Summer of 1993 - Critters

 You have to know that the habitat Wetlands Research, Inc created, even though it was for an engineering purpose, was great for wildlife. This is just a sample. The Great Blue Herons loved the shallow water.

Birds were everywhere! Two of my favorites that I have no picture of were a Golden Eagle that liked to hunt over the ponds, and often in the evenings, Nighthawks would gather and fill the sky. They were catching insects. I actually thought that was more interesting than the eagle.

My other favorite was the Yellow-headed Blackbirds. This was the first time I'd ever seen them, and they were everywhere. My pictures aren't very good. The camera I had then had no zoom capability. I got a much better picture of a male in North Dakota on the big hike. But here's what I do have.

And his Mrs.

Now, let's go back to those nodding thistles. They may be alien, but the Goldfinches sure loved the seeds.

Birds ruled, but there were plenty of other representatives of the animal kingdom. I've already mentioned the beavers that I never saw! This garter snake got himself into one of the culverts. They can swim, but I'm not sure s/he would have liked the steep sides. I don't remember if I helped it out. Pretty sure it's just an Eastern Garter Snake.

Here's a Soldier Beetle. Probably a Goldenrod Soldier Beetle. But it's teasing you, by being on a teasel. They are pollinators, and supposedly prefer yellow flowers. I guess this one didn't get the memo.

Now for a test. Where is the wildlife in this picture?

Did you find them? Mama Killdeer chose the middle of the driveway for her nest. Fortunately, they hatch and start running in just a few days. Thankfully, we found these, and blocked off that area until they were hatched.

You know I have to end with my very favorite critter. This is one of my all-time favorite puppy pictures of Chips.

In other news: I edited/formatted, I worked on my own book (working on the campsite section), I went to bell practice. It was a nasty, cold rainy day outside.

See Prairie Plants

Hikes with Loren

  Loren and I are going to try to hike once a week for the forseeable future. Last week we were at Ludington State Park. Today we went to the North Country Trail. This is my adopted section so we did some maintenance too. I had done a really good job in the spring, so most of what we did was just clip or flip some small brush.

This is the section that begins on an old rail bed. I always like how this looks. Dogs Corky (white) and Koa (black) hiked along too.

The rail berm was built up through a bottomland hardwood swamp. The water level is fairly low now, It looks inviting to me, but I'm a swamp stomper.

The temperature was just above freezing when we started, and long ice crystals were forming. The ice looked very thin, but Koa walked on it without falling through.

Because the water was so high this spring, this area which floods slightly most years stayed wet much longer. A great patch of sphagnum moss took over. It's still spongy, but I think you could walk on it. I tested the edges, but didn't go to the middle.

Witch Hazel is a tree that blooms in the fall. I love the clusters of subtle yellow flowers.

This was pretty interesting. I should have tried to figure out what kind of tree this was, but I didn't. The beetle galleries are crazy! They look like some ancient decoration. You can sometimes ID the beetle/tree by the patterns of the galleries. But I don't know this one.

This was the one thing we had to report that we couldn't deal with. Someone who is a certified sawyer will come and take care of this fallen tree. Corky and Koa just like to climb. We hiked 6 miles.

I know that's enough pictures, but the sunset was violet! That doesn't happen too often, so I had to grab it in pixels.

North Country Trail miles for 2020 is at 243

In other news: I mailed some books, and worked on the editing jobs.

North Country Trail, Lake County, Michigan. Freesoil TH to Koenig Rd and back. 6 miles

See Another Loop at Ludington State Park

Living the Dream

 
I know I'm supposed to be telling you about the Philadelphia Flower Show, but today was just so perfect I can't keep from sharing it. The day played out just in the way I envision many, many days of my future. I spent the morning writing. I'm part way through chapter 4 of The Lonely Donkey.

After lunch, I went out for a hike. I went to the North Country Trail, the section by Sterling Marsh, and hiked 6 miles.



With some ice still on the water, it was very pretty. Who can resist sunny skies and brisk air?



I met one other couple. I think that's a safe amount of social distancing. I actually knew them, so we chatted a while.



This is the time of year when you can really see how important all those boardwalks we built are. This section of trail was horrible to hike in spring before we did this.



There were some long, long ice crystals trying to form. But they had all melted by the time I went back past this point.



And I saw these interesting beetle bark galleries. I don't know what kind... no particular pattern, and I forgot to pay attention to what kind of tree it was, which would have helped with the ID.



I also stopped at a couple of places to do checks for my Get Off the Couch web site. Now I'm working on doing those updates.

Hike 100 Challenge for 2020 is at 32 miles.

A perfect day in just the right format!

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI, Jenks Road Trailhead to 96th St and back, 6 miles

	See Sterling Marsh Jan 2019
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Aposematic Coloration

 
Orange and black are colors of warning, "aposematic," at least in the insect world. They usually mean "I don't taste good and will make you sick" to other insects and birds. In fact, some insects have adapted to use the colors when they don't taste bad at all, but the warning still works.

The reason a lot of them taste bad is that they feed on the leaves of milkweed and milkweed relatives. The sap of these contains high levels of cardiac glycosides. If you've ever accidentally tasted milkweed sap you know how bitter it tastes. (And this is why you should only eat baby milkweed greens and boil them thoroughly)

Today I found two of these little larvae on some milkweed. It will become the Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle, Labidomera clivicollis, which is-- you guessed it-- orange and black.



