8.31.2007

Fuzzy, Was He?


Sorry for the grainy image. I was a pretty good distance from this bear. He was grazing on grass and swatting at yellow flies. It was a lot of fun just to sit and watch him - I was downwind so I was able to watch him for a while before he figured out he had company.
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But, black bears are curious creatures and once he figured out I was there, he took off. It's really amazing how quickly a bear can move.
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8.26.2007

Pendulous Pod


Well, technically it isn't exactly pendulous since it doesn't swing freely, but I liked the alliteration. This is a seedpod from Gonolobus gonocarpus, so you see, I had to go for alliteration in the title ;) I got pictures of the flowers last year, but I missed the seedpods. This year I missed the flowers and got the seedpods. Such is life.
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8.20.2007

Odds and Ends From Sunday's Walk


Treebeard and I went for a ramble Sunday morning. We had no particular destination in mind and just wandered here and there within a five mile radius of the house. The collage above reflects a few of the things we saw. Click on it to see the images in greater detail.
Left to right, top to bottom:
a freshly emerged cicada, not sure which species
some sort of fungus that I should be able to ID, but can't
Ringless honey mushroom, Armillariella mellea
a lycosid spider
groundnut, Apios americana, this one is edible
hairy hydrolea, Hydrolea quadrivalvis, armed with spines
water loosestrife, Decodon verticillatus
immature seed pod of heart's-a-bustin' or strawberry bush, Euonymus americanus
Ruellia caroliniensis
Monarch, Danaus plexippus
mistflower, Eupatorium coelestinum
horse mint, Monarda punctata
feather from a northern flicker (yellow-shafted form), Colaptes auratus
Elephant's-foot, Elephantopus carolinianus
another un-IDed fungus
fluffy feather, most likely from a red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis
If you're a whiz with fungi feel free to leave an ID in the comments!!
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8.13.2007

Mothy Moon


Apatelodes torrefacta - Wild Cherry Moth
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8.12.2007

What's In A Name?

Just a quick note of only trivial interest...

My real first name is a little unusual and I seldom see it in print. Today, while checking my site meter, I was startled to see my name listed in the column that tells me the location of my visitors. You see, I share my name with a city in Italy. Of course, my Italian visitor had no idea that this was the case since I have chosen not to reveal my real name. See, I told you it was trivial...but I got a kick out of it ;)

Bat Cave, Swamp Style



At the edge of the swamp, surrounded by bald cypress, this tupelo gum (Nyssa aquatica) provides a home for a colony of Southeastern Myotis (Myotis austroriparius). And what, you might well ask, is a myotis? It's a bat - a cute little bat - and this tree is full of them.

Treebeard happened upon this particular tree about five years ago while out surveying hollow trees. We've been keeping an eye on it ever since. Recently we installed a data-logger inside the hollow. The equipment will record temperature and humidity continually for a year. When we retrieve the packet we will send it to bat researchers who will then use this data, along with data from many other trees, to help them understand what makes a tree attractive to bats. In turn, this information may help the bat folks design better artificial roosts for bats.
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8.06.2007

Sing A Song Of Summer

It's hot, it's humid...it's August in the swamp. At night the katydids crank up and all day long the different kinds of cicada drone on. Definite songs of summer. I am not sure what species of cicada this is, but that doesn't really matter. Folks around here just call 'em all "King criers" and let it go at that.
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