Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
windex and elbow grease
The lady pulled up beside me at the stoplight, wanting directions and apologizing that I had to roll down my window to hear her.
I thought to myself... well of course I had to roll down the window....people do not drive with a passenger window down leaving themselves vulnerable to not only the heat of the day but to the baddies in the world as well. Then I thought, well, it must be that my window was so so so clean that she assumed it was down. And it was so so so clean :-) because my brother was over the other day and detailed my truck!
Now I can freely invite my nephew Michael to ride in my truck the next time we go to the symphony.... which I could not do earlier this week. I had him drive me in his spiffy Miata instead!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The roadside is resplendent with Butterfly Weed. Its reseeding a feast for the eye.... and a feast for Monarchs should they happen by.
so bright an orange!
so bright an orange!
Frass and Sassafras
The folded Sassafras leaf and the frass droppings below it.... indicate the very recent activity of a caterpillar....
.... the caterpillar of the Spicebush Swallowtail....
the blurry image is due to a one-handed shot as I had to open the leaf shelter to view the caterpillar within :-)
Friday, June 13, 2008
Taylor and I returned from a walk, to the house, up the porch steps .... she hadn't quite grasped the fact of the nearby snake :-)
before I had the door open and her inside... what a relief... she would have been so agitated. I went back outside to photograph this Rat Snake who then took a defensive posture, vibrating that tail tip with concern at my presence. As the minutes went by without conflict, he deemed me less a threat and gracefully exited the scene.
before I had the door open and her inside... what a relief... she would have been so agitated. I went back outside to photograph this Rat Snake who then took a defensive posture, vibrating that tail tip with concern at my presence. As the minutes went by without conflict, he deemed me less a threat and gracefully exited the scene.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Heartbreak to Hope for Beauty
(http://gizmodo.com/387262/eagle-with-prosthetic-beak-will-be-better-stronger-faster)
Eagle wounded by poacher gets new beak, new look.
Beauty is a Bald Eagle, shot three years ago by a poacher and left to fend for herself with her beak shot to pieces. She was found scrounging for whatever food she could find in a landfill up in Alaska. She was slowly starving to death.
Found and cared for... hand fed of necessity.
Now, an angel of an engineer has devised an artificial beak for Beauty .... her arrogant beauty has been restored and she can better care for herself.... but never can she again fly free and wild and proud.
After the surgery, Cantwell cradled the eagle and prepared to return Beauty to her aviary, saying: "The eagle has landed, and she has a beak."
(http://my.att.net/s/editorial.dll?pnum=1&bfromind=7406&eeid=5916114&_sitecat=1522&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=3&ck=&ch=ne&rg=blsadstrgt&_lid=332&_lnm=tg+ne+topnews&ck=)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
seek frass and ye shall find
Today, glancing at my considerable Pipevine stand.... my own vine now a leafy larder, (whose flower I previously posted), I noticed the 'peppering' of the leaves- frass- the telltale sign of nibbling caterpillars nearby.... in this case, the larvae of the Pipevine Swallowtail.
Amongst all the mass of greenery, I saw four leaves hosting the young.
........
Once I received a phone call from Julien, a fellow butterfly gardener, telling me of two small Pipevine caterpillars on his miniscule pipevine plant. "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE" I told him "LOOK THE OTHER WAY" That was back in 97.
......
Years before, a gardening friend, Mildred, had let me dig out her Pipevine since she was relocating.
.......
The next season I found two caterpillars on her still remaining vine. I took them home as there wasn't enough of a food supply left for them.
Each and every time I went out to gather a fresh leaf here... I would find ANOTHER caterpillar.
Soon I had MORE caterpillars than I myself had food for them.
I called nursery after nursery looking for more plants with no success.
The caterpillars in the jar were looking for the plant too... endlessly and forever CRAWLING ABOUT.
I felt as anxious as a mom with a wailing baby and no pacifier at hand.
A lepidopterist friend suggested I call the director at the Calloway Butterfly House .... but I received no plant material, instead just the gentle admonishment that butterfly gardeners, at times, overestimate their capacity to rear young.
I went into my woods looking for perhaps plants growing on their own.... none.
I spotted a Pipevine Swallowtail in the woods (with perhaps the same quest hopefully) and followed for a while...but still no success.
I went to a specialized native plant nursery here, Eco-Gardens, for an Aristolochia relative of the Pipevine... only to be told that those plants there had already been consumed, defoliated, by caterpillars. Making matters hardly any better, Mildred found me a large caterpillar wandering about the nursery grounds. Oh my, one more to feed!
Ultimately, I found a lepidopterist acquaintance who had the vine and took the hungry brood into his care.... with assurances to rear them for release. I so hope he was true to his word!
......
Since that time I have never reared anymore Pipevine Swallowtails :-o ... do I dare do so now!?!
!! Do I dare? ... I have substantially more plant material now!!
By the way, never have I seen such frantic mobility displayed by caterpillars in searching about for a new leaf to browse.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
China's giant pandas survive earthquake
"Right now, we're mostly concerned about the staff. If the staff is fine, then the animals will be fine," Wildt said.
The Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in southwest Sichuan province is home to about 86 giant pandas, who were reported safe Tuesday.
Among the pandas at Wolong is Hua Mei, a 9-year-old female who is the first giant panda to be born in the U.S. and survive to adulthood. Born at the San Diego Zoo to parents borrowed from China, Hua Mei survived a closely monitored infancy and was transferred to Wolong in 2003. Since then, San Diego Zoo spokeswoman Christina Simmons said, “she’s had a couple of litters.” Though the San Diego Zoo had two staffers in China last week, one flew home shortly before the quake hit and the other was in Beijing and was unhurt, Simmons said.
China estimates it has about 1,600 pandas living in the wild in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, the greatest concentration of the animals in the world.
Sichuan, the worst hit province, is home to 75 percent of China's wild pandas while Shaanxi has 17 percent and Gansu 7 percent, according to the administration.
Atlantans tell of chaos after China earthquake
The Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in southwest Sichuan province is home to about 86 giant pandas, who were reported safe Tuesday.
Among the pandas at Wolong is Hua Mei, a 9-year-old female who is the first giant panda to be born in the U.S. and survive to adulthood. Born at the San Diego Zoo to parents borrowed from China, Hua Mei survived a closely monitored infancy and was transferred to Wolong in 2003. Since then, San Diego Zoo spokeswoman Christina Simmons said, “she’s had a couple of litters.” Though the San Diego Zoo had two staffers in China last week, one flew home shortly before the quake hit and the other was in Beijing and was unhurt, Simmons said.
China estimates it has about 1,600 pandas living in the wild in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, the greatest concentration of the animals in the world.
Sichuan, the worst hit province, is home to 75 percent of China's wild pandas while Shaanxi has 17 percent and Gansu 7 percent, according to the administration.
Atlantans tell of chaos after China earthquake
Monday, May 12, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
NOT the Box Turtle I usually encounter!
Chelydra serpentina
More FRIGHTENING than securing that copperhead into a safe container a few years back!... was this morning's capture of
A SNAPPING TURTLE!!!!
Would you believe that I just opened my front door moments ago and was greeted by this most unusual visitor?
This turtle had to CLIMB THE STEPS to get to my porch!!
Of course I photographed him.... and for the closest shots I took full advantage of the zoom on the camera.
Even so, the turtle would stretch out his head towards it. Oh my such a long neck! I was glad not to underestimate this creature capable of giving a wickedly hard bite.
And BITE he did!.... later..... when I was manuvering him into a large container! 'No Shrinking Violet' was this turtle. Biting at the shovel I used, defecating on the porch to put me off, this Snapping Turtle was true to his feisty reputation!
Now to drive to a creek or lake to let him go.....
SNAPPING TURTLE PAGE
This SNAPPER is the Common Snapping Turtle. ( The Alligator Snapping Turtle has a very spikey shell and a shorter neck)
Snapper on YouTube
Another Snapper
I was pretty astounded that the turtle had climbed up all the steps to reach the porch.... I was even wondering: had some nefarious individual placed him there instead? ... but seeing this turtle climb a fence! is making a believer out of me.
I released the turtle the next day down the gravel road on a slope near a creek.... I could hear the running water though I couldn't get right down to its edge.
More FRIGHTENING than securing that copperhead into a safe container a few years back!... was this morning's capture of
A SNAPPING TURTLE!!!!
Would you believe that I just opened my front door moments ago and was greeted by this most unusual visitor?
This turtle had to CLIMB THE STEPS to get to my porch!!
Of course I photographed him.... and for the closest shots I took full advantage of the zoom on the camera.
Even so, the turtle would stretch out his head towards it. Oh my such a long neck! I was glad not to underestimate this creature capable of giving a wickedly hard bite.
And BITE he did!.... later..... when I was manuvering him into a large container! 'No Shrinking Violet' was this turtle. Biting at the shovel I used, defecating on the porch to put me off, this Snapping Turtle was true to his feisty reputation!
Now to drive to a creek or lake to let him go.....
SNAPPING TURTLE PAGE
This SNAPPER is the Common Snapping Turtle. ( The Alligator Snapping Turtle has a very spikey shell and a shorter neck)
Snapper on YouTube
Another Snapper
I was pretty astounded that the turtle had climbed up all the steps to reach the porch.... I was even wondering: had some nefarious individual placed him there instead? ... but seeing this turtle climb a fence! is making a believer out of me.
I released the turtle the next day down the gravel road on a slope near a creek.... I could hear the running water though I couldn't get right down to its edge.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Horses Beware!
KY Caterpillar Populations Up From 2007
"University of Kentucky entomologists recommend that unless horse farm managers have been aggressive in managing eastern tent caterpillars, or removing host trees, they should keep pregnant mares out of pastures bordered by cherry trees or other hosts for the next several weeks."
Eastern Tent Caterpillar Fact Sheet
Butterflies sighted here at home so far:
My Butterfly Art
