Fort Pickens

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We visited the Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National Seashore twice during our visit to Pensacola. We looked at the fishing pier area first --- searching for birds. Brown pelicans were searching for breakfast…not minding the fishermen on the pier nearby. They are probably in the area year-round.

Some of the structures were derelict. Water and salt are hard on concrete.

Several immature red-breasted mergansers were also finding food in the surf. They might continue north even though they are not breeding this year.

Willets and a great blue heron were wading in the surf.

Immature Bonaparte’s Gulls were on the beach…resting.

Looking toward the mainland from the Fort (on a barrier island), a lighthouse is visible. It is on the Naval Air Station which limits tours to people with military IDs.

We heard and saw small birds in the grass near the historical buildings/discovery center. Looking closer we saw that they were blue grosbeaks! They were probably refueling before they continued their migration northward.

Two osprey were building a nest at the top of a chimney nearby.

On the drive away from Fort Pickens after our first visit, we spotted a mature bald eagle in a tall pine. I’d spotted a large nest as we had driven toward the Fort….so we were looking closely for the bird!

We joined a ranger-led walking tour of the fort to learn a little about its history. Fort Pickens was built after the War of 1812 and before the Civil War….built with slave labor (many were skilled laborers specializing in brick structures).  It was the largest brick structure on the Gulf of Mexico after it was finished and was a deterrent to conflict for a time. Its only active use was during the Civil War; it stayed in Union hands for the duration. Much of the brickwork has survived. The Fort was modified for other purposes over the years…with part of the structure used to store land mines! It served as a prison for Geronimo before he was sent to Fort Sill (in Oklahoma). Today – plants grow on the structure and in areas that were once busy with military preparations. The tour was a bit long (1.5 hours); I enjoyed the first hour but was tired for the last half hour.

Vacation to Pensacola, FL

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Our trip from home (Nixa, MO) to Pensacola, FL in April was our most substantial post-pandemic vacation…three days in a place we had not visited before bracketed by long driving days. We thought we were used to long drives because of all the trips between Maryland and Missouri last spring associated with our move, but the non-Interstate roads and long rural expanses going to Pensacola made it a harder drive. The only rest stops were welcome centers when we crossed state lines; we made stops at fast food places and gas stations but sometimes they were further apart than we prefer.

It was scenic…with roadcuts and forests, rivers and fields. In Arkansas there seemed to be a lot of farmers plowing…kicking up dust; I’d seen so many no-till fields in recent years that the plowing struck me as a retro strategy (and one that obviously depleted topsoil). In Mississippi, we noticed a community with blue roofs; as we got closer, we realized the blue was from tarps and there were big stacks of fallen trees nearby; a police car monitored the comings and goings from the community. By the time we got to Alabama we were tired…glad we were getting close to our destination.

Our previous visits to Florida had been primarily to the Atlantic coast and Orlando. Pensacola had a deep South vibe. The military presence (current and historical) also influenced our perception of the area. We wanted to see the Gulf Islands National Seashore and several other natural areas – for birds and plants. We stayed at a hotel with a small kitchen…took advantage of the breakfast they provided and snacked in our room in the evening after having a substantial lunch while we were out and about during the day. There was a magnolia blooming near our room.

Overall – the trip was OK but not spectacular. We learned about ourselves as much as about the area:

  • A google maps time of 11.5-12 hours is too much for us to do in a day – particularly if the route is not mostly Interstates.

  • Spring is a great time for road trips….fall will be too. Summer is often too hot and winter weather can be problematic.

  • Birding festivals give us the discipline to get up and out early…into places that are harder to find on our own in an unfamiliar area of the country. We’ll register for a festival to structure our next trip.

I’ll be posting about our Pensacola vacation in the upcoming days….stay tuned.

Ten Little Celebrations – April 2023

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Glorious spring…cool mornings and very pleasant afternoons…flowers…travel. So much to celebrate.

