Photo of the Week: An Unexpected Fall Visitor

Large Italian flat parsley plant in a pot with a black caterpillar with lengthwise rows of yellow markings with a white spot in the middle of its body foraging on one of the green leaves.

As I was doing my fall cleanup in the garden, I was surprised to find an unexpected fall visitor: an early stage Black swallowtail caterpillar munching on an Italian flat parsley leaf.

I knew parsley, along with dill, are host plants for Black swallowtail butterflies. But I hadn’t seen any swallowtail caterpillars on my dill or parsley plants all year.

Until this week.

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Photo of the Week: Red Fox at the Cemetery

A beautiful fox with red fur across the face, back, sides, and white-tipped tail sits on the green grass, small green-leaved shrubs in the background. The fox has a grayish-white throat, chin, and belly as well as black feet, large and pointy black-tipped ears.

It was a sunny, cool autumn day when I visited Highland Cemetery in Ypsilanti this week. The recent colder weather in southeast Michigan finally turned the 100+ year old sugar maple and hickory tree leaves brilliant shades of red, gold, and orange. A beautiful view against the clear blue sky as I travelled through the… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Red Fox at the Cemetery