You Can’t Always Get What You Want . . .
A Katydid Caught in an Orb-web Spider’s Grasp
Outside our kitchen window this morning, in the remnants of a web spun across the corner, a large orb-web spider held an even larger green katydid in her grasp. She seemed to be trying to chew away the silk in which it was entangled, to release it rather than to wrap it up. Most of the carefully constructed web had been demolished, maybe torn up by the katydid’s wings. Later, I found the corpse of the katydid on the window ledge below, partly chewed up, but lovely green wings intact. No sign of the spider or her web.
A Young Black Rat Snake Lost
Also this morning – a deeply cloudy, warm, humid day – we found a small, slender gray snake with dark splotchy markings lying dead just outside our garage door. A discarded snakeskin lay in the pine needles under a nearby bush. Ants had formed a trail to a spot near the end of the snake’s very thin tail. The head looked triangular, but the cloudy eyes appeared very round – not the vertical slits of a pit viper – and I could see no sign of rattles or a button on the tail. It was almost certainly a very young Black Rat Snake, which isn’t surprising because several times we’ve seen large Black Rat Snakes around the same area of our yard. We’re happy to have them around because they’re not venomous and they eat rodents and insects – on the other hand, they also eat small birds. It wasn’t clear what had killed it, though it must have been vulnerable just after leaving its old skin.
No Red-breasted Nuthatch – but an Eastern Wood Pewee and a Pileated Woodpecker
Meanwhile, around the feeders in the front yard, I was watching out for a Red-breasted Nuthatch because there’ve been many reports of sightings this fall – including a call from my sister, Janet, in Charlotte, NC, this morning saying she had seen one in her birdbath. She described it perfectly – a small, quick bird with a bluish back, stubby tail and distinctive bright white stripe over the eye. So far, I haven’t been so lucky. Around our bird baths and feeders were only the ubiquitous Titmice, Chickadees, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Carolina Wren, and a Mockingbird that seems to like the fruit, nut and seed mixture I’ve put out recently. Three Mourning Doves pecked under the feeders. Our resident pair of Brown-headed Nuthatches stopped by for a while, and a pair of Brown Thrashers fed in the grass on the edge of the driveway. A Phoebe hunted from perches on our mailbox and in low branches. A Pine Warbler sang in the woods nearby.
Then – like a small consolation prize for not seeing any Red-breasted Nuthatches – or maybe as a reminder to appreciate what’s here instead of looking for something else – an Eastern Wood Pewee swooped in low and landed on the branch of a pecan tree. It flew from there all around the front yard, not staying long in any one spot, and was mostly quiet, but paused in another low branch close enough and long enough for me to see it well – and for it to sigh a brief, soft wee-oo.
A few minutes later I heard the bugling call of a Pileated Woodpecker, and then saw it as it flew across our yard – a large black bird with a rolling flight pattern, flying low, flashing white – to an oak at the corner of our property. I could just barely see its flaming red crest and imperious profile through the branches of the other trees, but it stayed around in the same general area for at least half an hour, frequently clucking or calling.