(no subject)
Hey guys, I've recently moved from New England to the DC/Northern VA area, and have been encountering all sorts of crazy flora and fauna I've never seen before! I've been Googling various identifying information, but haven't been able to find things that match my descriptions.
First, an insect: I've seen it on two separate occasions, but both were at night and at a distance while it was flying, so it's very hard to match with descriptions/pictures online. But this thing is HUGE, like at least the size and shape of one of my fingers, with two wings on each side that appear to be clear. It's definitely not a dragonfly, because it flies with its body somewhat upright instead of parallel to the ground, and it's definitely not a moth, because it doesn't flutter its wings similarly to a moth. They seem to fly up pretty high too, rather than close to the ground, since I saw one out my fourth-story balcony.
Second, a tree: They're used all over the place here in landscaping, though probably not native because I haven't seen any in the wild. They flower in various shades of pinks, purples, and reds. They remind me of lilacs because of the way the flowers are in cone-shaped bunches that point upward, but I've never seen red lilacs before, and the trees are frequently 10 feet tall with a defined trunk (lilac bushes rarely reach that height, and have zillions of small branches coming out of the ground, like the way mint grows). It is a crepe myrtle! Thanks!
Third, a bird: some kind of raptor for sure. It was a brilliant rust color on top (the reason I noticed it in the first place) and white underneath. The tail was fan-shaped and dark brown/black with a definite white stripe across the tip of the feathers on top, while underneath it looked like it was mostly white with several dark bars across. It was coasting on thermals when I saw it, and the red-orange color caught my attention so I got out my binoculars. But even scrolling through photos of hawks I haven't turned up anything that matches the entire description - orange birds will have black undersides, or the tail won't match, or something. Red-shouldered hawk! Thanks!
And fourth, ticks! In NH we had ticks that spread Lyme, and they are around the size of a peppercorn or larger, dark-colored, hard and flat and easy to see and grip. Here, I was walking around a battlefield yesterday and later noticed tons of TINY little red/orange ticks all over my white shirt that were nearly impossible to grab with my fingers. They were probably the size of the dot over a lowercase i. Are they baby ticks or something? Are they also a Lyme-carrying variety? I'm freaking out worrying that I could have brought one into the house due to my complete inability to get all of the microscopic little buggers off my clothing outdoors. They are chiggers, which don't carry Lyme but bite up a storm, yikes! Thanks!
Help me! These strange Southern creatures are foreign to my experience, and I don't have any native friends here yet to ask!
Thanks for any help!
First, an insect: I've seen it on two separate occasions, but both were at night and at a distance while it was flying, so it's very hard to match with descriptions/pictures online. But this thing is HUGE, like at least the size and shape of one of my fingers, with two wings on each side that appear to be clear. It's definitely not a dragonfly, because it flies with its body somewhat upright instead of parallel to the ground, and it's definitely not a moth, because it doesn't flutter its wings similarly to a moth. They seem to fly up pretty high too, rather than close to the ground, since I saw one out my fourth-story balcony.
Second, a tree: They're used all over the place here in landscaping, though probably not native because I haven't seen any in the wild. They flower in various shades of pinks, purples, and reds. They remind me of lilacs because of the way the flowers are in cone-shaped bunches that point upward, but I've never seen red lilacs before, and the trees are frequently 10 feet tall with a defined trunk (lilac bushes rarely reach that height, and have zillions of small branches coming out of the ground, like the way mint grows). It is a crepe myrtle! Thanks!
Third, a bird: some kind of raptor for sure. It was a brilliant rust color on top (the reason I noticed it in the first place) and white underneath. The tail was fan-shaped and dark brown/black with a definite white stripe across the tip of the feathers on top, while underneath it looked like it was mostly white with several dark bars across. It was coasting on thermals when I saw it, and the red-orange color caught my attention so I got out my binoculars. But even scrolling through photos of hawks I haven't turned up anything that matches the entire description - orange birds will have black undersides, or the tail won't match, or something. Red-shouldered hawk! Thanks!
And fourth, ticks! In NH we had ticks that spread Lyme, and they are around the size of a peppercorn or larger, dark-colored, hard and flat and easy to see and grip. Here, I was walking around a battlefield yesterday and later noticed tons of TINY little red/orange ticks all over my white shirt that were nearly impossible to grab with my fingers. They were probably the size of the dot over a lowercase i. Are they baby ticks or something? Are they also a Lyme-carrying variety? I'm freaking out worrying that I could have brought one into the house due to my complete inability to get all of the microscopic little buggers off my clothing outdoors. They are chiggers, which don't carry Lyme but bite up a storm, yikes! Thanks!
Help me! These strange Southern creatures are foreign to my experience, and I don't have any native friends here yet to ask!
Thanks for any help!