August in our Neighborhood

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It was a mostly cloudy morning when I took a walk around our neighborhood last weekend. I noticed that the stonecrop near our front porch was ready to bloom and the seeds had formed on a redbud tree near the entrance path to the ponds.

A willow hangs over the inflow channel to the ponds…shading the area and making a fringe of green almost down to the water.

The native plants that had been in pots several weeks ago when I walked around the neighborhood last have been planted around the shore of the largest pond and there was a stick near one of them with an Eastern Amberwing dragonfly sitting still long enough to be photographed.

A little further along two small red-eared slider turtles were soaking in the warmth of the morning.

I always enjoy photographing magnolia flowers. The season is far enough along for the tree to have some seed pods forming too.

Last time I walked around the neighborhood there was a bullfrog sitting in the shallows of the larger pond. This time, there was one in the shallows of the smaller one. Based on the coloring…it was not the same frog! Both times, the frog seemed very focused on the pond…paid no attention to me walking around to get another perspective.

The fungus on the old stump along my route back home, has changed significantly. There appear to be 5 or 6 different kinds!

A Walk in our Neighborhood

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It has been so hot recently, that I try to get any outdoor activities done as early as possible. Walks at 7 AM are good even if the humidity is high enough to make mid-70s temperatures feel sticky. I take along my camera – in case I spot something I want to photograph. On one recent morning I paused for photography several times:

The morning light on the base of some pine trees on my route to the ponds made the pine needles look almost orange. I liked the contrast with the white rock and the green of some volunteer plant near the base of a pine.

There were galls on some leaves that had fallen on the path – probably some insect larvae. I took pictures of them and then looked up in the tree and saw leaves still on the tree that had them too.

There were pots of native water plants in the water near the inflow to the main pond. I wondered when they would get planted in the shallow water at the edge of the pond.

Further along there was a bullfrog sitting in some shallow water.  I took several pictures from different angles.

There was an ‘arrangement’ of debris in some water on the path. The colors and shapes appealed to me.

There is an old stump near the street on my path back to my house that I often notice. This time it had 3 different kinds of fungus!

Overall – a good walk for exercise…and photography!

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!

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.

Neighborhood Ponds – May 2023

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There is always something to notice/photograph during a quick walk around the neighborhood ponds. This month was the first time I saw a turtle outside the ponds. It was on the side of the walkway away from the pond but pointed back toward the pond. Had it already laid eggs?

Further along, I spotted a large snapping turtle swimming just under the water…didn’t manage to photograph it until it stuck its snot out of the water near the shore. I wondered if this turtle decimated the ducklings (i.e. I only saw them once so there was a predator in the pond that got them within a few days). A large snapping turtle could be that predator.

My favorite sighting of the morning was a bullfrog. It was soaking up the sun in some very shallow water. Somehow it still managed to look grumpy and a little intimidating!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 22, 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 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: February 2020 – Note the new website for these weekly posts: https://wildbirdrevolution.org/ ---The posts are still the beautiful bird pictures collected into a group for a weekly visual celebration of birds.

100% Wind, Water, & Solar Energy Can & Should Be the Goal, Costs Less | CleanTechnica – A short summary of a report with specifics for 143 countries…getting to 80% renewable energy by 2030 and completing the transition by 2050. Now to vote with that goal in mind for a livable future for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren….and onward.

LEDs, Downward Lights Changing the Night in Chicago - News | Planetizen – Chicago will complete the transition to energy efficient LED streetlights in 2021. They’ve calculated that it will save the city $100 million over 10 years. At the same time, they have made an effort to focus the new lights downward to cut light pollution. It’s too early to tell if that aspect of the project will be a success.

Vegetation Filters Harmful Particulates from Air--But How Much? | The Scientist Magazine® - It’s probably better to push for the transition to renewable energy (in school buses, for example) but where that is not happening fast enough – planting a green wall of vegetation can block pollution from school yards…which could reduce the impact of vehicle exhaust on children’s lungs.

Decline in Coal-Fired Power Reduces U.S. Carbon Emissions in 2019 - News | Planetizen – Good news…but it could decline more quickly. The 2019 results are from market forces alone. If there were political will, things would happen even faster.

Archaeologists Excavate 200 More Chinese Terracotta Warriors | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – The first terracotta warriors were found in China’s Shaanxi province in 1974. Now there is more excavation and more soldiers from the same tomb. All the warriors have unique expressions, hairstyle and physical features.

Organic crop practices affect long-term soil health -- ScienceDaily – This study looked closely at organisms in the soils…along with the impact of prior soil disturbance.

Recovery: A Plague of Bullfrogs – The Eastern part of the US is the native range for Bullfrogs…but they are invaders in the West. They are clearing native frogs and eating other animals too (ducklings are an example cited). So various municipalities and conservation groups are acting.

What We Can Learn From Ötzi the Iceman's Hunting Pack | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Ötzi was preserved for 5,300 years in a glacier until he was discovered in 1991. A lot has been studied since that time. He’s a window into Copper Age Europe.

Photography in the National Parks – More favorite spots for photography from Rebecca Larson. This collection included three National Parks I have not visited: Glacier, Olympic and Mount Rainier. Now I want to plan a trip to see them!