A local spider expert commented that all we had featured were "boring spiders" ....I hope that this species doesn't fall into that category! I think that it is beautiful. This is Araneus diadematus, one of the spiders that builds the classic circular web that is strung between whatever they can find; in this case two Douglas-fir trees.  

It is an introduction from western and northern Europe and is found through southern Canada and the northern USA. An alternate English name is European Garden Spider--referring both to it's origins and a common habitat.

Eggs are laid in sacs in the fall and will hatch in the spring, the adults dying in the fall. 

Thanks very much to Sean McCann who caught the  identification error the first time around. And of course as I look now it is much clearer.  Much appreciated. 

Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare), sometimes called Sword Thistle, is a large biennial plant with a deep taproot and formidable spines. 

They were introduced to eastern North America in the 1800's and is native to Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. Here at Leaning Oaks it only grows in disturbed areas, such as the lawn, the edge of the vegetable garden or where a wind-thrown tree brings up mineral soil and lets the light in.  We do try and get rid of them as soon as they come up--however this one had to stay until it flowered becasue we needed a photograph for "Species-A-Day"! In some jurisdictions they are on the noxious weed list for good reason.  The large purple flowers are favourites of a variety of introduced and native bees and butterflies and the seed heads attract American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins.  The stems are reportedly edible when peeled, but I admit I've never braved the armature to try them out. 

Petty Spurge is an introduced annual weed that is common at Leaning Oaks in cultivated areas, disturbed sites and gravelled paths.  This plant (Euphorbia peplus) has a number of common names including Milkweed (which is terribly confusing since another genus entirely is also called Milkweed) and Cancer Weed.  The name Cancer Weed is because the toxins in the milkly sap of this plant have an ingredient that has been shown to slow rapidly dividing cells down, and it has been used to treat cancerous lesions. 
The milky sap is also very bitter, and the plant doesn't seem to be consumed by either deer or rabbits here.  Fortunately it is rather easily pulled or hoed out of the ground.

This syrphid or hoverfly was introduced to North America prior to 1874 based on specimens. It has spread from Alaska to Florida and is common throughout the range. They are active pollinators, working over a wide range of plants. They are mimics of the European honey bee. 

The aquatic larvae are called rat-tailed maggots. -  The "tail" works like a siphon and will extend out of the fetid water that it is living in to breathe. They need to feed so there must be some food present. The eggs are laid in contaminated water, sewage or decomposing matter. 

The scientific name is Eristalis tenax. 

Wall Lizards (Podarcis muralis)  are relatively new critters to Vancouver Island.  Our population is derived from a small number of lizards that where released in 1970 from a now defunct zoo that was located on Rudy Rd on the Saanich Peninsula.  The lizards are spreading quickly and there are populations throughout the Saanich Peninsula, and isolated populations in Langford, Nanaimo and on Hornby Island.  Biologist Christian Engelstoft and I are tracking their spread to is you see any in other areas we would like to know about it (a comment here will work fine).  Their impact on native ecoystems is unknown, but often they rapidly reach very high densities, and are agile and heavy feeders on a wide variety of invertebrates.  They are far more agile than our native Alligator Lizard and they are able to scale walls, trees, drainpipes and can be found on the ground, cliffs or even building roofs.  They are most active in warm weather, but we have records from every month of the year, so they seem to be able to take advantage of warm weather periods even in the winter months. We think they are spreading by themselves as well as being assisted by being moved by people and horse trailers.

  Wall lizards were first  noted on Leaning Oaks in the late summer of 2013, and Leah photographed a female here yesterday. 

Almost all of the grasses that we have here at Leaning Oaks are not native species, and this one is no exception.  Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerata), or Cock's Foot is widely planted as a forage and hay grass and it has escaped hayfields and is a common grass along roadsides, ditches and other areas.  It is an increasingly common species in our Garry Oak meadow, and we have to actively control it in order that some of the native species that we are trying to maintain on the property have a chance.  It is a vigorous tall  bunchgrass that makes tussocks  that tends to out compete many smaller Garry Oak species. 

Alsike Clover  (Trifolium hybridum) is a widely grown, non-native plant.  It is used as a forage crop and is a common escapee on disturbed lands, road edges and lawns.  Here at Leaning Oaks, it is found in our lawn, along with White Clover.  Its latin name is based on Linneaus' mistaken impression that this is a hybrid of White Clover and Red Clover.  The common name is also of Linneaus' doing, his type specimen came from the town of Alsike in Sweden.  Hanging out around clovers is a great way to see lots of pollinators, particularly bumble bees.

This large Eurasian cutworm moth, Noctua pronuba, was first recorded in Canada in 1979 in Nova Scotia and had made its way to BC by 2002, now commonly seen on the eastern side of Vancouver Island. It may have winged its way to the west coast on its own as a strong flier, but there are suspicions that it was human assisted. Many of the host plants of  N. pronuba are widely used in the horticultural trade and the larvae eat many common food crops. A summary of the status and spread was written in 2005 by Claudia Copley and Rob Cannings from the Royal BC Museum (http://journal.entsocbc.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/62/276).

There is another introduced moth with bright underwings -the Lesser Yellow Underwing,  Noctua comes that is smaller, has a dark spot in the centre of the underwing and was introduced to BC in 1982. You will have to trust us that this particular specimen did not have the dot!  

This is probably the most common butterfly that we see during the summer at Leaning Oaks -in the meadow and in the vegetable garden. The caterpillars is small, green and a voracious feeder of members of the Brassicaceae family.

The first Cabbage White, Pieris rapae was collected in Quebec in 1860 very near a port of entry for immigrants arriving mainly from Ireland. These people would have been fleeing  the famine. Many would have been farmers that would be bringing their own food on the voyage and much of that would be cabbages and turnips; food that would store well. Another bit of evidence for this origin was that the adult males were bright yellow, the same as the form found that occurs most frequently in Ireland.

This distinctive skipper was first recorded in BC in 1960. There was a separate introduction in Sicamous that was first noted in 1980 and then spread east and southward. Victoria recorded it's first Thymelicus lineola in 1992 (although wasn't identified until 1994).  It is apparently still only found in the Victoria area on Vancouver Island and is the only one of this Genus in BC. The flight period is June to mid-July.