Lake Springfield Boathouse/Meadow – August 2023 (2)

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There was also wildlife to observe and photograph during our short walk at Lake Springfield boathouse and meadow. There were some very large funnel spider webs at the edge of the forest between the path and the lake. I didn’t see the spider…wondered if it was a larger than usual spider too. There was a very large round web (about a yard across) with a flower behind it…also on the forest side. Both were more visible because of small droplets from the fog that had recently burned away.

Grasshoppers were everywhere in the meadow. Occasionally it was possible to follow one as it jumped…and zoom in for a picture.

Pollinators were out and about too.

The high point of the morning was watching a pair of Indigo Buntings taking turns tending their young in a nest box. The box had been checked while we were walking by and the young were still there…but about ready to fledge.

Dragonflies were flying over the meadow looking for prey. Sometimes that sat long enough to be photographed.

A deer drank from a puddle in a low area at the edge of the meadow. It looked skinny for August with ribs showing as it walked away.

In the flowers near the boathouse, there seemed to be more butterflies than in the meadow. Butterfly weed and cone flowers are the big draw.

Lake Springfield Boathouse/Meadow – August 2023 (1)

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A mid-morning walk around the Lake Springfield (Missouri) boat house and meadow was pleasant…also our last outdoor activity for the day that rapidly became a hot one. There was a volunteer gardener working on the plantings around the boathouse.

I learned from her that the plant I thought of as a sunflower…was a relative called Cup Plant because its leaves fuse to the stem in a way to form a cup that holds water!

It was a cloudy morning after a recent storm. There were some branches that had broken but were still attached to trees along with trees holding mature seed pods on the lake side of the path.

The meadow was a jumble of plants of various maturities.

Some of the zoomed images showed remnants of spider webs visible because of water droplets. The milkweed pods are still green…far from splitting open and releasing seeds.

The stream that is often dry was still wet and burbling from the recent rain. Marsh mallows and pokeweed grew along the bank.

Looking more closely at the beds around the boathouse before we left, I noticed several areas where beautyberry was thriving.

There were also other natives. Some have been planted on a slope…a good strategy to avoid mowing!

Farmers Market

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The joys of summer produce….

I was overwhelmed by the bustle of the Springfield MO farmers market – decided to explore the smaller ones in the surrounding communities. The first one I tried was too small…the second was just right! They are open on Thursday afternoon, and I go before the after-work crowd. So far – I’ve enjoyed the heirloom tomatoes (big ones and small ones),

Zucchini,

And basil (one time they had arugula…one of my favorites).

There are more than produce vendors. I bought goat milk soap (with lavender) last week….tried a fried pie the week before.

There are more than produce vendors. I bought goat milk soap (with lavender) last week….tried a fried pie the week before.

There is not enough produce variety to support a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture); maybe there are some veggies that just don’t sell well enough for the farmers to grow for the market. Things like collards, kale, Asian veggies, tomatillos, fennel etc. I wish there were. I might look around next spring for a local CSA. I like to discover new favorites while I also enjoy the regulars. Freshly picked heirloom tomatoes are always better than the ones in the grocery store!

Hummingbird Moth

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While I was doing the daily check of my miniature pumpkin vine (it now has at least 8 pumpkins), I noticed a hummingbird moth on one of the leaves. I took initial pictures with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S10e) then hurried inside to get my bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX-70 HS) with more optical zoom capability. Note: Click on any of the smaller images to see an enlarged version.

Fortunately, the moth has stayed on the. I got a few shots with the bridge camera

Before the moth took off to get some nectar. The wings move so fast that even in bright sunlight, they are blurred. Note the coiled proboscis as the moth flies away in the last shot.

The moth didn’t go far. It rested on a nearby flower. Maybe the morning was a little too cool for it to be moving around a lot. A little research revealed that it was a Snowberry Clearwing….probably a male.

August Sunrise

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The days are getting short enough that I am consistently in my office before sunrise (now a little before 6:30 AM). The rhododendron, pine, oak, and river birch foliage is lush enough that the sunrise from the patio is a wash of color behind silhouettes…not a clear view of the horizon. On any other morning – I might have walked out into the yard to get a little better view, but it was the day our sprinkler system was on, so I was content with the view from the patio.

A little after I took the picture some clouds rolled in, and the color was gone along with a lot of the light! The start of the day paused. The forecast is for clouds, not rain; my plan for mowing our yard might still work.

