Flight Radar

  Ever see a high altitude jet fly over and wonder where it started or where it is going.  Flightradar24.com  can give you those answers.  The other day I photographed this red-bellied Airbus 330 that flew over my house.  I had my computer handy and found that it took off from Chicago's O'Hare and was heading to Berlin.

A few minutes later an O'Hare to London Heathrow flight was ID'd by Flightradar24.com,

Queen Ant Day 9/18/2015

  Every year ant colonies in an instinctual effort to pass on their genes, raise extra queens and drones(male ants) that set out to start their own colonies.  Typically in late summer all the colonies in a particular area will release the queens on the same day.  The day of flying ants, deemed 'Queen Ant Day' by my brother Rob when we were kids, is not so much dependent strictly on the calendar, weather conditions also play a big part .   

   Yesterday afternoon I noticed a Common Nighthawk working the sky over my house.  When I put the binoculars on it I noticed several flying ants in the field of view.  A quick check of the ant colonies by my driveway, revealed the Queen Ant Day festivities were in full swing.  Below are photos of the event. 

Activity around the nest

Drones and workers

Queen and drones

  Here is an attempt at video.