Diving at Anderson Mill

International Tour II

The International Tour II is soon to begin. But this tour has a twist. Dave will be travelling with a portable pizza oven on the truck. At each stop he will have pizza party - too fun. This only proves he lives in an alter universe.....

Tarantula on our Morning Walk

Most spiders are small, inconspicuous arthropods which are harmless to humans. Their beneficial role in keeping insect populations in check far outweighs the hazard posed by the few spiders that occasionally bite humans. Very few of the nearly 900 species of spiders in Texas can hurt people. Only two groups--recluse spiders and widow spiders-- are considered poisonous to humans.
Tarantulas, jumping spiders, wolf spiders and some other spiders worry people who mistakenly believe they are seriously poisonous. Although these spiders are often large, hairy and formidable-looking, their bite is typically less harmful than a bee sting. People who are extremely allergic to spider venom, though, react severely to any spider bite.
Many people have a phobia of spiders. However, knowing how to distinguish harmless from dangerous spiders, how to prevent them from entering the home and how to control those that do enter can prevent needless concern and reduce the chances of harm to humans.

Tarantulas in Texas are members of the hairy mygalomorph family in the genus Aphonopelma. These large, hairy spiders are brown to black and more than 3 inches long when full-grown. Females, larger than males, have abdomens about the size of a quarter.
Tarantulas hunt at night and spend the day under rocks, in abandoned mouse burrows or in other sheltered areas. They may be seen in the evening or late at night along country roads or trails. Migrating male tarantulas can be commonly seen for a few weeks in early summer. This migration’s purpose is not completely understood, but it may occur as males seek mates.
Tarantulas are sometimes kept as pets and can become quite tame. Although they can be handled, be careful, because they can quickly become disturbed and pierce the skin with their fangs on the chelicerae. The hair on some tarantulas may irritate the skin, so take care when handling them.
Tarantulas need a constant supply of water in a flat dish into which they can lower their mouths. They eat live crickets, mealworms, caterpillars or other insects and can go for several weeks without food, sometimes refusing to eat before molting. Tarantulas can crawl up glass and escape through small openings, so they must be kept in a container with a good lid.

Spring Storms Over Austin

Another batch of beautiful lightning storms hit the Austin Area. The lightning was stunning once the massive storm moved through the area. But this time the lightning had a yellowish tint to it. This is the first time I've recorded such colors. So I did a little research on it and found ..... the color was yellow because the storm was far away. Just as the moon appears yellow when near the horizon, the shorter wavelengths of the light from the lightning were scattered out by the atmosphere, leaving the longer wavelengths(yellow, red) to be seen. The sun, when right on the horizon, sometimes appears red because there is sufficient water vapor, aerosols, and other pollutants to scatter out even yellow light. The lightning, being both far away and in proximity to a lot of water vapor and water droplets (over the lake and associated with a storm) was seen as yellow. As far as the color of lightning, even when seen close, natural lightning usually appears somewhat yellowish.

Moth Hummers at the Big Build

At first glance the Hummingbird Moth looks like a hummingbird. But the Hummingbird Moth is not a hummingbird at all. It is a moth. They are sometimes called a Sphinx Moth or a Hawk Moth. The hummingbird moth can sometimes be mistaken for hummingbirds or even baby hummingbirds, however, baby hummingbirds do not fly.


And those little feathers out of place on the top of its head are not feathers, they are antenna. Another clue is if the creature allows you to get closer to get a second look without giving you an earful and zipping away at the speed of light, it is probably a hummingbird moth. Also, if it has brown striping or yellow and black striping along its back (and it's not a bumble bee), it's most likely a hummingbird moth.
The hummingbird moth belongs to the family of moths technically called the Sphingidae family or Sphinx family of moths. A hummingbird moth can be considered to be a medium to large moth. They tend to fly strong and fast like a hummingbird with a rapid wing beats. The hummingbird moth will feed on a flower much like a hummingbird. But instead of a beak and tongue to lap the nectar, they have little straws to sip the nectar from a flower. These little straws are called a proboscis.
There are many different types of Hummingbird Moths. These can include the Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth, the Tersa Sphinx Hummingbird Moth, and the White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth.

The moths that frequent the Big Build are White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moths. White-lined Sphinx Moths have an adult wingspans exceeding 5 inches. Larvae can be just as long, with most having a prominent horn at the rear of their fleshy body. When alarmed, these larvae rear up their heads in a threatening sphinx-like posture and may emit a thick, green substance from their mouths.
The White-lined Sphinx Moth ranges in length from 2 1/2 to 3/12 inches. It has a prominent brown head, a brown thorax with 6 white stripes and a brown abdomen with paired dark spots on each segment. The forewings are brown with a buff-colored band from base to tip and viens outlined in white. The hind wings are pink, turning to dark brown near the margins.

Sphinx Moths emerge at dusk from their hiding places and begin feeding on the nectar of flowers. Their size, combined with their rapid wing beats, allows them to hover and feed in the manner of hummingbirds, for which they are sometimes mistaken.
This manner of flight requires a great deal of energy and creates a good deal of heat in the moth's body. For these reasons, moths feed exclusively on nectar and seek flowers which produce large amounts of this water source which also contain high amounts of sugar. Such is the case with the Salvia Family which the White-lined Sphinx Moth is responsible for pollinating.

The Work Begins in the Backyard

The Best of Telluride '10