Josey Ranch Feathers – July 2023

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There is an area at the edge of the smaller pond at Josey Ranch (Carrollton, TX) that seemed to have more feathers. Maybe birds tend to preen there…or maybe the breeze carries the feathers there – either on the water surface or into the grass. Many of them seem to have a lot of down rather than being flight feathers. Some look very fresh with all the parts neatly zipped…still the way they were when maintained by the bird. Others have been on the ground long enough to be bedraggled. Most of them are white although there are some brownish tones in some.

Most of these pictures were taken from the same spot! Using the optical zoom on my Canon Powershot SX-70 HS on a monopod…I simple turn all around to get the feathers visible in every direction. It was still within the magic hour after sunrise…. lots of good light to highlight the feathers and their background. I like the structure of the feathers – the gentle curves – the delicate wisps of down – the magic of birds.

Josey Ranch Plants – July 2023

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Some plants of note at Josey Ranch (Carrollton, TX).…noticed while I was looking at birds….

In the garden between the big pond and library/senior center – I realized there were quite a few beautyberries. Most of them were doing great. There was one that was wilted (as was the redbud tree growing near it). I guessed that the sprinkler system was not working properly. Even native plants are challenged by days and days (maybe weeks and weeks) of 100+ temperatures with very little rain!

In the Pocket Prairie area – the sunflowers were still growing very well.

There was a surprise zinnia. Not sure why it was there with the native plants but it was growing quite happily.

In the area just outside the Pocket Prairie, there where cracks in the sod/soil and some strange features. At first, I thought they were roots but now I am not sure.

Josey Ranch Birds – July 2023

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It was over 80 degrees in Carrollton, TX in July first thing in the morning (every day I was there it climbed quickly to over 100 degrees!), so I made my visit to Josey Ranch just after sunrise. It’s also a time of day when there is a lot of bird activity. I checked the larger pond first. There were lots of raucous grackles…I managed to see a juvenile just as it hopped from the boardwalk to the grass.

Out in the shallow water was a Snowy Egret and

A Great Blue Heron in deeper water.

The Little Blue Heron was the high point of the morning. There was an adult in the water. I saw it catch a fish and then a crayfish in the short time that I was watching!

The Little Blue Heron and Snowy Egret crossed paths – making for a great image to compare their relative size.

In the shallows near the cattails there was a juvenile little blue heron. It always is a bit of a surprise to see this white bird…think it is a snowy egret at first and then realize that it is not (beak wrong color and shape, legs wrong color). There appear to be some blue feathers near the tail and around the eye already.

In the smaller pond, there were more Snowy Egrets

And a Great Egret.

I was trying to see if there were growing up ducklings. They grow so fast that they are already almost adult size; judging from the sheer numbers of ducks, some of them must be the two sets of ducklings I saw in June.

Overall – a good birding morning!

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge – July 2023 (2)

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The butterfly garden at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge had butterflies in July. There were Queen butterflies feeding in a group – the longer one looked, the more butterflies there seemed to be! This butterfly is seen more frequently further south than north Texas (almost into Oklahoma); maybe the extremely hot summer is pushing them further north.

The other butterfly I photographed was a male black swallowtail – a large butterfly that flutters as it collects nectar (as seen in the video below).

There were grasshoppers too! I photographed two after I startled them on the path and saw where they landed on a plant (and managed to zoom in with my camera to photograph them without being close enough to force them to move again).

It didn’t take long in the butterfly garden before I needed water…and air conditioning! I continued my road trip to Carrollton.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge – July 2023 (1)

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It was in the 90s when I visited Hagerman in July…early afternoon so not yet the peak for the day which would be over 100. As usual, I started my visit on the dusty wildlife loop – using my car as a blind and with the air conditioner working to keep the car cool even when I temporarily open a window for photography. I photographed a few birds near the ponds: Great Blue Heron, Snow Egrets, and a Great Egret.

There were still colorful wildflowers in the meadow areas…lotuses blooming on one of the ponds. Some of the plants are already producing their seeds.

I headed back to the butterfly garden near the visitor center. I appreciated my hat and darkening glasses! The garden is not large, but densely packed with blooming flowers; there is something to photograph at every turn! I had my bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX 70 HS) on a monopod – which made it easy to stand on the path and use the zoom to compose the images I wanted.

More from Hagerman tomorrow (butterflies and grasshoppers).

