Conowingo on a Fall Morning – Part 1

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My husband and I took a ‘field trip’ to Conowingo dam this week – the first such trip since last February; we did it in a low risk way and will probably enjoy the fall a bit over the next few weeks with similar outings. We were gone for a little over 3 hours…with 2 of the hours on the road. At Conowingo we made a short stop at the Visitor Center for a ‘rest stop’ with masks…hand washing…and then hand sanitizer once we were back in the car. I took some pictures of the Bald Eagle carving and some of the plantings in front of the visitor center.

When we got to the fishing/bird viewing area – we noticed the low water right away. The dam was not generating so the fish were not being churned up. Note how calm the water is toward the dam. Do you see the Great Blue Heron in the lower left? Part 2 of this post will be about that bird.

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There was an adult Bald Eagle on the ’50 yds’ abutment that stayed for the entire time we were there. I took digiscope pictures (i.e. phone attached to spotting scope on a tripod) first. The bird is looking around and the breeze is ruffling feathers on the head.

Then I took some pictures with by Canon Powershot SX 60 HS (bridge camera) on a monopod….which is my usual birding camera. The bird was moving its head more….it seemed intent on not moving any other part of its body though! I’m still more comfortable using the camera rather than the digiscope.

The birds on the water today were Double Crested Cormorants. They were sometimes in groups….usually on their own diving quickly to go after fish.

I saw one come up with a fish and then noticed a Great Blue Heron (not the heron in the earlier picture) flying toward it. By the time I started taking pictures the heron had plopped down right next to the cormorant….but the cormorant made a quick get away with his prize leaving a surprised heron behind. Use the arrows to move through the 5 images.

I always try to look at the Paulownia (princess tree) growing on the cliff next to the parking area. The seed pods are maturing. It’s an invasive tree but one that it tolerated – sometimes – because it is pretty.

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Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Notification that ballot was received. I got an email from my state acknowledging that the ballot I put in the drop box has been received! I great to get that confirmation. The email included a link to the Maryland site where I can find out when it is accepted/counted too. There was a local news story saying that my county would start counting on the 12th so I’ll start checking every day after that.

Last CSA flowers? The cutting garden at the CSA is winding down. The zinnias are about done for the year. I got one sunflower and then some smaller purple ones (don’t know what they are) to make a small bouquet to sit in the kitchen window along with the green tomatoes I hope will turn red. I’ve already enjoyed 2 that turned red recently.

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Voting

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Early voting has started in Maryland.  My husband and I made a small outing yesterday to take our ballots to the drop box located at the early voting location closest to our house. We did that to reduce the workload on the Post Office. We had followed directions from the state of Maryland and requested a ballot to be mailed to us rather than printing it since that makes it easier for them to validate and count the ballot. The directions that came with the ballot were easy to follow So – we are confident that our vote is going to be counted and we’ve done what we could to reduce the overhead.

The drop box was located just outside of the polling location and there were no other people around when we first got there but as I got back in the car someone else drove up and put their ballot in the box as we drove away. It’s good to have done our voting early…and with low risk of COVID-19 encounter.

On the way home, I noticed that the red maples are changing in our area. I took some pictures through the car windshield as we drove down the street of our neighborhood. I was a coolish fall day….sunny and beautiful. It was a good finale to our small outing.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Sweet potato custard. The uncured sweet potatoes I have gotten the past 2 weeks from our CSA have been huge so I cooked them and then made custard (I’ll have to freeze some of the puree but that just means we’ll have plenty to last…probably through Thanksgiving with the addition of the butternut and acorn squashes as well. I had some left-over spaghetti squash for this first custard and it provided a coconut flake texture (without coconut flavor).

2 wheelbarrows full. I did some quick clean up on the front flowerbeds and some thick leaf piles. I did the last trimming of bushes since it is getting cool enough now that they are probably the way they will be going through the winter. Then I got some leaves off the driveway and quickly discovered that I should just mow the leaves. I quickly filled 2 wheelbarrows!

Cape May Fall Festival

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Friday through Sunday were three intense days of webinars from New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO): the virtual Cape May Fall Festival We enjoyed their virtual festival last spring as well (posts for day 1, day 2); the organization tweaked a few things for this fall one that made it even better; I noticed the roving reporters out in the field and a little bit longer breaks. The days still started at 7 or 8 AM and ended at 5 or 6 (with one evening session after a 2-hour break). I learned to use the breaks to get up and move!

There is a lot of bird monitoring activity (Avalon Seawatch, Cape May Hawkwatch, and Morning Flight Songbirds) in the fall and the CMBO makes it easy to see the results with the buttons for Real-time Counts via Trektellen on their website(near the bottom of the page).

The weather was perfect for a big morning flight of songbirds on Saturday – 27,000 birds in 6 hours! See the Saturday results here – and check out other days going forward. There were huge numbers of warblers. The little bit larger songbirds that we saw (through the great work of the person filming the roving reporters) were Northern Flickers and Blue Jays (3,538 and 1,496 were counted for the morning). The songbirds migrate at night and are funneled down from points north to the Cape May Peninsula where most of them drop down for food and rest before continuing on – most of them working their way back to the north and west around Delaware Bay to then continue their southward migration.

The Hawkwatch also saw a lot of birds on Saturday (results here). These birds migrate during the day. There were 194 Cooper’s Hawks that came through.

The Avalon Seawatch had a bigger day on Sunday with over 1,000 (each) black scoters and double crested cormorants.