Springfield Botanical Garden and Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden. Visiting gardens is one of my favorite spring activities! There is so much to see and celebrate as the gardens come back from winter…blooms abound.

Finding a lost ring in a gardening glove.  I celebrated finding a ring I thought I had lost in the tip of a gardening glove finger. It must have some off with the glove and then pushed to the tip when I put on the glove the next time. It was lost for over a month before I finally realized there was something in the end of glove finger!

Ducklings on the neighborhood pond. Another sign of spring – baby birds. The ducklings were all staying close to their parent…still tiny enough to be vulnerable to turtle predation.

Getting to Pensacola FL. We took our first multi-day vacation since before the pandemic. The drive to Pensacola took us longer than we anticipated but we made it. More posts about our adventures in the week ahead. We both celebrated when we got to the hotel after 13 hours on the road.

Indigo buntings. A small flock of indigo buntings was enjoying the grass/weed area near some buildings in Gulf Islands National Seashore….more than I had ever seen at one time! Celebrated noticing the small birds with vibrant coloring.

Home again. It always feels good to come home again after being away. It happened twice in April: once when I can back from Texas and the again when I returned from Florida. Celebrating being at home.

Mowing the yard. I celebrated that the new yard and new mower are going to be a positive learning experience during the growing season – the yard looks great and the work is helping me build up my stamina, get some ‘intensity minutes’ into my routine.

Forsythia with composting mulch. The idea to pull some none flowering weeds as mulch under the forsythia where there was bare soil has worked beautifully. I celebrated finding a place in the yard to put cut/pulled vegetation rather than taking it to the recycling facility.

Great day to put out mulch around trees in the front yard. After mowing the front yard the first time, I realized the trees needed mulch under them to make mowing eaiser. I celebrated that we had great weather on the day we bought the mulch and were able to complete mulching the trees in the front yard…and celebrated again every subsequent mowing.

Great day to put out mulch around trees in the front yard. After mowing the front yard the first time, I realized the trees needed mulch under them to make mowing eaiser. I celebrated that we had great weather on the day we bought the mulch and were able to complete mulching the trees in the front yard…and celebrated again every subsequent mowing.

Planting bulbs around the red maples. I realized that the mulch around the trees made it easier to plant bulbs too. I planted some summer blooming flowers – lilies and butterfly weed and gladiolas. I celebrated that it was so easy to do…and will be celebrating again when the plants bloom this summer.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 29, 2023

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Cold is beneficial for healthy aging, at least in animals – Research with nematodes and cultivated human cells. Both carried genes for ALS and Huntington’s disease. Cold actively removed protein clumps…preventing protein aggregation that is pathological for those diseases. The protease activator that caused the change was discovered…and the impact of temperature explored. Interestingly – “human body temperature has steadily declined by 0.03 degrees Celsius per decade since the Industrial Revolution, suggesting a possible link to the progressive increase in human life expectancy over the last 160 years.”

See Colorful Paintings of the Zodiac Signs from an Ancient Egyptian Temple – Ceiling paintings in a Ptolemaic temple…suggesting Greeks brought the zodiac tradition to Egypt.

 Nearly 1,000 Acres Added to New River Gorge National Park and Preserve – The acres are in the Preserve part of the park. I have visited the park only once…passing through on one of my many trips between Maryland and Missouri. There is a lot to explore there!

Vehicle Exhaust Filters Do Not Remove “Ultrafine” Pollution – Aargh! No wonder there are so many yellow and red air quality days in our cities caused by particulates.

What it really takes for Asia to get to net zero – Home to 5 of the 10 largest emitters: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea. An article posted ahead of the BBC’s Sustainability Summit in Singapore. "The perception of higher cost for sustainability practices remains," says An (chief sustainability officer of City Developments Limited in Singapore). "But companies are starting to wake up to the fact that achieving climate goals is an "investment, not a cost."

