker now.

A photo posted by Kim Moldofsky (@kimmoldofsky) on May 29, 2015 at 4:00pm PDT

And as long as I’m extolling the virtues of my fine phone along with some of my favorite pollinators, take a look at this favorite from 2014. It’s the larva of a black swallowtail butterfly I found east the carrot greens in my garden. I gave it a home on my kitchen counter and released it about two weeks later as a butterfly.

Hungry, hungry caterpillar, indeed. The real excitement comes at around 13:20 when it does a bit of housekeeping.

STEMchat 3 gears

About Kim

Kim headshot Summer 2012 I’m a Chicago-area mom / empty-nester who is passionate about sharing ideas and resources to raise kids who love Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). I’m a published author, blogger, vlogger, baker and maker. I love to travel, especially on trips that involve hiking and other active endeavors, farm tours, and learning new things in general.[Read More...]

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