SC Wildlife

RECENT OBSERVATIONS

July 2012

Gene's Notes:

July was hot, thankfully not as hot as the end of June but hot enough. We also had a reasonable amount of rain, so foliage grew abundantly.

I found a large female Snapping Turtle returning to the farm pond after laying eggs. Deer were busy raising their fawns. Purple Matins were flocking to ready themselves for fall migration. Perhaps a hundred adults and juveniles visited the farm. I did not see any species new to me, but saw many old friends, such as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. I visited the ripening Elderberry bushes often to find feeding birds. Some beautifully colored House Finches visited also.

Spiders and insects were ubiquitous. I found a new-to-me species of spider, the Star-bellied Orb Weaver. I also saw a shed spider skin, reminding me that many other creatures besides snakes molt and shed their skins. I photographed several species of Leafhoppers, including two which are reported to be able to eject jets of excretion, the Broad-headed Sharpshooter (Oncometopia orbona) and the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis).

At Lake Greenwood, I found Mallard Ducks eating aquatic snails by swallowing the shell. At home I had another run-in with a local Raccoon. Finding my hummingbird feeders drained overnight and sometimes on the ground, I set up my trail camera and caught the theft in the act.


Snapping Turtle.

Adult White-tailed Deer and Fawn.

Purple Martins on power line.

House Finch at Elderberry Bush.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Star-bellied Orb Weaver.

Marbled Orb Weaver.

Six Spotted Fishing Spider.

Green Lynx Spider.

Broad-headed Sharpshooter.

Glassy-winged Sharpshooter.

Shed spider skin.

Preying Mantis, juvenile.

Mallard eating snail.

Raccoon raiding hummingbird feeder.

August 19, 2012
Contact: South Carolina Wildlife


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