There were places featured in the talks and roving reports that we had seen in Spring 2019 (like South Cape May Meadows, Cape May Bird Observation Deck, Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area, CMBO’s Northwood Center) and then the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge which was new to us. So many places we would like to be!

There is a also a CMBO Monarch Monitoring Project that tags butterflies! Even though the large winter numbers of Monarchs in Mexico were found in 1975, it was not until 1998 when 7 of Cape May tagged butterflies were found there that the debate of where the east coast Monarchs migrated was finally settled. The results of the monitoring at Cape May are reported in a table on the website.

Virtual sessions are great for classroom type presentations too. At birding festivals, I tend to always opt for the field sessions, so this year of virtual festivals has been great for the classroom-based skill building. I particularly enjoyed learning more about raptor id (in flight), winter seabirds of New Jersey, ravens, other bird observatories (international), international birding tours, and the bird id game done by 3 NJ Audubon’s Young Birder Club members (wow….they have impressive id skills and are good at sharing their knowledge). The Cornell Lab of Ornithology provided the one evening session; I learned about Birds of the World (a new subscription based resource) and more about resources I already know about/use:

One of the sessions brought up the topic of some birds eating Monarch butterflies and seemingly not suffering any effects. My husband and I remembered that we saw that on at a previous birding festival…and I looked back through my blog posts to find out where and when and what kind of bird. It was Couch’s Kingbird on Nov. 11, 2017 and I posted about it on Nov. 27th. It was at a woodlot on South Padre Island, Texas during the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. I have two of my pictures from that event below. It’s always great to savor the memories of previous sessions an realize how much we seen/learned over the past few years of birding festivals.

Another prompt to think about personal history that was brought up in one of the sessions: What was your ‘spark’ bird (i.e. the one that got you interested in birds)? I tried to think back to birds that I remember from early in my life. Northern Cardinal is one – definitely. They were around in Wichita Falls, Texas….and stand out in any landscape because of their color. I remember some coloring pages from 1st or 2nd grade of various bird species and learning about Baltimore Orioles…but not seeing one until I was over 60 years old! Why didn’t the curriculum feature birds that we were more likely to see where we lived? I also remember being thrilled to see a Roseate Spoonbill the first time I went to Florida for a space shuttle launch in the 1980s; I’m not sure when I first learned about the bird but it was one that I knew when I first saw it in the field.

Overall – the Cape May Fall Festival was 3 days well spent. My husband also ordered the t-shirt for me since it is red ---- a good color for me. We ware looking forward to future festivals that we can enjoy in the field…but learned a lot and enjoyed this one. Kudos to the CMBO for doing this!

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 3, 2020

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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.

Domesticated chickens have smaller brains -- ScienceDaily – 10 generations from wild junglefowl toward domestication….and they already had smaller brains.

750 Million GM Mosquitoes Will Be Released in the Florida Keys | The Scientist Magazine® - Reducing yellow fever and dengue carrying mosquitos at a time when more mosquitos are becoming resistant to pesticide-based controls. Texas might be the next place this technique will be used – pending state and local approval.

Earthquakes and insects on Alaska road trips - The Field - AGU Blogosphere – I browsed this article and remembered learning about the 1964 earthquake from the Weekly Reader in elementary school. So -this was an update about what the place is like today…with the town moved completely.

Nuvve And Blue Bird Combine To Create Electric School Buses That Are V2G Enabled – I wish all new school buses would be electric…and charged via renewable means…for the planet and, more directly, for healthier air for young lungs.

Top 25 birds of the week: Colours - Wild Bird Revolution – Beautiful birds….I never get tired of looking at images of the diversity in color and form the birds display.

The U.S. drought vulnerability rankings are in: How does your state compare? | NOAA Climate.gov – Looking at states that I know well because I have family members living there Maryland, Texas and Missouri have a high ability to adapt whereas Oklahoma has a very low ability to adapt (because they have an outdated drought plan and limited irrigation combined with extensive agriculture and cattle ranching). Is Oklahoma headed toward another dust bowl?

Five myths about wildfires - BBC Future – The 5 myths debunked in this article are: regularly logging forests prevents forest fires; there is nothing you can do to protect your property; wildfires are an inevitable fact of nature; all wildfires are bad and must be quenched immediately; it is possible to eradicate (control) all wildfires

Thousands of species recorded in a speck of soil -- ScienceDaily – DNA was extracted from permafrost samples representing different points in the Pleistocene - Halocene transition (about 11,000 years ago). Genetic remnants of animals like mammoths, horses, bison, reindeer along with 1000s of plant varieties were found!

The remarkable floating gardens of Bangladesh - BBC Future – Planting on floating rafts….large scale hydroponics that is not greenhouse based.

4 Fun + Informative (+Free) Apps for Upping Your Nature Knowledge – Cool Green Science – These are great Apps to id plants and animals quickly…with cell phone: SEEK, iNaturalist, Merlin, eBird.

Ten Little Celebrations – September 2020

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Another month in 2020…celebrating that we’ve stayed healthy (keeping up the mask wearing – distancing – hand washing regime)….and finding plenty of little celebrations during September.

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Finding Monarch caterpillars. After not seeing Monarch butterflies or caterpillars much during the summer…there were caterpillars in September. I never did find the chrysalises…but the caterpillars were so big that I hope they made it to butterflies and are now making their way south.

