A Lifestyle of Learning: The "What's That?" Hall of Fame

Gall on oak tree

I've discovered that I say "I don't know" quite a bit these days. What does a toucan eat? I don't know. Why do owls have yellow eyes? I don't know. And nowhere do I say it more than on our walks. It's there, outdoors, that the kids find the most confounding objects -- things that I have later come to identify, by many hours spent with guidebooks and using Google -- as various flowers, nuts, birds and insects.

The problem is I forget these quickly. One day leads into the next and suddenly we're staring again at a bug we saw last week and I'm trying to remember if that's a centipede or a millipede. So this year I've embarked upon cataloging everything we find with pictures. Here are our initial entries into the "What's That?" Hall of Fame. Pictures are below.

Used gall (I guess!)

1. Galls on an oak tree. Galls, I've learned, are the protective coverings of insect larvae, usually of small wasps. They are harmless to trees and can grow in leaves, twigs and branches. Once we figured out what these little reddish balls were we went in search of more on oaks around our street and found another gem: a used-up gall! You could see the individual larval pods (I have no idea if that's what they are actually called!) and the holes where the insects emerged. Cool.

2. Millipede. Repeat to self: Not a centipede. Not a centipede.

3. An orbweaver spider. This little guy (or girl?) has a neat spiral-weaved web attached to our house. I've watched him have a few meals, and what's really cool is that when he's nice and full his sac gets all puffed up.

4. Wasps. I don't know exactly what kind, but I suspect they are Bald-faced Hornet Wasps. They are working on a nest between our storm window and the pane (inaccessible to us, thankfully). I'm keeping track of their progression. At any given time there are two or three little worker wasps building.