signs of herbivores within

[OT from cottage renovations]

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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Upper Field

I really can't help going back to wander through the clusters of goldenrod ball galls scattered through the upper and lower fields.  the parasite only spends about ten days outside the gall before dying off; the young go on to repeat the cycle.  the galls come in more variety than one might think: most are on a single stalk but here's one with branches coming out of it in multiple directions. 

it
also
makes
a
fine
vertical
composition
as
seen
from
below
with
the
afternoon
sky
for
a
backdrop

if it isn't a bug, does that mean it's a feature?

[OT from cottage renovations]

(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)

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Ridge Road and Center Street

this is not an insect.  nor is it Arthur Fiedler conducting the Boston Pops. 

nothing to worry about, it's just a tulip poplar blossom. 

Liriodendron tulipifera