Watching Enola Holmes. My husband and I enjoyed the Enola Holmes movie on Netflix…celebrating having high quality movies available for low-risk viewing (at home).

Grilling again. After months of being out of propane, we finally got a full tank (via Propane Taxi) and celebrated with hamburgers and corn on the cob.

Watching virtual birding festivals. It’s such a treat to see and learn about birds vicariously (next best to being there). In September we enjoyed Yampa Valley (Colorado), Puget Sound (Washington), and Bosque del Apache (New Mexico). We are making plans for post-pandemic but celebrating that we didn’t completely miss September birds outside of our immediate area.

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Collecting a maple seedling. I collected a maple seedling for my office window – celebrating the new life (although it came up in a place where there wasn’t room for a tree) and savoring its presence in my office through the fall.

Emptying crispers. I am finally not completely overwhelmed by the CSA share…which is good since the freezer is very full. It’s great to be cooking and celebrating the bounty of things like butternut squash and hot peppers.

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Eating potato soup. Just as the CSA started providing potatoes…it got cool and potato soup was the perfect meal. I celebrated the great timing.

Getting car maintenance. Both cars got their delayed regular maintenance…in a relatively low risk way. We’re celebrating that it’s done….hoping the vaccine for COVID-19 will be available before maintenance is due again.

Appreciating Project Drawdown. The recent webinar was uplifting….the solutions available to address climate change are cause for optimism and celebration…and then action.

September sunrise. Celebrating a beautiful start to the day…timing is key to see it!

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Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Fitbit moved from wrist to ankle. My Fitbit was bothering me on my wrist, so I moved it to my ankle. It doesn’t measure my heart rate as reliably but seems to count the steps about the same. A side benefit - I am enjoying the freedom of being ‘watchless’ again (I also turned off the silent alarm). I seem to be the type person that does too much based on what time it is. When I started my post-career, I stopped wearing a watch for a time and now remember how good it is to be on my internal clock when I don’t have to sync to someone else’s schedule.

Racoon again. Our birdfeeder cam got video of a racoon in the early morning hours of 9/19 (between 2:43 and 2:54 AM). It does reasonably well in low light. The racoon clearly is attracted to the feeder…tries several approaches to get seed…and leaves frustrated. The feeder wins again!

Wildlife in our Yard

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Lots to see on one wet morning….

A  gang of Blue Jays intimidated the squirrel from under the feeder… then called to their friends.

Some of them appear to be more in command  than others.

But they still are deferential to the Red-bellied Woodpecker at the feeder.

Eventually there were 6 Blue Jays enjoying the seed at our deck (with a female Cardinal at the feeder itself and the squirrel they had run off out in the yard).

After the Cardinal left, one of the jays contorted to get a few seeds from the feeder.

Then the Red-bellied Woodpecker returned, and all the Blue Jays flew away.

Looking out the front windows – there were 4 deer on our driveway and in the yard among the oak leaves feeding on acorns. There were two adults and two young that looked like they were getting their winter coats (the young ones appeared to like my neighbor’s Crepe Myrtle as well as the acorns).

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Watching Drawdown 2020 video. I’d heard about Project Drawdown in the Mid-Atlantic Climate Change Education Conference back in July; the project is all about how existing technology can address climate change….if we just apply it now. The video (recorded 9/21) is a little over 2 hours…and very well done. I watched it spread out over the day rather than in one sitting. The sound bite take-away for me: “Act like your home is on fire….because it is.” Earth is ours to save from ruin…and save ourselves as well. There are lots of ways we can do it!

Digiscoping. I practiced using our spotting scope with my phone to get magnified images (practicing before we are away from home). It involves a specialized case and connectors specific to the phone and the spotting scope models (available from Phone Skope). My husband ordered the gear for both of our phones (we don’t have the same type phone) and we can share the piece that is unique to our spotting scope. The assembly of the three pieces is easy enough and then the phone with the Phone Scope gear is put on the spotting scope. The friction fit is secure….so the spotting scope can be moved just as if it was being used without the phone attached.

I quickly discovered that I would need to take the cover off the spotting scope because I need easier access to the focusing knob!

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My first practice session was zoomed images of the forest behind our house….with the leaves beginning to turn. I used the optics of the scope as much as I could then zoomed the phone just enough to take away the vignetting….and celebrated the sunny day (after several wet and gray days).

The Grandcat

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We haven’t officially met my daughter’s cat yet; he became our ‘grandcat’ during the pandemic (no way for us to make the trek from Maryland to Missouri during this time). Here are some annotated pictures that my daughter has shared with us over the past month – every one of them a little positive tweak to the day. Enjoy the cat pictures!

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My morning coffee companion

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I am probably supposed to be doing something

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Someone pounced on a tote bag

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Someone is going to have to explain to his students why their papers got crinkled

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Working at his desk

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At his standing desk

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This dude flying in the sky. Or laying on a yoga mat

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Opened my eyes to this dude this morning

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He was waiting on the end table on my side of the bed. But he had been curled up against me most of the night. Right now he had made a nest on me in the futon.

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Dun dun, dun dun

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Cat thermometer says its cold

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Lounging on me right now

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Cat on his throne

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TV cat

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He wants me awake so he can snooze on me

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Blackberry Looper Moth. I finally remembered the little moth I captured in my office a few days ago….and used iNaturalist to identify it: a Blackberry Looper Moth. It’s small but a pretty shade of green with whitish markings. It probably came into my office on one of the flowers from the CSA cutting garden. My picture is magnified enough to see the antennae clearly; they are not ‘feathery’ so it is a female.

