A new visitor

There hasn't been much activity in the tree lately, at least not at the times I've looked outside, but I have noticed a couple of things.

I found this little spider attached to the side of the apartment complex and to the tree. He was just hanging out, minding his own business, probably trying to catch an early morning meal or something.

I've noticed that there are six wasps in the tree outside the window (all the more reason to keep the window closed...not that we open it anyway, but still).

At first I was concerned that the wasps were building a nest in the tree and I was sure that more wasps would follow, but I don't think that's the case. I've been watching them for a few days now and I've noticed that they are only there until about mid morning or around noonish. Then, they fly away and I don't see them again until the next morning. I'm not sure when they come back to the tree, but I'll see if I might be able to look at night. It's harder to see, but James' camera has a wicked night setting that I'd like to try out on these guys. And provided it's not windy and the tree doesn't move I should be able to get some decent shots, that is, if they are in the tree at night. I've seen one or two fly into the tree once or twice in late afternoon, but I honestly think they just sleep there and the tree provides good coverage. And unfortunately since they showed up, not a lot of insects are around anymore. The grasshopper, the kung fu dude, that huge moth/horsefly, and even the spider are all gone. That's alright though. It's still fun for me to see what I can spot in the tree each day.

I think we have a problem

That's a two-fold problem, really. The first being this:

How many can you count?

The latest creature to come along

The second problem being this: Has my life really dwindled down to nothing more than making posts about insects I find in the tree each day?

...what has happened to me?... :)

A genuine hub of activity!

So yesterday, as I was taking pictures of the green kung fu dude in the tree, I spotted some wasps fighting...er, at least I thought they were fighting, who knows really. At any rate, I saw them clash in mid air and tumble down into the tree, so I was hoping that they would climb or fly to the top so I could get a picture of them. Sadly, they did not make an appearance in the tree yesterday, but this morning when I looked out the window I saw this:

This one was hard to get because of the angle and the picture (sadly) turned out a bit grainy, but I was zoomed in to 80x, so what can you expect really? He was focusing on one spot, and one spot only, so I followed his gaze.

Yep, two of them. This one had its back to me, but I could still get a fairly decent shot. Two wasps. In the tree. Apparently upset with each other.

Here's a good picture showing how close they were to each other. They were just sitting like that outside my window in the tree, waiting for me to find them.

It's funny how as I am writing these posts and uploading the pictures I feel like bugs are crawling all over me. I don't especially like that feeling, but I know it's just because of the subject at hand. I hope this isn't boring to everyone. If it is, sorry about that. I just think it's interesting to see all these different insects hanging out in this tree. It's a big tree so I thought there would only be birds in it, but I think we have the only tree in the whole complex that doesn't have birds in it. And all the insects seem to have figured that out.

Another sighting

There's been another sighting! This one was a bit hard to see at first, but I managed to spot it...and I wasn't even trying, I promise! I happened to glance out the window to see what the weather was like and spotted this green speck on the leave. After further investigation I saw this.

It probably thought nothing could spot it due to its fine camouflage. But I did!

Everybody was kung fu fighting!

I never realized there were so many things to see in that tree. And now that I know the tree is habited by at least two types of insects, it's easier for me to spot them. I don't know what this insect is. It could be a small cicada, or some type of species related to the praying mantis, but I don't think it's a spider because it only has six legs and two antenna. It was fun taking pictures of it, though.

An interesting find

This afternoon I was working on the computer in the study and I took a moment to glance out the window. There is a tree right outside that seems to grow more and more each day. Since we live on the third floor, the top of the tree is about eye level out the window. It makes for a good object to rest your eyes on, and provides cover from anyone who might be trying to look inside. I noticed, however, something in the branches of the tree. When I figured out what it was I decided to grab the camera and take some pictures.

These are the orchids right in front of our window on the inside. If you look hard enough you can see the tree right outside the window behind them.

I moved the plants out of the way and took this shot. I just zoomed in a bit on the tree, but the window is closed.

I zoomed in more. Can you see anything yet?

Yowza! This was in the tree just outside the window. I don't think you fully understand this. It was right outside the window! I am zoomed in all the way (80x) with the camera and I was sitting at the desk on the other side of the window. Ok, it looks large, granted, but it was much smaller than that. It was probably only a couple of inches or so. But still. ~shudder~

I don't like grasshoppers. It all stems from a really bad experience I had when I was a kid. Any kind of bug or insect that jumps, hops, or otherwise bounces around I simply can't handle.

Aside from the subject, I think the pictures turned out quite nicely. James has a really nice camera that he's been teaching me photography with. It's been fun to take pictures of all sorts of things.

And just like that the grasshopper is gone. In the time it took me to write and post this entry (about 5 or ten minutes), the grasshopper flew away...or was picked off by a bird. At any rate, it's gone now, thank goodness. I'll have to keep an eye out on that tree from now on to see what other surprises it holds.