Identifying Insects is Hard

Taking a look for info on lady beetles is more difficult than I thought. Here we have what I can only surmise is an asian lady beetle of a variety I can not find any info on.

The wife took this picture. She is a fan of lady beetles (as am I), because they are natural predators of garden pests like mealybugs, aphids, mites, scale and other sap sucking nasties.

Here is a link to some facts about this most popular beneficial insect.

SKINK!

Holy cow, when I first saw this guy (or gal, I don't know), it was big enough to freak me out a moment. Fully 10 inches long just sunning itself by the pond.

I'm not great at identifying things, so I might be totally off base when I say I think this is a 5-lined skink. I've seen a juvi in our yard last year with it's yellow lines and bright blue tail. I read that the adults tails turn grey and their lines can all but disappear. That doesn't explain the red head though. Another possibility is the broad-headed skink. The colors would be right, but pictures of that lizard he had a bumpy head, not smooth like this one. Guess more research is called for.

UPDATE: Confirmed! It's a five-lined skink. Found a picture of an adult here. The red on the head indicates a male in breeding condition. Love is in the air around our backyard apparently.

Anole Siting!

The other day I went out into our backyard and lo and behold, I saw a green anole sunning himself on one of my bonsai. I used to see anoles all the time when I was a kid growing up, but since owning my own house (just over 10 years now), Amy and I have only seen geckos. (No, not the Geico Gecko, which silly enough is a green anole.) I guess I've seen a few anoles here and there, however, none in or around my yard. But that's changed.

The next day, I found him near the pond doing his mating dance, extending his dewlap and doing his pushups. I didn't actually see a female anywhere...maybe he's practicing.

Save the Honeybees!

Ok, the wife and I are such HUGE nerds, we email each other from across the room. She wanted me to post this link for her. I think I'll embarrass her by posting the entire email instead.

Here's a link for you to put on our blog. It's backyard related. It's Earth Day related. It's a good cause and it's a cute site to boot!
Smooch!

www.helpthehoneybees.com

The Goldfish Pond

We might as well start with a view of our pond. It’s my favorite feature and provides a water source for the wildlife that visit our backyard. It came with the house and we liked it, so when the old rubber went south, we relined it and kept it. It’s less work than you might think.

We have a “scarecrow” motion sensor in place because a year or two after we bought the house, most of our fish were poached by an egret. It’s strange seeing a 2-foot tall bird landing in your backyard and looking lustily at your goldfish, but they are more prevalent than most people think.

The sad part is that the scarecrow also goes off when the squirrels come to drink, but that’s the price we pay for fish safety. Actually, we turn the scarecrow off from time to time, but since the study window is right there, and we’re always in there working, the fish are relatively safe and “Agnes” (the name we give all squirrels by default) can get her drink on.

If you're interested in learning more about backyard ponds, here is a tip sheet from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.