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Gleanings of the Week Ending September 26, 2020

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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.

Closing the Racial Inequality Gaps – Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions – The report (summarized by NPR in Cost of Racism: US Economy Lost $16 Trillion Because of Discrimination, Bank Says) details the analysis  done by Citi that calculates the economic impact of racism….and thus puts a value on proposed government and individual actions to close racial gaps.

Top 25 Birds of the Week: Birds in Flight and Bird Interactions – Double the bird photos this week!

Infographic: Dialing Down the Glitz | The Scientist Magazine® - The mechanism that makes dramatic sexual dimorphism in some finches.

How vitamin C could help over 50s retain muscle mass -- ScienceDaily – Another reason to eat Vitamin C rich foods (and take a supplement when that is not possible).

A guide to natural sweeteners – in C&EN – Compound Interest – A good summary of the chemistry behind natural sweeteners. I am enjoying the stevia leaves I am getting from the CSA’s cutting garden right now – building up my supply a little every week of dried leaves and stems to enjoy even after the cutting garden ends for the year.

Schooling is critical for cognitive health throughout life -- ScienceDaily – Boosting cognitive skills early in life not only expands career opportunities and provides progressively higher salaries…it also pushes back the point at which age-related dementia begins to impact a person’s ability to care for themselves. Education is a good long-term investment for everyone.

Study Tracks Geographical Gene Flow and Ancestry in the US | The Scientist Magazine® - Beginning to get deeper genetic studies that might translate to better understanding of risk of disease across sub-populations within the US.

Scientists use fruit peel to turn old batteries into new -- ScienceDaily – Recycling metals from lithium-ion batteries with food waste…an example of the types of processes we need to develop for a circular economy (zero waste).

Hike in Walnut Canyon – A short video of a special place. I first visited in 1971 in the winter. It was memorable. Maybe I’ll go again after the pandemic is over; it’s high enough elevation I’ll make sure I am acclimated before I hike the trail to see the cliff dwellings up close.

The Undoing of US Climate Policy: The Emissions Impact of Trump-Era Rollbacks – Many young people see climate change as a high priority for the government to address….so do I. This research shows that the actions of the last few years have moved the US in the wrong direction. I usually prefer to focus on solutions and what individuals can do….but the government has a roll to play and, right now, it is moving opposite of the way needed.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Letter sweater. I found my 50-year-old letter sweater (academic…not sports) from high school when I cleaned out the coat closet. It still fits! It’s a little chilly today and I am wearing it. I took the letter off years ago but the flap in the pocket has my name embroidered on it. One of the buttons aged differently than the others – looks reddish rather than black. I’ll wear it as a basic black cardigan (with the odd button) in the fall and winter. I made a small pile of some other things in the closet to give away. My pile is big enough now that I am scheduling a pickup from my front porch!

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Gobolinks

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I found a book published in 1896 – made available on Project Gutenberg – that is prompting a project: Gobolinks by Ruth McEnery Stuart and Albert Bigelow Paine.

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The book has a short introduction describing how to create the images (folding a paper…putting blots of ink on one side then closing the paper to create the ‘shadow’ side) and then some poetry about what the images ‘look like’ – goblins or insects or birds on a wire (lots of opportunity for imagination).

I decided to try some of my own gobolinks…using some food coloring that has been in the cabinet so long it had dried out completely. I rehydrated it and made a first attempt with some printer paper. Dropping the color from the food coloring bottles made huge, dark blobs!

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After a few days, I decided to try again with some lightweight cardboard/card stock tiles that I could later overlay with a Zentangle pattern. I folded them in different ways.

My plan was to make a drop of food coloring and then moved the color around with a toothpick before closing the fold. I quickly realized that the lightweight cardboard absorbed the food coloring very quickly (glad I had a newspaper layer underneath). The others turned out reasonably well although the color is very dark. I’ll use the white gel pen when I overlay the patterns.

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And I’ll dilute the color next time I make some Gobolink tiles!

Capturing Moments

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There are always things to notice…and we are often carrying around something (phone or small camera) that can capture the moment. Here are some recent nature captures:

At the car dealership while I waited for my car after its service…I photographed the flowers in urns with my phone; the water droplets on the big leaves were left from the rain earlier in the morning.

My attention was captured most by the flowers that had dropped and always to land upside down with there stems pointed skyward. They must have been knocked off by the rain.

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Next - I was walking down the driveway when I spied something round in the driveway. I went back to the house for my small camera. Once I looked more closely, I realized it was an crushed acorn that had stayed together rather than scattering into pieces. It still had the cap (on the bottom)!

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The blue jays come to our deck frequently, but I hadn’t ever seen them on the feeder. There is a reason….the roost are too close together for the birds (see how the bird is ducking and can’t perch on the roost normally) and their weight is enough to partially close the openings where the seed is available. This bird did get a few seeds but flew away and didn’t return!

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Cocoon. One of my oldest pieces of clothing is a ‘cocoon’ I made back 1985. I use it during the change in season when it’s too cool to go without a wrap but then warms up and I want something that lets in more air…then off and folded up neatly. It is made of gray cotton fleece. Its current dimensions are 19.5” x 62” – probably stretched out over the years. The construction is two French seams (narrow dimension) with an arm hole left on the fold end. It’s a semi-structured blanket!

And then a folded under hem of around the edges. I used red thread to break the monotony of the gray fleece.

