Happy photo Friday, DMV! It’s Sept. 4, and we’re heading into a long weekend.
Today, I share pics sent in by Nancy Canales Bonilla — 33, of Beltsville, Maryland — of the little friend in her garden who has provided the summer entertainment for her family.
“We planted sunflowers in our backyard in Beltsville, Maryland, this year. This particular variety was gifted to my daughter during the Brookside Gardens Nature Center ‘Flowers’ workshop in the spring. It grew so tall that when we found a tiny praying mantis in our basement, we put it on the sunflower,” Nancy wrote in her submission.
(Nancy Canales Bonilla)
“The mantis has grown big and has been a deep source of joy for our family this summer. As a carnivore, it is regularly hunting bees, moths, butterflies, flies and spiders — and it’s a joy to watch its patience as it stalks its prey.
“Since we have to look for it everyday, we have named it Waldo. Needless to say, Waldo TERRIFIED me when all I found was his skin one day. I didn't realize that praying mantises shed their skin — and couldn't find him until much later that evening!
“As we approached late summer, Waldo shed its green skin into brown skin, becoming even harder to find as the sunflower itself dried up. A clever little fella!”
I wrote to Nancy, and she sent me another photo, taken by her mother-in-law, of the mantis eating at night.
(Courtesy of Nancy Canales Bonilla)
“I once spent 30 minutes watching it, waiting for it to catch a fly that it was slowly stalking. It started off on another branch and slowly moved up onto its hind legs and then onto the next level branch as the fly flew around. When that didn’t work it decided to go upside down on the bottom of the upper branch and try to surprise attack.
“I had to go inside for nap time, and I don’t know if he ever caught it, but later that night he was eating this moth so I know he ended the day with a full belly!”
And she sent me one more photo last night:
(Nancy Canales Bonilla)
“Waldo had a standoff with a grasshopper. We watched the mantis stalk the grasshopper for about a half-hour. Waldo managed to grab the grasshopper, but we think it was too big for the mantis because the grasshopper was able to escape its grasp! National Geographic in our own backyard!”
What has given you joy and awe in recent months? Share your recent photos of life in the DMV here.
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📰 News around the DMV
Park Service has removed 150 trees at East Potomac Park (City Cast DC)
🎤 Things to do
6 p.m. tonight: Karaoke Therapy at Busboys & Poets in Takoma D.C. You don’t have to sing, but I will!
7:30 a.m. Sunday: “Words with Birds” — A hike in Rock Creek Park followed by a “generative writing workshop,” led by local writer Foley O'Brien.
All weekend: Circus performances, discussions and hands-on workshops at the Smithsonian’s Folk Life Festival. The Circus Arts Conservatory of Sarasota, Florida, offers programming that “honors both the wonder of the circus and the craft and labor that make it possible.”
Also …
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