Thread-like pumps can be woven into clothes – My first thought was maybe these will be commonplace in clothes – enabling us to work outdoors even on very hot days.

Sabertooth cat skull newly discovered in Iowa reveals details about this Ice Age predator – Almost as iconic as dinosaurs when it comes to childhood curiosity about extinct animals. One piece of trivia about modern cats: 40% of lion skulls in a study had survived head trauma to hunt another day. One of the ‘sabers’ of the Iowa Sabertooth was broken not that long before it died…might have even caused its death. Prey fights back…the predator does not always ‘win.’

Europe's unique trials in food 'social security' – Two projects: Montpellier, France and Brussels, Belgium. Run by collectives. The idea that quality, nutritious and organic food should be accessible to everyone.  Each citizen receives a monthly allowance enabling them to buy food meeting certain environmental and ethical criteria. The trials are running for 12 months. The big challenge is changing the way society thinks about food.

The Beauty of Bugs – The picture at the beginning of the article jogged my memory – of the necklace made from insect exoskeletons I saw at the Edge of Cedars State Park Museum when I visited Utah in 2013! I posted about it and took a picture back then…and am pleased to learn more about it and the possible implication it might have re the Basketmaker II culture.

Scientists discover a way Earth’s atmosphere cleans itself – It’s surprising that we don’t know more about how the Earth’s atmosphere works!

Zooming – April 2023

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The zoom capability of my bridge camera (Canon PowerShot SX70 HS) is used in almost every picture I take! I rarely carry binoculars anymore since I’d rather have the option of taking a picture once I find the subject…and I am keen to minimize the weight of gear I carry around.

The locations for the zoomed images selected for this month are Nixa MO, Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge (near Sherman TX), Carrollton TX, Coppell TX, and Springfield TX.

My favorite subject this month was ducklings! I was thrilled to find them in my neighborhood pond when they were only a few days old.

Enjoy my views of April 2023!

Our Missouri Neighborhood – April 2023

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Springtime view of our neighborhood from our backyard just after sunrise. The trees are leafing out…filling in more of the eastern horizon. The red bud is a break in the spring greens looking past the tennis courts.

Later in the morning I took some macro shots of fading daffodil blooms

And redbud flowers/leaves.

After spending time photographing the ducklings (see yesterday’s post), I made a project to photograph some of the trees in the morning like against the very clear sky. There was a little breeze but the light was bright enough to freeze the image!

The lawn around the pool was dotted with dandelions. I know that many hate the plants – wage war on them in their lawns – but I have come to appreciate them. I like their cheerful yellow flowers (and so do insects) and the puffs of seeds are always photogenic. I mow them but don’t do anything else to discourage them in my yard.

Plant of the Month: Hostas

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All the areas the hostas were growing when we moved to our Missouri house last June have hostas emerging – even the ones that were burnt by the very hot dry spell (their leaves shriveled and dried) after the bushes that shaded them were trimmed. It was thrilling to see the new leaves showing among the rocks in our flowerbeds! The greens and whites of their leaves made them my pick for “plant of the month” in our yard.

Enjoy some macro views of the hosta leaves – the curves…the lines…the color transitions. Little works of abstract art from nature!

Composting Mulch

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This is my first spring in my Missouri house, and I am still acquainting myself with the flowerbeds around the house.  A very fast-growing plant came up in the east flowerbed and spilled out in the yard. I pulled a wheelbarrow of the stuff and took it back to put on the bare soil under the forsythia bush. It covered about half the space.

A few days later, the 4-6 inches deep plant material under the forsythia had collapsed to about ½ inch. I decided the weed is perfect for composting mulch! I started pulling the remaining weed in the east flowerbed.

I uncovered hostas, irises, violets, and a maple seedling. I pulled the maple seedling but left the other others.

It wasn’t difficult to pull another full wheelbarrow of weed.

This time it covered remaining the bare soil!