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It folds neatly making it easy to carry and pack. It’s something I wear frequently enough to keep even though it is about 35 years old since I remember making it in the fall!

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First day of autumn. It was 40 degrees this morning…very autumn like. The oak and sycamore are dropping leaves, but the tulip poplars and maples are still very green. We have a lot of acorns on the driveway that I need to sweep up and take back to the forest.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 19, 2020

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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.

Asphalt adds to air pollution, especially on hot, sunny days -- ScienceDaily – Evidently, it’s not just fresh asphalt that pollutes air. In cities, pollution from asphalt is significant enough that it needs to be considered in efforts to reduce pollution. Because it is usually dark in color it also contributes to the heat island effect in cities.

The Peopling of South America | The Scientist Magazine® - Sites along both coasts of the continent…analyzed with modern technologies…teasing out more information about the waves of migration.

The fate of antiques and heirlooms in a disposable age - BBC Future – As we come more conscious of the impact of our lifestyle on the environment….maybe durability of our possessions becomes more important again.

Researchers identify five types of cat owner -- ScienceDaily – In this study…the types are defined in terms of their attitudes toward their pets’ roaming and hunting: conscientious caretakers, concerned protectors, tolerant guardians, laissez-faire guardians, and freedom defenders. My husband and I are in the 1st category although there is a component of the second in our attitude as well. We keep our elderly cat indoors or on the screen enclosed deck.

Think Pigeons Are Boring? Not These Birds – From around the world.

How we sleep today may forecast when Alzheimer's disease begins -- ScienceDaily – The study indicates that the amount of deep sleep (i.e. non-REM slow-wave sleep) is predictive of how restorative sleep is for the brain (as measured by the build up (or not) of beta-amyloid plaques). They haven’t yet done the next step: improving sleep quality and observing the impact on beta-amyloid plaques.

Botanical gardens - where nature meets science and society – A short history of botanical gardens of Europe.

Some of America's favorite produce crops may need to get a move on by 2045 -- ScienceDaily – A third of veggies and two thirds of fruits/nuts consumed in the US are grown in California. In 20 years, climate change will make much of the area hotter and drier. The study looked at 5 crops (lettuce, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, and cantaloupe) that make up 64% of California’s cash value of veggies/melons. In the future, cool season crops (like broccoli and lettuce) will be grown not just in fall and spring…but in the winter too. It will be too warm to continue growing tomatoes during the summer as that they are grown now and it could be challenging to find a 4 month period where the temperature is in a good range for tomatoes. The main message of the study is that planning needs to be done now to maintain food production in the US.

Eat, Prey, Love: Fast Facts on the Remarkable Praying Mantis – Mantises are fascinating insects. I listened to a video  recently about hummingbirds from one of the birding festivals that talked about mantises sometimes eating hummingbirds!

Playfulness can be trained - here's why you should do it -- ScienceDaily – Applying interventions of positive psychology to playfulness. It appeals to me that the study is coming out now when we have so many people in awkward situations trying to stay healthy. Increasing playfulness was found to improve mood!

Children of our Town (in 1902)

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The illustrations in Children of our Town were done by Ethel Mars and Maud Hunt Squire….showing children as they were in towns and cities in 1902. The verses were written by Carolyn Wells and link the book to New York (i.e. a city) where it was published. Still – it’s interesting to browse the pictures and think about how reflective these images are of children of that era.

There are several indications that these were children of people that were well off:

  • they are always wearing shoes even in warm weather,

  • they are often at places that would have cost money (a merry-go-round, a zoo, an excursion boat),

  • they have equipment like skates and toys,

  • sometimes the adult with them appears to be a nanny or maid.

1902 is an interesting year in my perception of the time since my grandfathers were born in 1901 and 1903. Their situation would have been very different since they were not living in a city or town; they were part of a rural population that had enough to eat because they grew food but were generally challenged for things they couldn’t produce themselves. One of my grandfathers talked about going barefoot all the time as a child and also an instance where he fashioned shoes for himself out of shoe boxes when it was very cold. They also were more involved in the work of the farm as soon as they were old enough to gather eggs or pull weeds or scare birds away from the garden.  Whatever toys they had were ones they (or their parents) made from materials available to them (bark boats for the creek, clay from the creek bank, etc.). I wondered if they had marbles like the city children.

(Note - There is a version of Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses illustrated by the same artists available from Project Gutenberg published in 1928. It’s interesting to see how the work of these artists evolved over time.)

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

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Mowing leaves. I made a first mulching of leaves on our yard. The oak and sycamore are beginning to drop their leaves and those leaves are big enough to form mats if they are not mowed to bits at the right time. From now on the mowing will be more about leaves than grass!

Winding down in the cutting garden. There are fewer flowers in the CSA’s cutting garden. I cut fewer this week.

At some point I’ll be making very different kinds of bouquets – may some amaranths and seed pods. The stevia and fennel had the tops cut off  (appeared like it was done just a few hours before I got there) so I gathered the clippings that were on top of the remaining plants and have the stevia clipped and drying on a tray. The fennel seed heads are still in a bag. I haven’t quite figured out how to handle them.  

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The cooler temps mean that we have lettuces again. We got two single-salad size lettuces this week and they look almost like flowers (and are edible)!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 12, 2020

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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.

Top 25 birds of the week: September 2020 - Wild Bird Revolution – Starting out this list with bird pictures!

