FLORA AND FAUNA OF FALCONBRIDGE

The creature on the left is a variegated Fritillary (7/15/2009).

The butterfly on the right is the Spicebush Swallowtail.  Its food is the spicebush plant (7/21/2009).
Flitting around Bayswater Place I took pictures of the Zebra Swallowtail.  The Zebra Swallowtail butterfly is a common butterfly with distinctive black and white markings and elongated tails on its hindwings It also has some small red and blue hindwing markings and strongly-scalloped hindwing margins. The caterpillar is yellow-green with black and yellow stripes and depends on the PawPaw tree for food. The Zebra Swallowtail has a wingspan of about 3.75-4.5 inches (9.5-11.5 cm).

They are called swallowtails because they have long "tails" on their hindwings which look a bit like the long, pointed tails of swallows (a type of bird).
Discovered another of the trees planted by the FHA Board members in the spring.  Here is a Chestnut Oak which was mowed, overtaken by Bermuda grass and still survived.  I removed the weeds and added some topsoil.  I will place a wire cage around this baby in hopes that it will become part of a windbreak along the Weybridge Indian Wall.

Chestnut Oak

After weeding
You live in the midst of a treasure trove of wildlife.  Here are some lists of bird sightings in the Upper Little Creek Waterfowl Impoundment.  An incredible number were sighted at one time.  View Upper Little Creek Impoundment which is in the archives of Carolinabirds, a mailing list run by C. W. Cook out of Duke University.
These are heart wrenching photos taken on June 29th.  These two tree seedlings behind Weybridge Place were doing well.  Our misguided weed whacking landscapers got at them and took off most of the leaves. I've since installed wire cages around them in the hope that they will survive this brutal onslaught.  Hope that they survive the winter.  Many members of the FHA board planted these seedlings in the spring to help replace the many trees that we have lost to storms and insect damage (Southern Pine beetle).

Chestnut Oak

Willow Oak
My infrared photos of the pond always achieve high scores in the Chapel Hill Camera Club competitions.  On June 28th this one, taken back in November, was voted POY (Photo Of the Year) by 3 judges.  I hope you all realize just how photogenic our neighborhood really is.  Get out, take your camera.  You never know what you'll find in your own backyard.
June 7th while planting at Paddington Place - a gem of a Southern Ringneck Snake.  It is black with a yellow ring around its neck and a yellow underbelly.  Non-venomous growing to only a foot in length.
This bluebird is feeding its young a large insect.  The 4 fledglings flew our bird box on May 5th.  On June 11th I looked into the bird box with the X-10 camera again and mom was turning her eggs in her new nest.  My bird box is on the shady side of the deck and she will be able to raise another family without any trouble.
Sighted on April 30th on the old willow stump at the north end of the lake - 4-foot long brown water snake surrounded by four males.  Don't worry it's non-venomous.  It is a water snake which dines on fish and amphibians.  Can be seen on http://www.floridaconservation.org/viewing/species/snakesn.html#ringnecks which is a great website for pictures of snakes.  One of our baldcypress seedlings is doing well in the pond.