I was recently asked if I could identify a spider that someone found on a truck tire. So I agreed to look at it even though I freely admit I know very little about spider identification.
Most insect guides also have spider photos and information in them. And if you read it you will learn that there are more than 35,000 named spiders worldwide, 3,000 of which are found in North America. And you will also learn that lots of spiders remain unnamed.
Spiders are arachnids, joint-legged invertebrates with two-part bodies, eight appendages, and no antennae or wings. They kill their prey with venom before crushing it. And they eat lots of insects, making them environmentally valued.
I can’t tell anyone what to do, but on a personal level I just let spiders alone. I doubt I’ll ever encounter a black widow, but it’s possible. As most everyone knows, the venom of black widow female spider is poisonous to humans, and she also often eats the male after mating.
What I find so interesting about spiders is how the young, the spiderlings, move to different places. If you’ve ever seen what looks to be a long silken strand moving through the air, there are probably young spiders attached to it, using it as a parachute to move to a new place.
I still hadn’t figured out what kind of spider the man brought me as I was writing this column and it bothered me. So, out of frustration, when I got done I went out to the porch to look at a beautiful bright red Virginia creeper vine and birds I recognize.
For the last several weeks, pine siskins and purple finches have been moving down from further north. It’s nice to see birds that only occasionally show up around here some winters, but they sure can devour birdseed. At times there’s been a flock of 30 or more of each species at my feeders at the same time.
Pine siskins are small, goldfinch-sized birds with stripy brown bodies and yellow markings on their wings and tails. Purple finches look like the common house finches that are normally everywhere in this area, but they’re more heavily striped, darker overall, especially in the face, and the males have a purplish, not reddish, cast to their feathers.
When these birds appear around here, it’s because there’s a low amount of natural food up north. If there’s not an adequate amount of the nut crops of conifers, mountain ashes, birches, and other trees to sustain them through the cold months, they move to where they can find adequate food.
As I sat watching the finches eat black oil sunflower seeds I thought about a red fox I saw while walking near our bottom creek. I had stopped to look at some wood ducks on the water when a red fox ran by and disappeared into the fencerow.
And that made me think of a rather comical fox sighting David had on his way to work off Route 22 near Clinton, N.J. After passing Round Valley Reservoir ,he turned off onto a side street and saw a red fox crouched down doing its business on the sidewalk in front of some homes.
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October 20, 2020 at 06:00PM
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Bird species coming in from the north and they’re hungry | Lehigh Valley Nature Watch - lehighvalleylive.com
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