The wind turbines standing up to the world’s worst storms - BBC Future – Designing turbines that can withstand typhoons in the Philippines and Japan….at the same time climate change is making the storms stronger. We are going to need more of this kind of engineering.

Photography in The National Parks: Capturing Sunrise, Sunset, And the Milky Way At Mount Rainier’s Sunrise Area – Good views of Mount Rainier…and a photography tutorial…with ‘how to’ during the pandemic.

Home Valuation Needs to Consider the Risk of Climate Change - News | Planetizen – The piece is focused on sea-level rise but there are other climate change factors that might also need to be considered: increasing drought (i.e. some places that won’t have enough water to support the population living there) and – perhaps related – extreme heat/fire risk. Our government should not be willing to buy increasingly risky mortgages through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Cassowary Quest: A Tale of Danger and Defecation – Learn a bit about the cassowary – great picture and video too.

American Academy of Sleep Medicine calls for elimination of daylight-saving time -- ScienceDaily – I hope the drive to not switch times begins to gain momentum. It’s annoying – and not healthy for us either.

Dragonflies the Star of Photography Book About Their Lifecycle – We didn’t get to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens this year to photograph dragonflies (along with the lotuses). These pictures are awesome….and encourage me to think about spending more time near ponds next summer.

The rare plants that ‘bleed’ nickel - BBC Future – Phyto-mining may be an alternative to using heavy machinery, destroying an ecosystem, and producing toxic waste. Hopefully, the work being done now will quickly become the dominate way to mine nickel.

A Field Guide to Finding Cool Moths – Mothing is (not yet) as popular as birding. The techniques discussed in this article are a good start. I’m going to try leaving the porchlight on tonight – checking around it before I go to bed and then again when I first get up (when it’s still dark outside). I’ve seen and photographed several of the moths mentioned in the article:

Hummingbird moth (Maryland in 2016)

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Ailanthus webworm moth (Maryland in 2018)

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Luna moth (Missouri in 2019)

Polyphemus moth (Maryland in 2019)

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Understanding how birds respond to extreme weather can inform conservation efforts -- ScienceDaily – An example of how scientists use the data submitted by a large number of people into eBird to answer questions re the impact of climate change and the resilience of birds (or lack of resilience).  

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Prius Prime maintenance. The miles put on the car since the last service were minimal, but it was time for the maintenance. Everyone at the dealership was wearing masks but there didn’t seem to be any hand sanitizer stations (I was glad I had brought my own). I brought disinfectant wipes for the inside car surfaces when I picked up the car and then drove away with the windows open to clear out the air in the car….continued to wear my mask for most of the drive home.  

I’ve about used up the tank of gas I bought 9 months ago so I’ll fill it up and start plugging it in again to do all my errands with it as an EV. I hope there is a vaccine available by the end of the year --- and I’ll be out and about a lot more.

Mini-clover update. We’ve had gentle rain for the past few days and temperatures in the low 70s into the 80s. The clover is a cloud of tiny of green leaves on the surface of the bare spots in our yard. This is evidently good clover growing weather!

Monarch Caterpillar update. I only found one caterpillar this morning and it hasn’t moved much since I saw it yesterday. It’s large…hope it is about ready to make a chrysalis.

Paintings of Flowers Indoors – September 2020

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Today the artists I’m featuring are from slideshows on Internet Archive that I looked at back in July and late August. It’s a treat to savor them again – and share them in a blog post. I picked out the flower pictures but there are many paintings with different subjects by all these artists. (Clink on the images below to see a larger version). The slide shows are well worth a look.

Rupert Bunny (1864 - 1947)

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

4 Caterpillars update. I found 4 Monarch caterpillars first thing in the morning. The one that was in the wheelbarrow then on a milkweed in another flowerbed may have moved to be closer to the other 3 since I didn’t see it for about 24 hours and now there are 4 on a group of milkweed near the front porch. The 2 of the 4 are now quite large. Hopefully, all of them will make their chrysalises in easy-to-see places so I can avoid disturbing them when I work in the flowerbed.

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Mini clover. We planted the mini clover 4 days ago and it’s already sprouted! (The clover is the small plants coming up between the other grass/weeds.) We’ve been watering the two areas every morning to give the seeds the best possible start.  Now there is rain in the forecast for the next few days so maybe we are about over the need to provide the extra water.

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Gleanings of the Week Ending September 5, 2020

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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.

Why cavemen needed no braces – Our diet and behavior have changed a lot since the stone and hunter/gather stages of our species….and those changes have impacted our jaw (and teeth and air way). There are more health consequences than just crooked teeth. I’ve bought the book (Kindle version) to learn more.

Characteristics that give viruses pandemic potential – An article from The Scientist that is more future oriented. What we are experiencing with COVID-19 is something that could happen again. The article talks about various types of viruses that pose the greatest threats.

Peer into the Past with Photorealistic Portraits of Roman Emperors – Taking historical sculptures and drawings to the next level. The Smithsonian Magazine summary has images of Augustus, Maximus Thrax, Caligula, and Nero….the rest can be viewed in Daniel Voshart’s site.

Amazing Macro Winners of the International Garden Photographer of the Year 2020 – Visual treats. This it the type post that gives me ideas about things to try with my own camera.

1,200-Year-Old Soap Factory Unearthed in Negev Desert – The soap was made from olive oil and the ashes of the saltwort plant. The factory produced enough for export to places like Egypt and other parts of the Arab world.