Carrollton Yard – July 2023

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The temperatures were over 100 every day I was in Carrollton, TX in July; I spent most of my time in places with air conditioning. It was in the 80s when I ventured out not that long after sunrise…getting a bit of yard photography done before it got too hot. The naked lady lilies (pink) were the most spectacular flowers of July and my mother had brought some of them indoors to enjoy. There were plenty left amongst the greenery from cosmos (orange)…Crape Myrtle and Queen Anne’s Lace as back drop. The elderly mulberry trees are still healthy enough to sprout new leaves along their trunks. The toy truck, rooster, copper fountain, tractor windmill, and glass sphere are nestled among the plants. The red yucca is thriving. Many plants are growing seeds/pods already.

In the distance – the Carrollton water tower and the sun just above the horizon could be seen through the trees.

There is a sprinkler system that runs twice a week in the early morning….but my sister and father are supplementing that watering for the newer plants. There hasn’t been rain recently and the high temperatures are taking a toll. The hydrangea has not produced flowers at all this year and looks forlorn even with a lot of watering.

Beautyberry

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I always stop at the Texas Welcome Center on US 75 just after crossing the Red River from Oklahoma to Texas. There is always something to see in the extensive plantings in front of the building. I enjoy a quick round of macro photography.

The Beautyberry was the highpoint of my stop in July. The plants are in all stages of blooming and then berry formation. It seems like there are more plants than last year….these are hardy native bushes!

Soon the berries will start to turn purple. Here is a picture from last September. I will check the plants again when I pass through in August…maybe find a few berries turning purple.

Zooming – July 2023

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The photographic opportunities bulged with the addition of a trip to St. Louis along with the monthly trip to Texas…. local walk abouts in our yard and neighborhood…the Lake Springfield boathouse too. They all added up to a lot of zoomed images taken with my bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HS). I enjoyed choosing which ones to include in this month’s post!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 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.

An elegant enigma – A shipwreck discovered 30 feet below the surface 15 years ago…what we know (and don’t know) about it after study of the 1,500 objects recovered including textiles in 4 chests. The name of the ship is still unknown but the construction indicates it was a Dutch trader constructed around 1645 and sank around 1660.

At Peru temple site, archaeologists explore 3,000-year-old 'condor's passageway' – A 3,000 year old sealed corridor in a massive temple complex built by the ancient Chavin culture.

Does Nature Need a Trigger Warning? – A thought provoking post. Predators must be part of our conservation actions…and need to be valued as they are rather than simplistically.

Two-Hundred Years of Written Observations of Kīlauea's Summit Activity – On August 1, 1823, an English missionary visited the summit and published his observations (I found the book online -available on Internet Archive…Chapter 6 begins on page 121…image below). Mark Twain visited in 1866 and trekked across the caldera floor to Halema’uma’u, watching “a heaving sea of molten fire of seemingly limitless extent.” There are several links in the article that are worth following. My favorite is the USGS Views of a Century of Activity at Kilauea Caldera – A Visual Essay.

How Texas is racing to thwart the heat  - Unfortunately, planning for heat is not as well-developed in the US as planning for other hazards like flooding so many cities are scrambling to take proactive measures to cool their streets down and protect people from the dangerous impacts of overheating. In urban heat islands, temperatures can be up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than less populated areas. Austin, TX has a climate resilience plan that includes strengthening emergency response and future-proofing new facilities and infrastructure. It also developed an urban forest canopy for the city to ensure cool outdoor spaces. The city has now applied for a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant to plant more trees after finding the tree canopy coverage was helping Austin to adapt to hotter temperatures. In 2021, San Antonio became the first city in Texas to participate in a pilot project to lower pavement temperatures by applying a coat of paint that reflects the sun's rays. I was disappointed that other large cities in Texas (like Dallas and Houston) were not mentioned in the article. My impression of Dallas is that there is a lot of concrete.

Detecting spoiled foods with LEDs – A potential improvement in non-invasive monitoring of fruit and vegetable freshness.

Joshua trees are dying. This new legislation hopes to tackle that – A compromise law…sets up a conservation fund and requires the state to develop a conservation plan and companies to obtain a permit from the state to cut down or relocate existing trees.

The looming 840,000 ton waste problem that isn't single-use plastics – Carbon and glass fiber composites used in wind turbine blades, hydrogen tanks, airplanes, yachts, construction, and car manufacturing. "This is a huge opportunity," said Dr Wei. "And not only because various modes of recycling are cost-effective and minimally impactful on the environment. In an era of mounting supply chain disruptions, local recycled products can provide a more immediate product when compared to imports and create a burgeoning advanced manufacturing industry."

