Readers’ wildlife photographs

Today we have a potpourri of photos from various people who sent in one or a few. The first is from regular Stephen Barnard (all photographers’ notes are indented):

Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) sharing a large insect of undetermined species.

Reader Ivan Romic found a mimetic moth larva of a kind I’ve mentioned before; it mimics a broken twig as a form of camouflage. I suspect this is a buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala).

My name is Ivan Romic, I am a PhD student in Japan. Today I saw two mimicry posts on your webpage and thought I could share photos of the moth I noticed few weeks ago.

I took photos at Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture, south of Osaka where I live. It is UNESCO World Heritage sight famous for numerous Buddhist temples and the largest graveyard in Japan (Okunoin graveyard).  The graveyard is set in the forest where some of the cedar trees are more than a thousand years old. This is where I noticed that this particular piece of tree had tiny legs. Just to be sure, I gently touched it and it moved a bit.

I am not sure if photos are detailed enough for your webpage, but I didn’t want to disturb the moth to get him to spread his wings for the better photo. I also don’t know the species, so maybe readers can help with the identification.

Reader Christopher Moss found a Northern short-tailed shrew, one of the few venomous mammals. It’s also voracious, consuming up to three times its weight in food every day.

Finally managed to get a picture of this lad amongst the detritus left by my onanistic (get it?) squirrels. Blarina brevicauda, famous for red teeth and venomous saliva.

Here’s a photo I found on the Internet of its red teeth:

Christopher also found an Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) afflicted with a botfly, a parasite that also invaded me once, but it’s much more serious in a smaller creature. I expect the animal will survive after the botfly exits.

The short-tailed shrew isn’t my only new resident. It seems one of my chipmunks has a bot fly on the belly. I don’t have a hope of catching her, so I shall simply feed her well and hope the fly emerges and she heals.

Nikon F6, 28-300mm lens, home developed color film:

These are from Anne-Marie Cournoyer in Montreal, where there’s been a butterfly invasion:

It has been a few years since we have seen Monarchs [Danaus plexippus] in our garden. What a delightful surprise! This summer has been very rainy so far, so the flowers are blooming whenever we have a bit of sun. Monarchs truly enjoy our echinaceas! We are happy to provide sustenance for these great travellers!