The weed might grow back since I probably did not get all the rootlets…but I have other places in the yard I can use it for mulch. The strategy is to pull it before it creates seeds. My overall goal is to keep what the yard grows cycled into the yard…avoid spraying or fertilizing…plant more pollinator-friendly plants…and (over time) reduce the amount of turf.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 22, 2023

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Home Electrification Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act – Now to decide what to do first….

How mobile phones have changed our brains – Some research about the impact phones have on our focus.

Drug overdose fatalities among U.S. older adults has quadrupled over 20 years, research finds – Overdose is a problem across the lifespan. Most deaths are unintentional.

Macro Photography Captures the Delicate Dance of Mantises in Malaysia – Wonders of the insect world. We have mantises in North America…but not as colorful as these Malaysian species.

A Plateau in the Heart of Texas – The Edwards Plateau…one of the geologic features of Texas that makes for scenic drives.

The Shaman’s Secrets – A 9,000-year-old burial of 2 people (one adult, one very young child) with 100s of ritual objects. The grave was first excavated in the 1930s…and assumptions were made…the adult was a man, blond hair, blue eyes. But modern analysis tells a different and more complete story.

Winter Rains Bring Mushroom Boom in California – Extra rain….and there are a lot more mushrooms!

Protecting Nēnē, The Threatened State Bird of Hawai'i – We didn’t see in nēnē when we went to Volcanoes National Park in 2015….it was good to see pictures of them.

Want to Improve Your Outdoor Recreation? Try Birding. – Yes! It has certainly been true for my husband and me. There are so many good resources about birding (festivals, birding trails, apps)!

A must-see sunset spectacle at Monument Valley – Wow! We visited in 2013 at midday. Next time I’ll plan to go in late March or mid-September…and stay until sunset.

Older adults with dementia but without close family: Who are they? And who cares for them? – Thought provoking.

Tree Mulching Project

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When we first moved to Missouri last summer, we hired a crew to mow/weed eat/edge our yard. This season I am doing it. The first time I mowed (with our new battery powered mower…a big improvement over the gasoline powered one we had in Maryland), it was obvious that the job would be easier if the trees had mulch around them – an area large enough to avoid any low branches. The front yard has three trees: 2 red maples and an Asian dogwood. The red maples are relatively young trees so the mulched area did not need to be large. The dogwood had a lot of lower branches that I wanted to keep – hence a larger circle of mulch.

The first step was define the circle I would cover with mulch with very short grass; it was a good project for me to learn to use our new weed eater (also batter powered).

My husband helped me pour bags of mulch and I spread it around with a rake. The red maples took 1.5 bags each and the dogwood took 3 bags.

My follow up plan is to plant some daylilies and butterfly weed in the mulch areas around the red maples. The base of the young trees in sunny because are relatively skinny trees; the plants should do well. I enjoyed the ‘ruff’ of daylilies I had around the base of our oak tree in Maryland, and I hope eventually that will happen around these red maples. The plants might make it easier to extend the mulch circles as the trees grow since they reproduce rapidly. There aren’t deer wondering through our Missouri neighborhood eating buds like candy (like happened in Maryland); I’m looking forward to having flowers!

Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden – April 2023

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Earlier this month, we made our first visit to the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden since the winter holiday lights event in December (Gardens Aglow). I plan to go frequently during its April – October season since I joined Friends of the Garden; one of the membership benefits is free entry to the stroll garden.

We walked around the loop counterclockwise. Near the Meditation Sand Garden there were many cairns…some large and permanent…others built of smaller stones by other visitors. My favorite was a small stack of three stones on top of a post.

There are lanterns throughout the garden, and I always make a little project of photographing the ones that I notice. Next time I will hone my skills getting the horizon straight!

Interesting textures and colors abound: dried hydrangea flowers, new Japanese maple leaves in the sun, a pine tree with a challenge (disease, drought,?), reflections in a tinted pool.

A phoebe was close enough to identify.