National Park Visitors Warned to Be "Prepared to Survive" Heat – My husband and I have avoided trips to the western national parks in summer since the 1980s…primarily to avoid crowds but now ‘excessive heat’ is part of our rationale too.

The ocean's color is changing as a consequence of climate change – The color shifts have occurred in 56% of the world’s ocean based on analysis of data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite, which has been monitoring ocean color for 21 years. Tropical oceans have become steadily greener. Changes in color reflect changes in plankton communities, that will impact everything that feeds on plankton. It will also change how much the ocean will take up carbon, because different types of plankton have different abilities to do that. 

Egyptology History eBook

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Internet Archive has John A. Wilson’s 1964 book Signs and Wonders upon Pharaoh: A History of American Egyptology - freely available and browse worthy.  The title focuses on American Egyptology but there is contextual information about work by archeologists from other countries as well. All over the world – Ancient Egypt has fascinated people and the finds are more than just objects in museums. They have influenced architecture, art, fashion…concepts of beauty and culture. Enjoy the sample images below (click to enlarge) and browse the book directly by following the link above.

Barn Swallows

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The barn swallow nest under our deck earlier this summer failed (not sure what happened) but the second nest built above the deck on a brick wall visible through the glass paneled door to the deck appears to be successful. We avoid going out on the deck since the whole flock of swallows gets agitated and dive bombs into the area to protect the nest. Sometimes they get upset even if we go out on the floor below or are out in the back yard. My husband has set up a tripod and is capturing their antics through the glass door!

The adult birds come to feed their young. Note how the adult’s tail is used to stabilize its perch on the nest surface. The young are scruffy looking but feathers are beginning to appear.

Only 4 days later and the nest is overflowing with the 4 babies. They are beginning to look more like the adults…less down, more feathers. And they are always hungry.

My husband is already talking about what we will do once the young fledge and the nest is no longer occupied. There is a pile of bird poop below the nest…that will be the first to go…and then we’ll remove the nest itself. (reference: https://www.fws.gov/story/nuisance-swallows)

Macro in the Garden

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My garden plot has done reasonably well for its 1st season. I am letting all the wildflowers bloom and make seeds. The bulbs will hopefully be more robust next year too. The plot has been a joy to see at every stage – a reward for my efforts to plant and keep watered.

The added benefit is the variety of plants for macro photography (using Samsung Galaxy S10e phone). My goal is to make the rounds at least once a month since the plants change throughout the season. The highlights this month are the poppies making seeds and the sunflower just beginning the process. The red leaves are a rosebush next to the patch of wildflowers and bulbs.

Next to the wildflower garden, I have a vine of miniature pumpkins. There are three that are getting  bigger every day.

I noticed that the petals of the showy flowers have spikes at the tip that shortens as the petals unfurl. When I first started looking at the flower, I noticed some small insects were there. I wondered if they were pollinators; then a black carpenter bee came, and I switched to video mode. Clearly the carpenter bee was the pollinator!

In the front yard – there were three types of mushrooms growing where the large tree was cut down well before we saw our house; I know it was there because of the depression and general bumpiness caused by the decaying roots. The most numerous mushrooms this time were white blobs pushing up out of the grass.

In closer looks – they remind me of toasted marshmallows!

The second type was darker and still had rolled edges. They had previously been the most numerous kind I’d seen in the area…but not this time. I wondered if there is a fungi succession when it came to tree stumps/roots.

The third type was a single specimen….more delicate looking than the others. I see it elsewhere in the yard.

 The macro world….easier to observe with my phone in hand!

Plant of the Month: Pokeweed

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A little history…about Pokeweed becoming my ‘plant of the month.’

In Maryland, I battled pokeweed that emerged in my flowerbeds – pulling them and digging up their roots. Here in my Missouri yard – the plant’s exuberant growth has won me over; the large, bright green leaves look good against brick/wood or against other vegetation that is a different shape/texture/color. Its become an appreciated plant in my landscape.

The small blooms are not all that obvious…but are interest at close range. The plants will produce dark purple berries that songbirds will eat in the fall! We have mourning doves, robins, northern mockingbirds and cardinals that are among the birds species known to eat pokeweed berries.

Our Missouri Neighborhood – July 2023

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July has been hot…though not as hot as Texas. I’ve appreciated being home. The month started dry but then suddenly we got 2 inches of rain in 2 days after teasing with clouds and forecasts for rain that didn’t materialize. We have a good vantage point for the sunset over the neighborhood pool house from our patio.  

