Later, when we were walking in an open area, this Swift River Cruiser came in and held his spot for me to get one quick photo of him before he flew off to a higher branch and then away. It is pretty neat to see how they hold on to the branch. You can click any of these to get a little bit bigger photo.
While on a walk at Farnsworth on Sunday, a Hackberry Butterfly (some call it the Hackberry Emperor, or Asterocampa celtis) decided Chris was a good landing spot, and perched first on her hat, and then on her shirt. Chris stood very still while I took a few shots. This was on the path from the Bendview parking lot down to the main trail. The path was fairly sunny, so there were many butterflies out along it. Later, when we were walking in an open area, this Swift River Cruiser came in and held his spot for me to get one quick photo of him before he flew off to a higher branch and then away. It is pretty neat to see how they hold on to the branch. You can click any of these to get a little bit bigger photo. Randy
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We spend some time looking through our books and trying them out on Pepperweed. I think our sample is Virgina Pepperweed (Lepidium virginicum).
See here for some links for information about Virginia Pepperweed USDA Virginia Tech Some of the pictures of our sample are shown below, including some photos through a small handheld microscope (30X) of the tiny blossom . Thanks for the idea of doing this Eileen. You can click on any photo to see a larger image. - Randy Haar We had a book delivery from Amazon yesterday. The first was a recommendation from Eileen at our last meeting "Never Say It's Just a Dandelion" by Hilary Hopkins. It gives interesting facts on 125 common plants . A very fun book, and useful for walk leaders.
The next two books were recommended by Lori Parratt during a Thursday work day at Reuthinger. "Newcombs's Wildflower Guide" uses a simple 3 digit key for identification. It looks good so far. "Weeds of the Northeast" by Uva, Neal, and DiTomaso is meant for weed management, but since many weeds are also wildflowers, it is something that we will be able to use. Since it is not aimed at the flowers, it shows the plants in many stages, including seedlings, mature plants, flowers, and the seeds. There is also a section on grasses, something that I have always found hard to identify. Books are always fun Randy Haar I found this quote from Thoreau about skunk cabbage fruit.
Aug. 8. [1858] – To Ledum Swamp You see now in the meadows where the mower’s scythe has cut in two the great oval and already black fruit of the skunk-cabbage, rough as a nutmeg-grater, exposing its numerous nuts. I had quite forgotten the promise of this earliest spring flower, which, deep in the grass which has sprung up around it, its own leaves for the most part decayed, unremembered by us, has been steadily maturing its fruit. How far we have wandered, in our thoughts at least, since we heard the bee humming in its spathe! I can hardly recall or believe now that for every such black and rather unsightly (?) capsule there was a pretty freckled horn which attracted our attention in the spring. However, most of them lie so low that they escape or are not touched by the scythe. ~~~ My friends can rarely guess what fruit it is, but think of pineapples and the like. After lying in the house a week, and being wilted and softened, on breaking it open it has an agreeable sweetish scent, perchance like a banana, and suggests that it may be edible. But a long while after slightly tasting it, it bites my palate. [Thoreau, JOURNAL] Yippie, Skunk Cabbage Fruit has been spotted. Here are some photos from Oak Openings taken Tuesday July 24, 2012. For a size reference, most are in the 2 to 3 inch diameter range. You can click on the images to see larger versions.
Chris and I saw our first Tall Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea) flowering of the season. A fabulous color. We saw this one at Farnsworth Metropark in a fairly sunny location. Most of the other Tall Ironwweed plants we saw in the shade are still a ways off from blooming. Saw some blooming Saturday at Oak Openings during the Mullen Pull at the old scout camp area also. Randy
Chris and I were pretty excited to find some Dotted Horsemint in the prairie area in Wintergarden Park in Bowling Green. Found on July 4, 2012. Randy Haar
On Saturday, June 23, a few of us (Eleanor, Paul, Chris, and I) attended a butterfly ID workshop at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. I did not get any good photos of butterflies (see Paul for those), but I did get these photos. ![]() Green Darner At the end of our walk, a couple of kingbirds put on a show for us in some trees.
Thanks to the excellent presentation Paul Wibbeler gave on butterflies and moths, when I saw this guy flying around the milkweed flowers at Wintergarden Park in Bowling Green, I knew I was looking at at Hummingbird Moth.
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AuthorRandy Haar Archives
September 2015
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