This is common milkweed, but they aren't too picky although they prefer swamp milkweed. They can chew through a lot of milkweed, but they are native, so I'll let them live.



I did learn that you want to be careful to never get milkweed sap in an eye-- it can cause severe inflammation and blurred vision for days. You'd think with all the bad press giant hogweed is getting that someone would mention the danger of this common plant. I also can't believe I've never had this happen, since I rub my eyes way too much.

Right next door on a goldenrod were some End Band Net-wing beetles, adults, Calopteron terminale.



Ah! I did find what I was looking for-- a Monarch caterpillar.



In other news: I started planning hike food, but didn't get enough done to bother to share yet. Walked 4 miles with 26 pounds. Oof. I'm not in very good shape. Started writing the next chapter of DMS Mistletoe. Oh yeah, and I did laundry.

	See Little Brother
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The Local Critter Count

 
Here's some of the local (in back of my house) wildlife of the past week. Nothing new, although one of them did something new.

First up is a female widow skimmer dragonfly. I actually got really good pictures of both the female and male in 2011. So, if you want to see them better, follow the link below and click on the thumbnails.



Next, we'll do the plain old whitetail deer. Lots of them, but they do have a certain charm (until they eat all my plants).



The dead branches at the top of one of my aspen trees is a favorite spot of the birds. Today, a flicker took advantage of the perch.



Now it's back to the insect world. This one is a little creepy, but interesting. This is a bracken fern covered with rose chafer beetles. These are annoying brown beetles that will eat certain plant leaves so fast you can almost see things defoliate. They love roses, but also hollyhock and birch. Well, I guess they also like bracken. At least for mating. The ferns in this area were black with pairs of beetles. That's better than all over my rose bush. They don't bite, but they fly and they tickle when they land on you.



Finally, the oriole. Not that this is a great picture. It's not. But it's the solution to my mystery singer. For weeks, there has been a bird here singing twitter, twitter, cheep, cheep. Over and over and over. I could not identify it or find it. I asked real birder friends. I tried to record the sound (with no success). At long last, yesterday, I heard the singer, saw it fly to the aspen, shot a picture and wow. It's the oriole! This is the first time one has ever stayed to nest around my house. I hope I can find the nest this fall to show you.

He wasn't doing a typical song for an oriole, but they are highly variable. I did find a similar one on youtube, so I'm really sure it's my mystery bird.



Saw two sandhill cranes today too. The bird I have not seen or heard this year is the meadowlark. Seems odd. They have always been dependable regular visitors.

In other news: I did some things for the Writers' Rendezvous and wrote two chapters in The Bigg Boss. Also made more rhubarb granola. This batch has more rhubarb, and I like it. I have a trip coming up. Not far away, but I'll be gone nearly a week. I think I'll be able to blog though. Stay tuned.

	See Widow Skimmers See Northern Flicker
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What's Your Angle?

 
It seemed to me that there haven't been many posts recently about things outdoors, so today I went for a little walk (in the rain), and gave myself a simple photo assignment. I decided to look for angles. The results you see are presented in the order I took the pictures. If you can find meaning in that, more power to you!

Of course, the first thing that pops to mind in the outdoors when one says "angle," is tree limbs. I forced myself to be limited to one such picture. Here's my choice... lichen covered dead sumac branches.



Next, I found three autumn olive leaves plastered together by the wind and rain. The fact that one was back-side showing gave the composition some color interest, and I liked the angles between the points. That rotten plant might as well be good for something, even if it's only an interesting picture.



Beetle bark galleries oddly echo the same pattern as the tree branches!



And there I was at the railroad tracks, with their parallel straight (180 degree) angles.



Angles galore at the space station (AKA grain elevator).



The best two finds were last. I'd never noticed these before. There are some old slabs of concrete that were dumped at the back of a neighboring property. On what was previously the underside, you can see the impression of large equipment tracks left in the dirt before the concrete was poured. Although it softens the impression of the angles, I especially like the encroaching moss on the right. One can almost see those tracks as huge dike or elevated highways with whole neighborhoods of green trees and rooftops in the valleys.



On the next hunk of man-made stone were more tracks with a different tire pattern. These certainly have angles!



So I got a little wet, but I got a little exercise, and although none of these is high-quality art, it was fun setting an assignment and doing it.

	See Crosshatched
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Young Fifteen-Spot Lady Beetle

 
Wow! Just before we started the hike yesterday, this guy landed on my arm. And thanks to finding an old fifteen spotted lady bug several years ago, I knew just what it was! I find that pretty amazing in itself. And no one else there had seen one before, so I got to look really smart (smug grin). Most of us call them lady bugs, but of course they are really beetles, Coleoptera.



Anatis labiculata. Here's the side view.



As they age, the backs of the wings get darker and darker until they are nearly black with no spots showing. That's what the first one I found was like.

It didn't want to be anywhere except on my skin, for some reason. We had quite a time getting it off and onto a natural surface so we could leave. That seemed pretty strange.

I believe these are a native lady bug (beetle), but I did notice that strange smell, like the Asian lady beetles have, on my hands afterwards. Not as strong, but definitely there.

In other news, the weather was gorgeous today! And the sky was wonderful. I know, sky pictures are a dime a dozen, but I enjoyed it.

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