Master Naturalist
Master Naturalist Field Trip on June 28th, 2008 to the Winfield Wetlands
Thoughts and photos from Carolyn Barker
| We started out Saturday 6-28-08 at
9:30a.m. at the Wetlands in Winfield, WV. Our Master Naturalist
Class was meeting to do our field work portion of our Wetlands
Class. And what a fun day we had. No matter what your interest
you could find something at this place. Whether it be birds,
insects, plants, etc. Just as we arrived we spotted a broad
winged hawk, and numerous
red-winged blackbirds. Also a green heron, and a great
blue heron. That was just an introduction to the rest of the
day. Tim Craddock of The WVDEP did a great job teaching our
class, Thank you Tim for a wonderful experience. I wanted to share a couple of photos I took at our outing at the Winfield Wetlands yesterday. The hummingbird moth and the ragged fringed orchid were the highlight of my day, The identification of the moth is the Snowberry Clearwing Moth, per an internet investigation, however I am going to contact Laura Miller for her imput also. I have attached photos of each along with a couple of other interesting finds. There is a picture of some eggs that I took on a milkweed leaf, a picture of what I believe is a White Avens (this Jim is the one that we looked at and could not identify at the wetlands) I searched my books and internet when I returned home. If anybody else has another identification of this flower, please share with us okay? Also a picture of a neat stick insect that Tim is holding in his hand, it is in camo mode, looks just like a stick. Had a wonderful time at the wetlands in Winfield. |
Click on photo for larger image
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Here are some comments from Jim Waggy:
Tim identified the stick-like insect as a Water Scorpion. The Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of N.A. says it is like an underwater version of an Assassin Bug. It grabs prey with its front legs and pierces them with its beak. The tail that looks like a stinger is actually a pair of breathing tubes that connects the insect to the water's surface.