A native dogwood was close enough to the path for some macro photography with my phone. I was fascinated about the way the flowers open – stuck at the apex…one petal-like bract opening …then another…the last two finally letting go to open the flower completely.

I suspect that there is a richness in this garden that will make it one of my favorite places in Springfield.

Springfield Botanical Gardens – April 2023

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The uptick in vegetation is in full swing at the Springfield Botanical Gardens this month. We went on a morning cool/breezy enough to require a jacket with a hood and gloves. The early blooming trees and bushes (cherry, magnolia, quince), spring bulbs, and some violets made it worth the walk. The magnolias appeared to have been hard hit by the cold weather of the past weeks – with wads of ruined flowers; but some buds were evidently not impacted, and the few flowers were a taste of how grand the tree would have been without the cold weather.

As usual, I couldn’t resist some macro shots. In years past, I have often contented with very active bees, but the breezy cold must have kept them away. I didn’t see a single insect on the trees. The picture of the ‘open’ redbuds (last picture) was one of my favorites.

But – my favorite of the morning was the tulips. Not all the tulips were blooming quite yet…but these very bright flowers stood out in their brown mulch bed. I liked their color and spikey shape!

I am looking forward to seeing how the gardens change by May!

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 15, 2023

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Cyprus’s copper deposits created one of the most important trade hubs in the Bronze Age – Cyprus was part of the first period of international trade in the Mediterranean. It was the largest copper producer around the area. Imports found via excavation included item from close countries like Greece and Egypt; items from distant places like Sardinia, the Baltic Sea region, Afghanistan, and India have also been found. Aside from copper, pottery produced in Cyprus at that time was exported and had been found in excavations around the Mediterranean and beyond.

Green Winter: Europe Learns to Live Without Russian Energy – “In a year when planetary emissions edged upward, Europe is now on track to comfortably outpace its pledge to generate 40 percent of its total energy from renewable sources by 2030.” Impressive.

Australia’s extinct giant eagle was big enough to snack koalas from trees – Likely one of Australia’s top predators during the Pleistocene.

Why East Antarctica is a 'sleeping giant' of sea level rise – The eastern part of Antarctica was thought to be resistant to global warming. In 2012, the East Antarctic ice sheet gained mass overall. But recently, it appears that some ice shelves are melting and might be at risk to collapse. The ice shelves in front of glaciers act as a safety band that keep the glaciers for speeding up and reaching the ocean. Scary comment from the article – “Most of the uncertainty about how much and how fast future sea levels will rise comes from how the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is going to behave.”

Arctic climate modelling too conservative – And about the other pole…researchers at the University of Gothenburg argue that the rate of warming will be faster than projected….and climate models need to reflect the processes occurring there.

In Eastern U.S., Climate Change Has Extended Forest Growing Season by a Month - Scientists tracked American elm, black walnut, white oak, and four other species in northwest Ohio, comparing their data to records collected by an Ohio farmer (Thomas Mikesell) from 1883-1912.

In these cheatgrass-infested hills – Often the natural places closest to where we live…are degraded in some way. That doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy the natural world that we find there.

Federal Agencies Directed to Develop Policies for Migratory Corridors – Birds and butterflies and fish and big game.

Ski Resorts in the Western U.S. Will Stay Open Into the Spring and Summer – Something positive about record-breaking snowfall.

As Enforcement Lags, Toxic Coal Ash Keeps Polluting U.S. Water – Coal ash in the environment and polluting ground water. Even as we migrate toward renewables…the toxic legacy of burning coal is going to last a very long time.

Coppell Nature Park

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Coppell Nature Park is about 15-minutes from my parents’ home in Carrollton, TX. I enjoyed my first outing there last month. It is a 66-acre park surrounded by ball fields and playgrounds of Wagon Wheel Park. There is a Biodiversity Education Center there is well (although I didn’t go in). The trails are mulch covered…the vegetation leafing out for spring. I took some macro pictures of ‘new leaves.’

