Gleanings of the Week Ending April 9, 2022

/

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.

Winners of Wildlife Photography Competition Show the Power of Water – Starting out the gleanings list with some eye candy this week.

Personality traits are associated with well-being and satisfaction in life after work – My husband and I have transitioned to ‘life after work’ and seem to have easily established ‘new fulfilling life patterns.’ In an odd way, the COVID-19 pandemic has helped us focus on the most important aspects of those patterns.

A New Study of the Permian Basin – a US oil-drippling hotspot is kicking out far more methane that we thought – I keep thinking that the technology to reduce emissions in the fossil fuel extraction process has improved from the early days. Maybe it has…maybe the hasn’t. The industry may not be motivates. Is it all about maximizing profits for them and their stockholders…everyone else doesn’t matter?

Toad Wisdom – A story of webs of life from the Prairie Ecologist.

European earthworms reduce insect populations in North American forest – Even small invasive species can have a significant impact.

Mapping Inequality – Redlining in New Deal America – An introduction….then downloads and data for maps for urban areas across the US from the 1930s.

Top 25 birds of the week: birds on flowers – Enjoy some photographs of birds…flowers…springtime!

Scents help researchers identify contents of Egyptian vessels – The smells of ancient Egypt!

Norway at new record high 92% plugin EV share in March – Hopefully the EV share in the US will start climbing more rapidly.

“Flash droughts” coming on faster, global study shows – Extreme weather….not all on the wet side.

Gleanings of the Week Ending Saturday May 8, 2021

/

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: Seedeaters! – Starting out the gleanings list with bird photographs.

Mapping tree inequality: Why many people don’t benefit from tree cover – Trees are an effective way to reduce the heat island effect within cities (i.e. where there are fewer trees it is hotter). Lower income communities tend to have fewer trees…and thus are hotter. As there are more hot days, the impact is becoming greater. There is also a beauty to trees…each one is an island of nature in a sea of concrete and asphalt. Increasing trees in cities and towns is an investment in physical and mental health!

Roman temple at Egyptian Emerald Mine – In the eastern Egyptian desert. The researchers found 19 coins, incense burners, bronze and steatite figurines, bones, terracotta body parts, and amulets.

Return of Brood X Cicadas – This brood emerges in the area where I live in Maryland. I am not there to see it, but I hope my husband can photograph some emerging cicadas. There should be lots of opportunities!

Invasive Jumping Worms Have Spread to 15 States – This species is in the middle of the country. I haven’t seen any yet in Texas, but they are in the state and my daughter might have them in Missouri. Hopefully, there will be a method to control them soon or the landscape of that area of the country could change…they are a small organism with a big impact.

A Retreat to Catoctin – This park is close  (about an hour) from where I live in Maryland. I’ve been there many times….maybe not often enough.

Hopes and Weeping Trees: What’s up with the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker? – Neat rows of holes in tree trunks? There is a sapsucker around. Sometimes hummingbirds will come to get the sap dribbling out of the holes. I am always pleased to discover a tree that has been visited by a sapsucker; I noticed when I was at Mt. Pleasant this spring that the tree that was convenient to a hiking route for school field trips (pre-pandemic) has been cut down so I will hunt for another one to share with hikers.

Trove of 2,000-Year-Old Bronze Mirrors Found in Ancient Chinese Cemetery – 80 mirrors….ranging from 3-9 inches in diameter. There are other artifacts recovered from the same cemetery….maybe more stories to come as the excavations and analysis of finds continues.

Charting ice from above – The Icebird flights….flying low over ice and open water. What if feels like to be part of the crew.

National Parks Traveler Checklist: Padre Island National Sea Shore – My husband and I have been to parts of the Padre Island National Sea Shore for snippets of time. Our plan to visit in 2017 to see more of the park was cancelled after Hurricane Harvey…maybe we should add it to our post-pandemic travel plans!

Macro Landscapes

/

On my recent walks around the yard, I’ve been noticing the tiny landscapes on the ground….the greens of very early spring. The moss under our deck stays green all winter and now there are tiny plants (clovers and mock strawberry) coming up through it. They’ll stay low growing so we’ll never mow the area.

A patch of moss can also be found near our chaos garden. It appears to be more yellowish (maybe got too dry) with red seta…the  sporophyte that was at the top of the seta is already gone (i.e. the spores long dispersed). The grass is beginning to grow around the moss and it will eventually be in the path of the lawn mower.

20210308_135132.jpg

There are some weeds beginning to grow too…..coming up in the grass, tulips poplar seeds, and rolls of sycamore bark. The mowing will keep it short. I tend to leave weeds like this…hoping they have deeper roots than the turf grass…better at holding the soil on the slope.

20210308_135202.jpg

The soil a few feet away from the chaos garden must be rich in humus since there seems to be a puff ball or two every year. This one is from last fall. I remember finding it when I was mowing the leaves! It has collapsed but somehow managed to stay relatively intact through the winter. Underground the mycelium is growing and decomposing the humus further with the help of microbes….the makings of healthy soil.

20210308_135218.jpg

The daffodils are up in the oak leaves, old day lily leaves, and tulip poplar seeds in our front flower beds. Maybe I’ll cut a few of the flowers this season to bring their springtime indoors.

There are the usual ‘weeds’ in the same beds. I recognize the mock strawberry. There is a chance that some of the others could be black-eyed susans which I  want for the bees and butterflies during the summer.

