Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar at Earl Bales Park: July 2020

On this day, I visited the upper section of Earl Bales Park after exploring the lower section yesterday.

View from ski hill
Barry Zukerman Amphitheatre

Yesterday, I saw a lovely all white moth here:

Elm Spanworm Moth

Today, a white caterpillar was descending on a filament from a tree right in front of me.

Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Not completely white as you can see:

Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar

It was quite a trick photographing it as it swung back and forth in the breeze:

Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Other flyers:

Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red Soldier Beetles on Queen-Anne’s-lace
Red Soldier Beetles on Queen-Anne’s-lace
Red Soldier Beetles on Queen-Anne’s-lace
European Skipper
European Skipper
Japanese Beetles
Japanese Beetles
Cabbage White Butterfly
Ambush Bug

Thank-you to Meegan Conklin for assistance in insect identification.

Some botany:

Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus)
Goat’s-beard (Tragopogon)
Curled Dock (Rumex crispus)
Bird Vetch (Vicia cracca)
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)
Horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
Red Oak acorns (Quercus rubra)
Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatis)
Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Soft-stemmed Bulrush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani)
Morrow Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii)
Enchanter’s-nightshade ( Circaea canadensis)
Queen-Anne’s-lace (Daucus carota)
Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)
Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)
Hedge-parsley (Torilis japonica)
Stickseed (Hackelia deflexa)
Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis)
Nipplewort (Lapsana communis)
Red-osier (Cornus sericea)
Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus)
Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus)
Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium)
Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
Timothy (Phleum pratense)
Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)
Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)
Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)

NATURE POETRY

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!        – Katharine Lee Bates (1859–1929)

Miles Hearn

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