Last Illinois Post (Finally)

Hello!

Have I mentioned that I have calendars for sale?  Here's a button you can click to by one (or seven):



You may recall that once upon a time I promised a final post from Illinois.  It sure has been a while.  But at long last I have gotten around to editing those miscellaneous images that remained.  Most are inverts, but there is a surprise guest at the end.  Here goes.

To begin, an Eastern Comma showing the namesake marking on the hindwing:

Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma)

Continuing on the butterfly theme, a Red-spotted Purple (the name makes no sense to me either...):

Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis)

I found this cool grub under a log!  Seems to be some sort of beetle larva, but that's as far as I can guess.  It was big though!

Grub (Grubicus giganticus)*

*Please note this latin name may be a fake

Now on to one of my favourite subjects, spiders.  Some people seem to be under the mistaken impression that spiders are ugly.  I don't know where these people are getting their information, but they have obviously never met a jumping spider.  I dare you to look into that little face and not think adorable.

Jumping Spider (Family: Salticidae)

Jumping Spider (Family: Salticidae)

As we were taking down the tents at the end of the weekend, we found this cool wasp that had come to join us.  It was huge!

Wasp

Sometimes you think the trip is winding down, and mother nature throws you one more little surprise.  We got lost while driving to our last stop, and while trying to find our way we road-cruised this Eastern Box Turtle!  A life-herp for me, and one I was very excited to see.  Never did come out of its shell, but that's a box turtle for you!

Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)

Well, the Illinois photos are all wrapped up.  What'll I do now....?

Kyle

New Yard Bird

Hello!

So I have a terrible yard for birds.  It's a sad fact, but it's true.  And it makes yard-listing a distinct challenge.  Which is why today I was excited to see this little fellow go whipping though.  He paused in a nearby tree just long enough for me to lean out the door and take a few shabby photos.

Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

Go ahead, tell me it's a sharpie.  I dare you...

:)
Kyle

Maintenance

Hello!

Taking care of a little housecleaning so the site will be down for an hour or so this afternoon.  Never fear though, it will return shortly!

Kyle

Website Update

Hello again!

So I just downloaded the most recent version of Internet Explorer, and the site displays fine!  I have no idea why it doesn't render properly in the old version, but I suspect that my general ignorance and incompetence in web design has something to do with it.

If you find any typos, broken links or other errors, let me know!

Kyle

Big News!

Hello!

So you may recall that a little while ago (ok, July) I alluded to some major development on the horizon.  Well, naturally I got way-laid, delayed and all kind of distracted, and things moved much more slowly than anticipated.  Nonetheless, my project is finally coming to fruition.  I have a new website!

www.kylehorner.com

This is my first time designing a website, so there are bound to be some kinks.  Let me know when you find them!  I am currently having a little trouble with the way the site appears in Internet Explorer...it looks great in Chrome, and I can't figure out why the difference!  It is fully functional, it just looks crappy.  It's rather frustrating, but it's late and I don't care enough to try to fix it presently.  If you're a Firefox user (or use any other browser), report back to me and let me know how it looks!

Anyway, I will be updating and tweaking gradually, so hopefully I'll get all the bugs worked out.  Nonetheless, it'll do for now!

Cheers!
Kyle

Amphibians!

Hello!

Still haven't bought a calendar?  Let me give you the link:



Now that that's out of the way, here are some amphibian photos from the Illinois trip!  It was a much drier year than last, and the amphibian abundance was substantially lower.  There were still some good ones around though, it just took at bit more looking to find them.  Here they are!

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)

Central Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis)

Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla avivoca)

Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla avivoca)

Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla avivoca)

Just one more Illinois upload to go.  Then I guess I'll have to take some new photos...what am I going to do??

:)
Kyle

Correction!

Hello!

Well, it's happened again - I screwed up.  Rare, I know, but it does occur.  All previously posted photos of Eastern Cottonmouths are in fact Western Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma).  Please forgive me.

Thank you to an astute observer (you know who you are!) for that correction.

Also, buy a calendar!!  Never mind subliminal advertising, it's straight to the super-liminal for me!  See previous post for details.

Kyle