Halloween Assassin

Watercress Park, within the city limits of Van Buren, has a nice collection of old grown shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata,) the only pine native to Missouri. The other day, one particularly large old tree near the spring was absolutely covered with these guys:

I’m familiar with assassin bugs, but I’d never seen one this colorful. [...]

Things from the pond

One of my very favorite things about the place I live is the small pond in the corner of the yard.

Other than a single goldfish, it’s fishless and teems with life. I’ve identified more than twenty species of dragonflies from it and I can almost always find something to photograph while walking around it.

Today [...]