There are a few crocuses coming up. There are fewer every year. One came up last year out in the yard…the bulb probably moved there by a squirrel.

20210309_080544.jpg

I looked closely at the joint between the driveway and our front walkway – lots of tulip poplar seeds there. They had made enough ‘soil’ for a small clover and some mock strawberry to grow. And there was a worm using the crack as a highway between the lawn and the flower bed; it was heading toward the flower bed….a much richer place for the worm!

Finally, I checked the bush at the corner of the garage. I’ve been nurturing a young holly to take over for the old bush. I discovered a plant growing in the stump of the old bush…a sure sign that it is rotting. I’ll be cutting it closer to the ground and let the holly take over completely.

20210309_080838.jpg

Overall – these macro landscapes look more springlike than our trees at this point. I’ll wait a few more weeks to photograph the large scale spring landscape.

Filling a Day of Social Distancing - 5/4/2020 – Red-Winged Blackbirds

/

Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

20200504_081837.jpg

Walkabout worms. We had thunderstorms overnight and there must have been enough rain for long enough for the earthworms to move about on the surface in the night. I found two dried out specimens in our foyer. They must have crawled up the step to our porch…across the concrete porch…up another step…maneuvered under the front door (which seems to be well sealed)…and then into the foyer which is not earthworm friendly. It’s happened before when we have rain that continues for hours.

Gathering mint from the front flower beds for my morning smoothie. Along with the mint the smoothie had almond milk, chocolate protein power, kale, and a banana. Yummy!

20200504_081936.jpg

Follow up on the iris buds on the stalk that broke. I put the broken stalk in water back on April 30th when I discovered it broken in the flower bed. I took pictures of it for 4 mornings after that and finally gave up on it yesterday. There was a beauty about it even as it deteriorated. The irises are purplish when they bloom so I was surprised at the pink tinge on the bud.

Mowing the grass. I did the whole yard except for the low place that was still too wet from the recent rains. I haven’t mastered the art of starting the mower (my husband did that part for me at the beginning). The weather was near perfect for the task: temperature in the 60s, a breeze, and sunny. We are talking about getting an electric mower…no more combustion engine fumes which are not healthy to breathe.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

And now for the drama at our neighborhood storm water retention pond….

I heard the red-winged blackbirds before I got to the pond as I walked in our neighborhood last week. A male was announcing his territory on the stubble of cattails from last summer

There was another male nearby – silent – in the grass.

2020 04 IMG_9361 (3).jpg

On the other side of the pond there was what I thought was another male flopping around at the muddy edge of the pond. Then I realized that it was two birds!

After a bit more fighting…they separated and moved in opposite directions through the vegetation. They both were bedraggled looking…staggering a bit. I think the one in the pictures below might have been the winner since the red on his wings is still displayed.

The other one looked worse and appear to be covering the red patch on his wing.

A female red-winged blackbird observed the ruckus from a short distance away.

Gleanings of the Gleanings of the Week Ending April 27, 2019

/

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.

Berkeley Soda Tax, 3 Years In: What New Research Shows About Its Effectiveness | Berkeley Wellness - Consumption of sugary drinks has fallen by half in low-income areas of Berkeley, California.

The Real Reason You See Earthworms After Rain – Cool Green Science – There could be multiple reasons. Maybe they are moving to new territory while the surface is wet, and they won’t become dehydrated. Or maybe they want the extra oxygen that is at the surface.

Exploring The Parks: Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve – It’s been a long time since I have been to this park…and we didn’t explore it thoroughly when we were there. Maybe time to plan another trip.

Image of the Day: Pretty Jellies | The Scientist Magazine® - Genetic comparisons of jellyfish types

These Cities Are the Most Dangerous for Migrating Birds | Smart News | Smithsonian – Chicago, Dallas, and Houston….an area that Texas would probably prefer to not be at the top. Maybe the “Lights Out” trend with help.

Washington Monument Opening Pushed Back To August Due To Contaminated Soil – I was surprised when I saw this headline because I didn’t even know is was closed! The soil is below the surface and probably from the 1880s.

Allergy Season Is Getting Longer and Nastier Each Year | Smart News | Smithsonian – It’s happened gradually but the length of allergy season and the amount of pollen has been increasing over the past 20 years. There are new treatments for those suffering enough to go to allergists - many allergists are prescribing immunotherapy tablets for people suffering from grass pollen, dust mite or ragweed allergies.

Scientists Say They Have Found a Viable Replacement for Petroleum-Based Plastic - Yale E360 – Plant based material that has the strength and aesthetics…suitable for food packaging. The research described in the article is from Ohio State but there are probably others working on the problem too. If a replacement for petroleum-based plastic can be found it would make it much easier to ‘go green.’

BBC - Future - How air pollution is doing more than killing us and Air Pollution Increases ER Visits — Largest US Study On The Topic Confirms It | CleanTechnica – Lots of public health issues being studied in light of air pollution….and the findings are concerning. The linkage to things like asthma has long been discussed but now there are more details and more negative impacts of air pollution on health being identified.  Emerging studies show that air pollution is linked to impaired judgement, mental health problems, poorer performance in school and most worryingly perhaps, higher levels of crime.

#IYPT2019 – What elements do you need to live? – in C&EN | Compound Interest – An infographic to answer the question.