I saw a large red-eared slider on the move across the neighbor’s yard behind our house; it appeared to be moving in the general direction of the ponds. By the time I got out of the house with my phone for the picture, the turtle was at the tennis court…and quickly discovered the fence barrier. I noticed that the back of the turtle appeared wet; I wondered if it (she?) had been laying eggs – maybe in some damp, mulchy place. I assume the turtle managed to get back to the pond; I didn’t stick around in the heat of midafternoon.

About a week later I walked out into the eastern side of our yard to photograph the sunrise from two perspectives over neighbors’ houses.

More recently I took a morning walk around the ponds. We have more Purple Loosestrife that ever this year at the edge of the ponds….which is not a good thing since the state says it is “a noxious weed in Missouri and should be removed as quickly as possible.” Maybe it takes some finesse to remove it with propagating it? I hope eventually we’ll eradicate it and plant something native – like buttonbush (one of my favorites).

Note that the second picture (above) is near the willow tree…the one that had grown around a stake. There seem to be more plants around the base of the willow this year than I noticed last year.

Asian honeysuckle – another non-native invasive plant – is also growing in clumps around the pond. I wonder if there are children that pull the flowers to taste the nectar? I remember doing that as a child…and taught my daughter to do it too!

There are maple seedlings that are growing in the areas that don’t get mowed and a small clover hill that is full of blooms even with the occasional mowing.

I tried an artsy picture of the sun glint on the water silhouetting the shore vegetation. It looks like a picture that could have been taken at night!

Bullfrogs are some of the more recognizable sounds at the pond. It is harder to see them. This one was under one of the loosestrifes. I heard another one not far away while I was photographing this one.

As I headed back to our gate, I saw a robin on our fence…observing me!

July is a great month to be outdoors in the morning…but the afternoons have been stifling – good time to be indoors with air conditioning.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 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.

The ground is deforming, and buildings aren’t ready – Underground climate change in urban areas where heat islands underground cause enough expansions and contractions to damage building foundations…particularly in older buildings.

How noise pollution impacts nature – A study out of Vail, Colorado, showed that increased trail use by hikers and mountain bikers disturbed elk so much the cows birthed fewer calves. Another out of Grand Teton National Park showed that backcountry skiers scared bighorn sheep during winter when food was scarce, with potentially lethal consequences.

Hospital understaffing and poor work conditions associated with physician and nurse burnout and intent to leave - The study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing found that physicians and nurses, even at hospitals known to be good places to work, experienced adverse outcomes during the pandemic and want hospital management to make significant improvements in their work environments and in patient safety. The solutions to high hospital clinician burnout and turnover, they say, are organizational improvements that provide safe workloads and better work-life balance NOT resilience training for clinicians to better cope with adverse working conditions.

The simple ways cities can adapt to heatwaves – Heat monitoring and planning is become more important for cities…the climate emergency in cities is a health emergency.

New biodegradable plastics are compostable in your backyard – New plastic made from blue-green cyanobacteria that isstronger and stiffer than previous plastics from the same raw ingredient. They can be recycled…but also degrade rapidly in the environment.

Giant Hand Axes Discovered in England Point to Prehistoric Humans’ ‘Strength and Skill’ – More than 300,000 years old perhaps from an interglacial period. Early Neanderthal people inhabited Britain then…and maybe other archaic human species too.

Germs, genes and soil: tales of pathogens past – DNA sequencers and powerful computational tools…applied to ancient microbes…probing their role in human history. This article describes how the work is done, ethical considerations…using examples of what has been accomplished so far. The field of archaeogenetics is just beginning.

Back from the Dead: New Hope for Resurrecting Extinct Plants – There is a global effort to digitize herbaria specimens which had helped identify holdings of extinct plants…sometimes finding seeds. And then the challenge is how to best attempt to grow old seeds.

Pain risk varies significantly across states – Pain due to arthritis varies geographically in the US – with the moderate to severe pain being 23% in West Virginia vs 7% in Minnesota.  There is also a difference between people that did not complete high school…and those who obtained at least a bachelor’s degree – with the delta being greatest in West Virginia, Arkansas, and Alabama. There is a need to focus on the macro-level policies (i.e. generally at the state level) while continuing current individual interventions.

The Acropolis Adopts Crowd Control Measures for the First Time – The post-pandemic travel surge is overwhelming at some places – including the Acropolis!