We have two contributors today.
First, reader Martin Heller has several photos from the South Pacific. His notes (as with everyone’s) are indented:
Here are three pictures from my last stay in Bali (Jan-Mar 2020).
Preying mantis with prey, species unknown. The plant is a Giant Milkweed, Calotropis gigantea.
Colorful things growing on a stone in a tiny lava rock pond. Some fish in the lower left corner.
Cicak (house gecko), Hemidactylus frenatus, in a massage booth at the hotel pool.
From Garry VanGelderen in Ontario:
While in isolation (now going on for at least 5 weeks) I have been spending a lot of time in the alcove of the house. This alcove looks out on my backyard where I have several bird feeding stations and many trees. With few exceptions, these pictures have been taken through the glass of the windows.
Yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), male:
Red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), male:
Northern flicker (Colaptus auratus), male:
Downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), male:
Red-wing blackbird (Ageaius phoeniceus),male:
Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), female:
And a bonus mammal (you guess it!):
Allviiiiiiiiin!
Looks like he expects a second winter. Either that, or he did quite well with food through this last one.
Cool stuff! A quick sweep of the internets brings back a possible ID on the mantis. It looks to be a nymph of one of the ‘flower’ mantis species, genus Creobroter.
Is that a downy woodpecker, or another red-bellied?
You are right ….it is another re-bellied. Not sure how that got mixed up.
thanks for the follow up. Thought I was missing something.
I bet the gecko could give quite a delightful massage. Look at those hands! (& feet) 😎
Excellent photos! I particularly like that lava rock. Thanks, Martin.