Low humidity increases COVID-19 risk: Another reason to wear a mask – This finding does not bode well for the winter when many homes and workplaces have much lower humidity because of furnaces.

Top 25 birds of the week: Birds in Pairs – Beautiful birds….I always enjoy looking at the 25 pictures each week.

Hawaiʻian Snails: A Tale of Discovery and Rediscovery – I remember seeing a snail in a planter box at the airport on the big island while I was waiting for my luggage a few years ago…and I dug up the picture I took when this article prompted the memory.

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Wolverines Seen Roaming About Mount Rainier National Park – What a boon remotely triggered cameras can be….and then DNA testing of hair to determine relationships!

 Meet the Squad of Mosquito-Eating Species – Birds, dragonflies, newts, aquatic turtles, and bats. We haven’t noticed very many mosquitoes around this year, but we try to replace the water in our bird baths frequently and make sure our gutters are draining properly. Having the birds around our house probably helps…and the turtles at the neighborhood pond do their part.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Going to the basement during a storm. Our phones went off with tornado warnings – which is rare in Maryland. We went to the basement. It turned out to be only heavy rain for us (not very windy either); to the east and south of where we live there was a lot of damage with trees/big branches falling and shingles flying.

Cleaning the leaves off the deck. Over the past week we’ve had several fronts come through that have blown leaves and branches onto our deck. They were still wet when I went out to clean up. I dumped the sediment that had accumulated in the bird bath too.

Finding Witches’ Butter. I photographed the fruiting bodies of Witches’ Butter on our deck railing. The deck is over 25 years old and even regular treatment can’t keep it clear for fungus; it is only visible during times when the wood is wet for several days.  

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I’m more concerned about a window frame that has the same fungus growing. I’m not keen about replacing the window but we might have to consider it.

New Phone

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My new phone is a Samsung Galaxy S10e – that is the smallest of the current Samsung phones (the others are too big for me to mange one-handed). I got it set up on the same day as it arrived with a little help from my husband. Last time I bought a phone the initial set up was done at Best Buy. This time the phone was delivered to the house from Verizon and we did all the set up at home. I have all the apps I use all the time working as expected and will do the others as I need them.

Setting up a new device is always a high-stress time – remembering infrequently used passwords…trying not to mess up the set up and having to back track (or worse yet…not be able to figure out how to back track)…somehow losing something unrecoverable in the transfer. With the phone I had the added challenge of applying the screen protector…making sure it was very clean before the application and that all the bubbles were out before the adhesive set.

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I’m past the anxiety now and enjoying the new device. The sunflowers cover I got Is OK but I think I might order a more unusual one (orange jewelweed) as a treat…maybe to remind myself that the phone is the ‘big present’ for my birthday later this year.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Clearing the crispers. I had quite a lot of produce left from last week’s share on the day I picked up the new one so I spent time in the morning putting as much as I could in the freezer. I’d managed to eat the 4 pounds of larger tomatoes but still had 2 pints of the cherry size…which freeze well with just a simple rinsing and then placing in a Ziploc.

The beets were more challenging. They had to be scrubbed and then cut up into bit size pieces that could be used in smoothies or cooked (stir fry or soup).

All the mild peppers I cut up and put in a Ziploc. The jalapenos I cut up and put in their own container….I’ll use them in small amounts – making taco filling (beef or chicken).

I still need to cook the spaghetti squash (next time we turn on the oven for something else). All the other things I had left, I ate as part of my lunch before I made the pickup later in the afternoon.

Ten Little Celebrations – August 2020

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Celebrating that everyone in my family is healthy….staying vigilant with masks and distancing. And then there are 10 little celebrations for August.

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There were three celebrations associated with melons which are always a big part of August – a sweet cantaloupe, a yellow watermelon, and the 6-part symmetry in a red watermelon.

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Sunrise at the neighborhood pond. It was a celebration to begin the day.

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Photographing a cicada. I always celebrate a cicada that I manage to see…and that remains still long enough for me to photograph!

The (clean) glass birdbath. The glass birdbath is always pretty….but when it’s sparkly clean it’s even better.

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Sweet potato sprouts. Finding new life in the pantry….letting the roots start growing…planting them outside. I celebrated that it happened…would have been eve better if it were earlier in the season.

Best picture of our cat. The cat is 18 years old and I finally managed a picture of him in motion that captures his overall personality.

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Dryer fix. My husband I celebrated that our dryer is fixed (that we didn’t have to buy a new one).

Kombucha bottles with flowers. I celebrate the flowers on my windowsill every time I look out the window. It’s a mood brightener every time.

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Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Smartphone replacement. I noticed that the side of my phone has spilt….the case was holding it together; otherwise it might split the rest of the way. It’s over 3 years old (I posted about it here back in 2017). My husband ordered a new phone for me and I found a case that I like…ordered a screen protector at the same time. More about the adventure of getting a new phone in a contactless way over the next week….

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 29, 2020

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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.

Ancient Artisans in Arabia, the Americas Invented Same Technology Independently | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Stone fluting… and the fluting is not the same so it may have had a different purpose.

Baby boomers show concerning decline in cognitive functioning: Trend reverses progress over several generations, study finds -- ScienceDaily – The impact of modern life in the long term?

Ramesses II Statue Unearthed in Egypt - Archaeology Magazine – Multiple statues have been found…made of black and pink granite.

Top 25 birds of the week: #Waterbirds – Beautiful birds…not as many from North America as I expected.

