Missouri Master Naturalist Training – Week 7

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The 7th week of Missouri Master Naturalist (MMN) training included one evening class and my first solo volunteer gig.

The class lectures were on

  • Forest Ecology and Management

  • Pondering the Pond as a Wildlife Habitat

Forest Ecology and Management was done by a Missouri Department of Conservation Educator; I would like to have the charts since he went through them very quickly! The last segment of the lecture was hands-on…passing out small branches from the tree to everyone and then using the dichotomous key in the back of the Fifty Common Trees of Missouri booklet to id it….a red maple. I photographed my branch’s buds, branches and leaf imperfections!

Pondering the Pond as a Wildlife Habitat was done by a person that has been a MMN for over a decade…and done a lot of videography at a pond in a hayfield (i.e. not used by cattle…with adequate vegetation around its edge). Her Youtube Channel – Nature in Motion is something I will be viewing over the next month! She showed over 100 species in 17 minutes of her talk…fast paced…prompted me to think later about the richness in the intersection of science and art.

The volunteer experience was an after-school event at a local school for gifted students…15-20 minutes sessions with two groups of about 12 students each…on two days. My theme was getting outdoors in the fall and looking at some things that could be found.

My table was set up with items to look at: pinecones (3 different kinds), acorns (3 different kinds), Osage orange fruit, black walnuts (in a bag complete with emerging caterpillars), goldenrod (in flower and seeds), magnolia pod, maple branches, and a holly branch.

It also included a hands-on experience with pressed leaves/small branches. Each student made observations about their leaf (color on both sides, holes, insect eggs, shape)…and then compared it to other leaves at their table. The leaves were mostly oak or maple although there were some that were unique (river birch, magnolia, oak leaf hydrangea, boxwood).

The time past very quickly!

Our New Neighborhood – June 2022

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There are two ponds with a ~0.5 trail around them in our Missouri neighborhood…three bridges (one at both ends and between them). One of the tangential paths from the loop passes by our back gate. I took an early morning walk – taking photos in the great morning light. A squirrel posed for me on one of the bridges.

I was glad the mowed areas are not ‘golf course’ like…lots of clover mixed in with the grasses.

There is a mallard with a broken wing that I’ve seen several times. The first time was the day the movers arrived. It was wondering around our backyard and my husband opened the gate so that it could return to the ponds. It was swimming in the water or on a muddy island in one of ponds the other times I’ve seen it. It probably cannot fly well enough to move to another location.

The edges of the ponds are not mowed….so there are plenty of taller grasses, seedlings, wild onions and other plants that make it interesting.

I stopped just before I made the last turn to my house to photograph one of the larger trees….and its reflection.

We are experiencing lots of high temperatures this week so all my walks will be on mornings when the temperature is still pleasant. I am anticipating that the short walks are going to be ‘favorites’ for my post-move life.

Neighborhood Walk in the Snow

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I bundled up in snow pants, hiking boots, scarf, coat and gloves for a walk in our neighborhood after the snow had stopped; it was afternoon, but the temperature was still below freezing. My phone was on a lanyard and the Bluetooth clicker was in my hand….all set to take pictures along my route. Our driveway was still pristine when I walked through; we had opted not to shovel since we didn’t need to get out for a few days and it would melt before then. Our street had not been plowed yet, but cars had made tracks.

The evergreens were flocked with snow. I liked the way the long needles looked from underneath…more green showing. The cedars were heavy with snow, but I didn’t see any broken branches. There was a little breeze that would cause small amounts of snow to fall; the temperature and the wetness of the snow kept most of it in place.

There was a large tree that had many large branches starting a couple of feet above my height; the snow seemed to highlight their juncture. I wondered if the primary stem had been damaged when it was young.

The pond was surrounded by cattails holding snow. It appeared that erosion has reduced the size of the pond since it was dredged a few years ago.

I photographed a branch from a small tree from underneath. The branches were close enough together to hold a lot of snow….the cohesion of the crystals in this particular snow were impressive. A little breeze came through, but the snow stayed in place.

The fire hydrants in the neighborhood sported snow on every surface that was even a little horizontal. The roughness of tree bark also held snow.

When I got to the main road – I saw that the clouds were beginning to clear…great blue – yellow – orange color for the late afternoon.

I took one last picture before I turned back toward home. Someone had been out with a snowblower to clear sidewalks…preparing for the neighborhoods school children catching the bus the next day….or the day after.

There were some crepe myrtle pods from last fall holding mounds of snow. Two boys were making a small snowman nearby.

As I walked by the pond again, I noted that there were no sled tracks down the hill that my daughter thoroughly enjoyed 20 years ago. Have the neighborhood children not discovered it, or do they stick closer to their own yard and siblings because of the pandemic?  

Storm Water Pond

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Our neighborhood storm water pond has changed quite a bit over the course of March. Earlier in the month a few red-winged black birds were at the pond but were not making much noise yet. The colors around the pond were mostly brown – the cattails from last season and the grass. There wasn’t much going on.

A few weeks later – the gunk has been flushed from the pond by recent rains and the cattails are still the drab colors of the overwintered plant. The grass has turned green.

Quite a few more birds were around. I noticed some crows just before I got to the pond. There were robins searching for worms in the grass.

Grackles were around the edges of the pond in about equal numbers to the red-winged blackbirds.

The male red-winded blackbirds were assertive – showing their red and yellow shoulder patches as they defined their territory.

I only saw one female, but I’m sure there were more down in the cattails where the birds make their a nest.

So - The bird activity at the pond has increased this month but I haven’t seen any turtles or frogs yet…maybe it’s still a bit too cool for them to be active.

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….

Neighborhood Walk

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A few days ago, I took a walk down to the storm water retention pond in our neighborhood. It was my first time out of the house after some exceedingly cold days and a head cold/ear ache. It felt good to be bundled up and crunching through the light coating of snow on the sidewalk. The pond is still rather barren looking after it’s refurbishment but there were a few dried cattails at the edge that were surrounded by ice. They had caught some of the snow. It was the ‘artsy’ image of the walk.

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Across the street, the gutter is labeled…whatever goes down, is on its way to the bay. I was surprised at how rusted and cracked the cover for the gutter looked. It’s probably the age of the neighborhood – about 25 years.

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I noticed some of the limbs that had been cut off our street crews by the county to reduce the possibility of equipment damage if fire trucks had to come down our street. The tees have healed in most cases, but I noticed at least two trees where the wound resulted in part of the tree rotting; that’s not good. I’m glad our oak was not one of them.