Gossamer Tapestry

Reflections on conservation, butterflies, and ecology in the nation's heartland

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Memorial Day Race Party


Each Memorial Day, Elgin sponsors the Fox Trot, a race that runs right past my house. I have a brunch each year and a few friends stop by to watch the race. I made bacon fontina pizza, bell pepper quiche and mimosas.


Bell pepper quiche. Inspiration by Homer.

Leon ran this year, and we all cheered him on as he ran by.


Go Leon!

Later in the afternoon, I grabbed my camera and went on a bug walk.


Hemipteran nymph subdues a small bee



Don't bother me. I'm busy pollinating the Solomon's plume.


Tiny hoppers about 1 mm long. I believe they're psyllids.


Hackberry butterfly caterpillar

Labels: , ,

11 Comments:

At 08:26, Blogger BentonQuest said...

Doug,
I love the way you keep reminding me of the world that I am missing by not getting "down there" and looking.

Thanks!

 
At 09:41, Blogger robin andrea said...

Great looking quiche.

Excellent insects.

Go Leon!

 
At 16:29, Blogger Chris said...

I like your hackberry caterpillar..he's so fuzzy!
Your quiche photo makes me want some breakfast food! Yummmm!

 
At 19:22, Blogger Lemuel said...

My hat's off to Leon!!

 
At 21:00, Blogger Doug Taron said...

Ben- thanks. This one required a fair bit of looking. It's been so cold here that there aren't many insects about right now. Most of these are tiny.

Robin- Thank you and thank you. Leon is a bit ambivalent about his performance this time around.

Chris- I was surprised to find that caterpillar (I noticed feeding damage on some leaves). I like his spikiness, too.

Lem- Thanks. I should have mentioned in my post that this was no lightweight race. It was 10 miles. Not 10 kilometers, 10 miles.

 
At 23:05, Blogger Texas Travelers said...

Great post and Great photos. I really enjoyed this. Beautiful caterpillar. Nice shot of the nymph and bee. They are all terrific shots.

I made a home-made pizza today.
Crust was beer batter dough made in my bread machine. Hamburger, bacon, fresh mixed Greek olives, Campari tomato slices, vermont cheddar cheese and a little colby cheese for a change.

It was not low calorie.

Anyway, great post and thanks for the visit,
Troy

 
At 23:18, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awesome caterpillar shot!! All I've seen is gypsy moth pillars, naughty they are! They were crop dusting recently to try and decrease the buggers!

Go Leon!!

 
At 00:01, Blogger Ur-spo said...

how about running in it next year and Leon take the photo?

 
At 09:13, Blogger Doug Taron said...

Troy- Sounds yummy. I made my dough in my bread machine, too.

Butterfly Girl- I fear that most gypsy moth control efforts do more harm than the moths themselves, at least over the long run

Spo- I'm working on upping my running. It would be nice to be able to get 10 miles in by this time next year. But who would make the quiche?

 
At 16:37, Blogger Gary Lee Phillips said...

Um, sorry, that's one ugly caterpillar in my opinion, but I'm usually unimpressed by squinchy things.

 
At 20:49, Blogger Dave Coulter said...

Awesome pix, and the food doesn't look half-bad either!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home