Stone Sculptures of ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ Characters to Adorn Medieval Church – Replacing weathered carvings. There are 14 limestone carvings that will be displayed at ground level for visitors to see before being installed on the church’s exterior.

On the Delaware, A Promising New Era in Cleanup of an Urban River – Like many urban rivers in the US – a lot of progress has been made since the mid-20th century….but there is still a ways to go. Many of the urban rivers are clean enough in some stretches for recreational use….but often not after storms when sewage systems and extra industrial waste might be in the water along with the storm water.

Are you being served? A short history of waiters and servers in restaurants – Many of us are still in the mode of only getting carry out!

Examining the Chemistry of Yellowstone National Park's Thermal Waters – A little chemistry lesson in this post. Many of the hot springs and geysers are basic…mud pots and steam-driven fumaroles are acidic.

U.S. Commercial Rooftops Hold 145 Gigawatts of Untapped Solar Potential – The big challenge is logistical and financial. It seems that a partnership between commercial properties and community/utility solar would be worthwhile. It would be much better to use commercial rooftops than farmland for solar panels and many of the rooftops are in areas that consume a lot of electricity as well.

Record-Breaking 60,000 Flamingos Flock to Southern France -The picture of an adult flamingo surrounded by babies/juveniles caught my attention. I didn’t know that young flamingos are gray!

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Flu shot. I got to my grocery store’s pharmacy just after they opened at 8:30 AM – got a flu shot. The store was busier than when I do my grocery shopping staring around 6:30….but it was still mostly possible to social distance…and everyone was wearing masks. I’ll stick with the earlier time for my grocery shopping.

3 Free eBooks – August 2020

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The Internet Archive is such a great resource. I’ve been thinking recently about how frustrating it was when I was growing up – getting to the library…finding something in the card catalog then discovering that it wasn’t available. Or going to the ‘Books in Print’ reference and finding a reference to a book that I wanted to get…but then finding the library didn’t have it and didn’t have an easy way to get it. Periodicals were in thick bound volumes….if the library had the publication. Somehow my hours at the library were more frustrating than enlightening. I became aware early on that ‘research’ in the library was not as productive as I wanted it to be. Now we have access to so much via a simple search on the internet; the more challenging problem is checking the validity of the references found.

The items I find on Internet Archive are general books that are dated…but reflect a perspective of the time they were written/created. I tend to look more at the images than read the text….but what a rich experience that level of browsing can be!

Grindon, Leo H. Lancashire – brief historical and descriptive notes. London: Seeley and Co. 1892. Available from Internet Archive here. I gleaned images from the book that depict children…an immigrant mother hunched over her baby, children out and about in wet or cold weather, a dinner hour where a younger girl appears to be barefoot and without a shawl/scarf, and then children working in a cotton factory and glass-blowing. The late 1800s were a time when some children started working early in their teens and worked long hours….enough that it impacted their health (i.e. rickets, lung problems).

Holland, Clive. Things seen in Japan. London: Seeley and Co. 1911. Available from Internet Archive here. Again – I selected pictures that include children. In the first one I noticed the shoes – placed on the ground under the bench…and what about the other child on the bench a little further away. The ‘big sisters’ in the other picture look a little tired…and how did the photographer know that the babies were all ‘little brothers’?

Sakai Hoitsu (Japanese, 1761-1828). The slideshow of this artist’s work is available from Internet Archive here. Do you recognize the deciduous magnolia?

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Unique Activities for Yesterday:

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Watermelon symmetry. I cut the watermelon crosswise and noticed the 6 spirals…3 sets of 2 back-to-back spirals. Even familiar foods can surprise us! Maybe this could be a prompt for a hexagonal Zentangle pattern. Some paintings of watermelons before modern plant breeding show the 6 segments more clearly.

The August Pivot

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What a difference a year makes! Last year in August I was finishing up Zentangle sessions and butterfly migration games with Howard County Conservancy summer campers

And ramping up my volunteer shifts with the Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy butterfly exhibit that would continue into mid-September.

My husband and I made a day trip to the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge where I managed to photograph a cicada in foliage (following its sound).

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Somethings were the same: there was the weekly pickup of the CSA share and grocery shopping (although I did it weekly rather than every other week).

Another aspect of the month that is turning out to be similar is the pivotal aspect of the month. For so many years of our lives, we have been so tuned to the school year that it only seems natural that August is a starting point – a change over from relatively free form summer to more structured ‘school.’ Even though we don’t have the forcing function of an actual school – we invent the pivot for ourselves.

Last year we were making plans for the fall and early winter: an astronomy focused camping trip, a birding trip to Smith Island, day trips to Conowingo (for the Bald Eagles), Thanksgiving in Springfield MO, a day trip to the Maryland State House, 3 days Delmarva birding, and the a trip to Texas for a family visit and then the Laredo Birding Festival. All in the September to February period. The travel was interspersed with lots of volunteer gigs.

The pivot is still happening this year but the plans are just for the early fall and are all birding festivals that have gone virtual: Yampa Valley (Colorado) Crane Festival Sept. 3-6, Puget Sound Bird Fest Sept. 12-13, Cape May Fall Festival Oct. 2-4, and Hawaii Island Festival of Birds Oct. 15-19. The two big festivals in November (Rio Grand Valley and Festival of the Cranes) have cancelled this year. I’m looking forward to the virtual festivals in September and October… and on the lookout for opportunities for virtual travel or online classes in November, December, and January.