I took some macro pictures of ‘new leaves.’

There is good signage on trees which would make it easy to teach yourself tree recognition….even in the winter! Persimmons are one of my favorites with their blocky bark.

The only wildflower I saw during my short walk was common dewberries….prickles.

The forest views are good but the sound of airplanes overhead is a frequent distraction. I’ll have to go back next month explore more fully (I’ll print the trail map) and see how spring is progressing.

Bluebonnets and Dandelions

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I looked for bluebonnets on my March road trip to Texas, but only saw them in two ‘cultivated’ places: at the Texas Welcome Center on US 7 (just after the bridge over the Red River from Oklahoma) and at the Coppell Nature Park. Maybe it was a little early to see them along the roadsides (or maybe there are not as many growing ‘wild’ anymore). Even the places I did find them were not dense stands that I remember. I’ll be looking for them again during my April road trip. They are the state flower of Texas!

Dandelions were everywhere during my road trip (and also at home). They are deep rooted plants growing in a variety of places that have photogenic flowers and seed puffs….and are an example of a garden plant cultivated by early European settlers that escaped into the wilds of North America. I enjoyed dandelion greens from my CSA in Maryland, but it’s too challenging to get the soil grit cleared from the shorter ‘wild’ leaves (I.e. so I haven’t eaten any recently). Most people attempt to keep their yards free of dandelions; I did that for years and have now decided it is futile. I’ll mow them…but that’s it. I tell myself that their deeper roots reduce soil erosion. And they support pollinators!

Carrollton Yard – March 2023 (2)

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Continuing the report on my parents’ yard….

It’s not just flowers that were blooming. The crane flies emerged while I was there. They seemed to be everywhere. One got in the house and stayed put near the door…posing for portraits. Later I saw one on a plant. These short-lived adults are eaten by birds (as are the larvae in the soil)!

Of course – there are still flowering bulbs, sage, wisteria, and daisies blooming around the yard too.

The pecan tree had tuffs of leaves and blooms. It’s a young tree…maybe this year I will make pecans.

The sweet gum was also leafing out. It is fruitless variety (i.e. no spikey seeds). The tips of its branches are still very complex.

My favorite picture of the yard this month was some red yucca seed pods from last year….still holding the black seeds….the old stalk bent almost to ground level so that the leaves of the plant form the background.

I am looking forward to seeing the changes that April brings…

Carrollton Yard – March 2023 (1)

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The next few months, until the heat of summer becomes oppressive, should be the prettiest months of year in Carrollton, TX yards… including my parents’ yard. There were so many things to see when I was there in late March, that I am writing about them in two posts (today and tomorrow).

Seeds from a neighbor’s tree were all shades of green to brown….blowing over the back yard (will any of them sprout?).

The usual early spring flowers were up. My mother cut some of them to bring indoors; the garden still held plenty more.

The fiddleheads in the front flowerbed were healthy looking. They survived the prolonged period of 100 degree + days last summer better than the blue rug juniper ground cover (more than half of it died). Being in the shade most of the time must have helped although some of last year’s fronds looked burnt in August.

I was surprised to see several clumps of mushrooms around the base of one of the old mulberry trees. The tree itself was leafing out…so it’s unclear why that grassy area was so hospitable for mushrooms. I took the opportunity to do some macro photography….of course.

I enjoyed two servings of edamame pods and composted the empty pods afterward in one of the flowerbeds. It is surprising how much happened to them in 2-3 days! I’ll check them again in late April!

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 8, 2023

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Avi Kwa Ame, Sacred Land in Nevada, to Be Preserved as a National Monument – Good! Another place to see when we make a trip in the west.

Volvo Delivers Its 1st Electric Heavy-Duty Truck in Africa – The truck is being used for collecting waste in Rabat, Morocco. Morocco is also home to the world’s biggest concentrated solar power facility.

