Sitka Nature

I took this picture of a dead bug this evening and didn’t think much of it until I looked at it a little closer at my computer. This sort of thing seemed familiar to me. I thought I had recently read something about it, and I was able to find it when I looked at the Cornell Mushroom Blog. A recent entry on Furia ithacensis was in fact what I was thinking about. So the mystery for me at this point is whether or not this bug was killed by an entomophthoralean fungi, as seems likely based on the description in that entry.

I also took the following photograph which I suspect is a bug experiencing the same fate, but not as far along in the process. I noticed that it didn’t really seem too inclined to move, but I initially attributed that to me being careful. In hindsight, looking at the photo, it appears the the bug was actually just anchored down, though it has yet to burst.

I haven’t spent much time outside the last couple of days, but I did wander around our yard and the open area across the street this evening.

Weather: Today was mostly cloudy with a little bit of a breeze. Temperatures were in the 60s.

Birds: There was a report that some shorebirds have started to return. I’ve been meaning to go down to Totem Park to look (as it seemed like it was about time for them to start showing up), but haven’t made it so far.

Other Notes: Saw a few insects that were new to me. Including a couple that may have been killed by a fungus (I’ll write a separate post on that).

I also saw a few very small snails. These were new to me as well.