ovanantw's Favorites

been trying to figure out where this bird was for two years... persistence, a hunch and a tip put this one on my life list after I shed a few tears, did a jig, and gave out a loud yelp later in the day

A scrappy expanse of silky refuges and capture webs littered with body parts of previous victims. When preferred prey is entangled, the female spiders emerge from their 'nests' and overpower it by grabbing its extremities. In this case, a wasp https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9319446.
Presumably they inject venom because after a minute or so the prey stops struggling. Then they snip it out of the web and carry it into one of several 'nests' or refuges.
Unwanted prey, often beetles (see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9319435 ) are also killed but sometimes left in the web, uneaten. Ants, in this case, Maranoplus ( https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9319390 )scavenge around the periphery of the webs, feasting on unwanted beetles or other left-overs.

This brilliant colour is caused by IIV-31 (Isopod Iridescent Virus). I've been checking hundreds of pill bugs over several years for this unusual phenomenon and my persistence finally paid off!
Sadly, this total colour change is usually the later stage of the virus; once a pill bug is this bright it generally doesn't have much longer to live.

I couldn't help but notice a colony of white geese living on the North side of the BU Bridge. Apparently they have a bit of a following, but I couldn't find a proper ID in my cursory searching.