A 90-year-old tortoise named Mr. Pickles just became a father of 3. It's a big 'dill' – Radiated tortoise native to Madagascar and critically endangered…at the Houston Zoo.

One of Europe’s last free-flowing rivers declared a National Park – Albania’s Vjosa River. Europe is also removing dams along other river just as we are in the US…but rivers that have been controlled by barriers will never be the way they were before the dam.

Clinics on wheels bring doctors and dentists to health care deserts – It’s a step forward and might work well for preventative or chronic care…but what happens in cases where the need is more urgent…like broken bones, having a baby, the aftermath of a car accident?

Technology over the long run: zoom out to see how dramatically the world can change within a lifetime – A graphic from ‘Our World in Data’ – worth the look. See the big developments they selected occuring during your lifetime….and when technologies we take for granted came along.

Take a Virtual Tour of the ‘Doomsday’ Seed Vault – Its doors are only opened a few times each year for new seed entries. The seeds come from countries from all over the world and are kept at -18 degrees Celsius. The most recent withdrawal was to re-establish a seedbank that had been destroyed in Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War.

Urban Trees Could Cut Summer Heat Deaths by a Third – Increasing tree cover to 30% could reduce premature deaths from urban heat islands by 40%. Sounds like a good idea of heath…and makes the cities more appealing too. Other actions can help too: green roofs/walls, light colored roofs/walls/landscape pavers, and replacing impervious surfaces with plants and soils.

Fresh produce contaminated with toxic BPA-like chemicals found in food labels – A Canadian study found that the chemicals migrate from labels in packaging materials into the food!

Common sweetener suppresses mouse immune system — in high doses – An artificial sweetener (sucralose) that might become a drug to reduce or replace immunosuppressive drugs that often have a lot of unpleasant side effects (if humans react to it the same as mice).

eBotanical Prints – March 2023

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Twenty more books were added to the botanical print collection this month and most are about orchids: 19 volumes of the Australian Orchid Review from 2012 to 2015. I picked sample images that demonstrated the publications’ photography and drawings. I’ll continue browsing more volumes in April! The very first volume on the list is the only one not from Internet Archive; it is a recently published book - Pollinator-Friendly Parks - that I am using as a reference as I reduce the ‘turf’ in my yard. It is available free from the Xerces Society.

The whole list of 2,592 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the March 2023 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the March 2023 eBotanical Prints!

Pollinator-Friendly Parks * Frischie, Stephanie; Code, Aimee; Shepherd, Matt; Black, Scott; Hoyle, Sarah; Selvaggio, Sharon; Laws, Angela; Dunham, Rachel; Vaughan, Mace * sample image * 2021

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2015 - 2016 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2016

Australian Orchid Review 2014 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2014 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2014 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2014 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2014 - 2015 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2015

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (June - July) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (August - September) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 (October - November) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2013

Australian Orchid Review 2013 - 2014 (December - January) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2014

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (February - March) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Australian Orchid Review 2012 (April - May) * Orchid Society of New South Wales * sample image * 2012

Josey Ranch – March 2023

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I went to Josey Ranch (Carrollton, TX) in the early morning. The male grackles were posturing. The females seemed to be mostly ignoring them.

There were two Great Egrets in breeding plumage staying together as they looked for breakfast.

There seemed to be more cormorants than usual. They are probably moving northward since their breeding grounds are in the norther part of the US and into Canada.

There were a few scaups and ruddy ducks left. They too are moving northward. I don’t expect to see them in April.

I walked to the garden area between the water and the two buildings. The trees are beginning to leaf out and roses are blooming. The area was impacted by the harsher (hotter and drier) summer and it will be interesting to observe how many of the plants will regain their vigor in the upcoming months.

March is a transition month. It will be interesting to see if more of the summer birds show up when I visit in April. I always check the pond (or is it a lake?); it’s an short, easy outing and their always seems to be something new to observe.