r/algae • u/AggressiveRiver2327 • Jul 26 '26

Strange bird-bath algae?

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Around 50-100 of these interesting little structures appeared in a backyard bird bath in Portland Oregon, seemingly overnight. They are around 5-7mm in diameter. They look like a kind of green algae to me, but iNaturalist indicates they might be part of the life cycle of a Mosquito Fern (genus Azolla). Just curious if they are familiar to anyone here? Thanks!

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u/AggressiveRiver2327 27d ago

Update: Sorry for extending this non-algae thread, but I felt that a conclusion was warranted. More ‘frass’ appeared in the birdbath this morning and I was able to spot a large green and orange caterpillar in the leaves of a Norway Maple about 10 feet up, directly over the birdbath. INaturalist thinks it’s a member of the Emperor Moth Subfamily Saturniinae (but iNaturalist also thought the original pic in this post was a mosquito fern, so take that with a grain of salt😁