😍Woke up to an amazing post by @lindsayamoretti.bsky.social which features my passion for engaging our youngest learners in #STEM exploration through my books!
Make sure you give her wonderful KidLit Grove SubStack a follow!
#EmersynBlake #AlwaysWonder
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Charlotte’s egg sack made it through the winter storms. Sometimes the hatchlings will remain safely in her well-constructed home until spring.
Wonder if they are in there!
#AlwaysWonder #STEM #Spiders
My granddaughter was SO excited one her Jack-O-Lantern seeds from Halloween has sprouted!
Gotta admit I had almost thrown it out thinking it would never make it up through the mud!🤣🤣🤣
Now, how do you grow a pumpkin in the winter?🤪
#EmersynBlake #AlwaysWonder #STEM
Saw this beautiful Eastern Copperhead three times on my nature trail rounds today. The other walkers were not fans.🐍
#STEM #AlwaysWonder #Snakes #Copperhead
Bright yellow spider with orange and white legs in a web.
Close up of bright yellow spider with bright orange and white legs in a web.
Well, sadly, Charlotte has left, leaving her egg sac behind, but look at the beauty who just moved in?!
#STEM #STEMEducation #AlwaysWonder
Did you know marbled orb-weavers like this one are sometimes called “Pumpkin Spiders”?🎃🕷️
Just about every morning and each evening this sweet little family visits our yard. I love where I live!🥰
#Nature #STEM #AlwaysWonder
Didn’t see little green anole today, but look who was basking in our pecan tree?🦎
Did you know brown anoles have a shorter snout and stouter body than green anoles?
#AlwaysWonder #STEM
In all the days I’ve checked on Charlotte, she’s always in her web. Today…no web, just clinging to a nearby leaf (egg sac close by)!
Did you know? Some female garden spiders eat the male after mating, which in turn can lead to her producing more eggs? 😉
#AlwaysWonder #STEM
Small green anole sitting on a leaf looking at the camera.
Tiny green tree frog sitting on a green plant stalk.
Fluffy yellow caterpillar on the underside of a green leaf.
Despite the rain, all my favorite critters were in their usual places!🥰 #STEM
FYI: Did you know green anoles can live 2-8 years in the wild? #AlwaysWonder
Every day I check in on Charlotte. Today I noticed her abdomen was notably smaller than yesterday and the zipper (stabilimentum) on her web is destroyed.
Sure enough, just beyond her web is a new egg sac, which should contain hundreds of eggs.🕷️ #STEM #AlwaysWonder
Large Garden Spider with prey wrapped up in web.
Dinner time for Charlotte!🕷️🕸️
#STEM #AlwaysWonder #Spiders
Every day I look for my little ribbity friend Lima Bean in the brambles along our backyard. Yesterday I spotted him/her!🐸
Today I met an even SMALLER little friend—Sweet Pea (It’s the size of my pinky fingernail)!🤣
#STEM #AlwaysWonder #TreeFrogs
No way! Is this Charlotte from last year? She’s spun a web in almost the exact same location! Maybe it’s one of her daughters! Either way, she’s beautiful! 🕷️
#STEM #AlwaysWonder
Greenery with a small green tree frog and tiny green anole on the same stem.
How lucky am I? Look who was out catching some rays on the SAME branch!👀🥰 Can you spot my two friends I posted about last week?🦎🐸
#STEM #AlwaysWonder
Tiny green tree frog sitting on a stick.
Close up of tiny green tree frog.
Look at this adorable little fella! In case you can’t tell from the photo, it’s the size of a Lima bean!
Wish we could attach a little froggy go-pro and see what its days and nights are like!🐸
#STEM #AlwaysWonder #Amphibians #Frogs
Good thing I happened to be looking down on my walk this afternoon!😬
And yes, I know, it’s a young copperhead.😬😬
And no, I didn’t kill it.😬😬😬
#STEM #AlwaysWonder #Snakes #Nature
Huge brown caterpillar.
Screenshot of iNaturalist app showing North American Luna Moth.
It is amazing to me that this gigantic caterpillar (larvae) will eventually become this beautiful Luna Moth!
#Nature #AlwaysWonder #STEM
Young kids are overflowing with natural curiosity and desire to build/engineer new things! We need to always nurture that!
Exhibit 1: “LaLa! Look I found a bone on the playground! Let’s find out whose it is!” ☠️
Exhibit 2: First LEGO builds
#STEM #AlwaysWonder
In almost 30 years of living on this pond, I have never seen this!🕷️
According to my @inaturalist app, it’s a Six-spotted Fishing Spider.🤯
#STEM #AlwaysWonder
Branch with some black and pink mulberries.
Ahhh! That’s why the deer have been congregating in our backyard! Yummy mulberries are ripe!🦌❤️
#STEM #AlwaysWonder
Empty turtle nest.
Remnants of several white turtle eggs.
Hatchery or crime scene?🤔
Sadly, I’m afraid it might be the latter.
#PondLife #STEM #AlwaysWonder #Turtles
Whoa!! I had never seen this before! According to everything I’ve just read, this is a dragonfly laying her eggs!😳
#STEM #PondLife #AlwaysWonder
Cover of the picture book Emersyn Blake and the Spotted Salamander. Little girl dressed as an explorer standing on a rock in a pond, a black and yellow spotted salamander near her on a log.
It’s #AmphibianWeek!
What a great time to share Emersyn Blake and the Spotted Salamander with your kids!
Let me know if I can help!🥰
#STEM #STEMeducation #SpottedSalamander #EmersynBlake #AlwaysWonder
collazocove.com/books
#AlwaysWonder : What are they trying to distract you from?
Collection of tiny bubbles attached to the trunk and needles of a young pine tree.
Did you know…
* Spittlebug nymphs create bubble structures for protection
* They secrete a substance from epidermal glands which mixes with air to form bubbles
*Some species can produce 80 bubbles per minute
Now you know! You’re welcome!🤣
#STEM #AlwaysWonder #PondDam
Vine neatly wrapped around the stem of another plant.
This vine has better knot tying skills than I do! Nature is amazing! 🌱
#STEM #AlwaysWonder
Small white dog climbing up a grassy pond dam with large Canada Goose at the top.
Canada Goose swimming on a pond.
This lone Canada Goose has taken up residency on our pond dam. I named him Silly. Yep, I went there!🤣🤣
#STEM #AlwaysWonder
View of a creek in the intercostal waterway from a small boat.
Seabirds on a mound of broken shells.
Turtle and a bird resting on mounds of seaweed/grass.
Alligator getting sun on a grassy area.
Wonderful day exploring the ecosystems of our NC coastal waters! 🌅
#STEM #AlwaysWonder #GNASH #IYKYK
