Christmas Eve Day

Today was a day off of work, December 24th with Christmas coming tomorrow. My visit to the park today was something I regretted later for reasons I don't want to share here. Lets just say that I made a choice that I disagreed with later and would have done differently. Life lesson I guess. But the visit wasn't completely wasted. I was surprised to notice a Woolly Bear Caterpillar inching it's way across the paved path! But knowing what I do now about this particular caterpillar, it's not quite as unusual as it may seem. The Woolly Bear –or Isabella Tiger Moth– caterpillar doesn't hatch until Fall and then spends the entire Minnesota winter still in caterpillar form.

It's not until the following spring that it pupates and turns into a moth. During the winter, Woolly Bear can literally freeze solid and still survive! Besides the caterpillar today, I saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee and Northern Cardinal. I also noticed a bright greenish-yellow patch of moss growing on an old dead tree that seemed to be in just the right light for a photo. It was just something that appealed to me today and made for an interesting photo.