Explore Outdoors ~ what's THAT under my blueberry leaf?

 

I love the way my blueberry leaves turn brilliant red in the fall! So the other day I was trying to capture the color when I noticed this egg sac sheltered beneath a leaf. Someone more knowledgeable about spiders than I am suggested that it was a yellow garden spider, Argiope aurantia - which makes sense since there were many of them inhabiting my garden this summer.

According to what I've read, there can be hundreds of eggs inside, and they hatch in late fall or early winter. But rather than dispersing, the spiderlings go into diapause (a dormant state) and emerge the following spring. If they all live (which they won't) I'll have plenty of pest-munching spiders in my garden! Bug Eric has a great post about them here. 

Do you have any spiders hanging around your yard? 

Noisy Animals!

 I’ve been enjoying Darrin Lunde’s books for a while – and this summer he had two new books hit the shelves. What I really appreciate is that Darrin writes from his experience of being a biologist – he’s the collection manager in the Division of Mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

Themes: nonfiction, animals, animal behavior

Who's Making All That NOISE?! 

by Darrin Lunde; illus. by Erica J. Chen 

32 pages; ages 3-7

Charlesbridge, 2025

Rap tap tap! Rap tap tap tap!

Who’s making all that noise?!

Owl and squirrel and a bunch of other animals want to know because it is sure a LOUD hammering on a tree! Before we turn the page, though, can you guess who it might be?

If you said woodpecker, you would be right! Woodpeckers hammer on trees to find ants and other insects. They hammer on trees to communicate with other woodpeckers. And when they hammer on the side of my house, I’m pretty sure they’re doing it just to bug me!

From creaky clicks in the sea to grunts, roars, and quacks, readers meet seven animals who make their own kinds of noises.

What I like about this book: I like the format of paired spreads. The first presents the sound and asks “Who’s making all that noise?” There’s a brief description of the sound: it’s a loud blast of air, or it sounds like rumbling thunder. This makes for a fun read-aloud because you can pause … and wait … and let kids guess … before turning the page to reveal the Noisy Animal! Also, it’s fun to read the sounds. I also like that there’s back matter: a spread filled with facts about the noises animals make.

Some of Darrin’s books are being published in board book format – here’s one

Whose Egg Is That? (Whose Is THAT?) Board book 

by Darrin Lunde; illus. by Kelsey Oseid 

22 pages; ages 0-3

Charlesbridge, 2025

As with the book above, Whose Egg Is That? Is a nonfiction guessing game exploring the connections between an animal, its eggs, and its habitat. With fewer pages come fewer animals, in this case: emperor penguin, sea turtle, ostrich, robin, and dinosaur. The final spread shares fun facts about the featured critters – and their eggs.

Beyond the Books:

Listen to animals! Where? I sit on my porch in the morning and listen to birds. I go to the zoo where I can hear penguins and lions. And when the weather allows, I leave my windows open at night so I can hear frogs calling, owls hooting, and foxes screaming.

We’ll join Perfect Picture Book Friday once they resume. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publishers.