Wasp with One Wing

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On a recent walk around my yard looking for insects – I spotted a wasp on an allium in the chaos garden. I took a few pictures with my point and shot camera (zooming).

It wasn’t flying around so I decided to try to some macro shots with my bridge camera. Normally I would have been leery about being that close to a wasp, but it seemed to just be moving around the cluster of flowers. It was good practice.

It wasn’t until I got inside and was looking at the pictures on a large screen that I realized that the wasp was missing a wing! There was no way it was ever going to fly again.

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On the same walk – I saw a tiny leaf hopper on the nine bark bush. This is a clipped image…a lot more detail and pattern that I could see with my eye.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 11, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Wind Energy Accounted for 42% of New US Power in 2020 – And solar was 38% of the new energy. And 8 east coast states have large offshore wind projects in the works in the years ahead. Hurray! It’s a good trend and it looks like the slope of the trend will keep increasing for wind and solar (decrease and go to 0 for new natural gas).

How people respond to wildfire smoke -  Another reason to slip on a mask.

Devastating Rain in Tennessee – A map of the change in soil moisture between August 20 and August 21. The floods on August 21 in Tennessee (area circled on the map) killed at least 22 people. I was surprised that there was an area of Illinois (to the north and a little west of the flash flood circle) where the soil moisture increased even more; perhaps that area floods frequently and the area is managed with flooding in mind.

New analysis reveals Vesuvius Victims’ diverse diets – From analysis of Herculaneum skeletons. Men got more of their protein from seafood. Women ate more meat grown on land, eggs and dairy products.

Eye provide peek at Alzheimer’s disease risk – Amyloid plaques can form in retinas of the eye. Does their presence there provide a visible biomarker for detecting Alzheimer’s risk?

Top 25 birds of the week: Wild Birds! – Bird photography…..challenging and beautiful subjects for our cameras.

Have you seen a weasel lately? – There is a suspicion that weasels are in the decline…but the data is circumstantial. These are not predators that have been widely studied. The post points to a role for citizen scientists!

Dispatches from a world aflame – Reviews of two books about the recent fires…and the relation to climate change.

Preemption of Green Cities in Red States – At a time when we need to get serious about addressing climate change – a drive by some states to keep local governments from taking any action. There is a cognitive dissonance between historically arguing for local control then usurping that control when the state government does not agree with it. I like local control but acknowledge that higher up the governance hierarchy could make sweeping changes easier. Perhaps some of these state governments will redeem themselves by quickly taking strong action toward climate change reduction and mitigation – soon. The top issue for me when I vote these days has become climate change!

Climate Change Is The Greatest Threat To Public Health, Top Medical Journals Warn – Another reason that actions to address climate change must be at the forefront of our thinking about the future. Medicine cannot make up for the injury we are making to ourselves and every living thing on the planet.

Ferns under the Covered Deck

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I bought some Christmas ferns for under our deck about 6 or 7 years ago. This year I realized I planted them in the wrong place – under the part of the deck that is not roofed; the boards have enough space between then that heavy rains come through with such force that the dirt under that area looks like a model of ridge and valley topography in exactly the pattern of the boards above. The parent plants managed to propagate in the more hospitable area where the covered deck overhead provides more protection! I’ve noticed a few ferns in the area in previous years but this year they seem to be taking off. And there are more than Christmas ferns in the mix – all of them are growing very well in almost complete shade. I’m going to spread some finished compost around them this fall to help them grow even more profusely next summer.

Two kinds of ferns seem to have spores on the back of their fronds so there is potential for the area to fill up with native shade loving plants!

Ready to Volunteer Again

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Over the past week or so – I’ve been attending training sessions at the Howard County Conservancy’s  Mt Pleasant in preparation for field trips that might happen this fall. With schools in the county just starting this week, there is a lot that is TBD for the fall field trips. There are more that the usual challenges: potential for COVID-19 outbreaks (vaccination and masking helps but is not 100%), shortage of bus drivers, and a higher percentage of new volunteers than in past years. The usual weather challenge for the outdoor programs seems small in comparison!

I am hopeful that there will be at least some field trips. The scheduling requirements probably mean there will not be a lot of them until October, and there might be some opportunities where the volunteer gig will be in the school yard rather than at Mt. Pleasant. Either way – being outdoors with students is something I look forward to every fall; I missed it in 2020.

The training session this past week was on a sunny, cool day after Hurricane Ida came through our area. I couldn’t resist some photography before/after the session.

Honors Garden

Sweet Bay seed pods just outside the Honors Garden – smaller than the pods of the Southern Magnolia but still looking like red M&Ms peeking out of the pod.

A little fall look with sunshine bringing out the changing color of leaves

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Looking again at a tree stump cut earlier in the pandemic. I noticed that the rings are somewhat concentric for the early years of the tree’s life. Then they get very closely spaced on the side toward the bottom of these image. The tree seemed to grow skewed to the left!

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As I got close to my car, I noticed that the old pear tree in the old orchard is loaded with fruit this year!  .

The place….the people…it feels good to be on the cusp of fall volunteering!

Texas Butterflies

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After I shared my video of the Monarch butterfly emerging with my sisters, we started talking about the butterflies they are seeing in Texas. They are not seeing as many as they remember being around in the past….and in recent years the only times they have noticed Monarchs is in the fall during migration. One sister noticed 2 butterflies drawn to her cosmos…more than she had noticed before.  The plants are blooming profusely.

There was a Monarch that moved all around the garden. The picture shows that it is a female. The yard has plenty of nectar  for the butterfly but no milkweed for eggs/caterpillars. This time of year, a lot of plants go dormant in that part of Texas unless they are watered and milkweed usually grows in places that aren’t watered. Is this butterfly already on its way further south?

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She sent pictures of another butter asking for an ID. It’s obviously one of the swallowtails. The pictures of the upper side show clearly that it is a male pipevine swallowtail. Again – enjoying the nectar in the yard…but there are no host plants for caterpillars.

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In the not so distant past – there would have been a lot more butterflies drawn to the nectar in her garden. Butterflies – like a lot of other insects – are declining rapidly. There are a lot of reasons…mostly derived from human activity. Hopefully our actions can begin to reverse the trend…starting now. Nectar plants are prevalent in many gardens although skewing more toward native species rather than exotics would be an improvement. Beyond that, I am going to focus on host plants and not keeping my garden so tidy that I remove chrysalises/cocoons!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 4, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Entomologists Eradicated the First Asian Giant ‘Murder’ Hornet Nest of 2021 – Includes a picture of the 9 layers of the nest that was carved into an alder tree’s interior.

Turning thermal energy into electricity – It seems like this type of electricity production would have application beyond the military. Even solar panels produce heat and finding a way to automatically harness that into more electricity would be a good thing.  

Climate Change Producing More “Fire Weather” as Far East as Oklahoma – It’s not just the west coast that has a higher risk for fire as the planet gets hotter.

Aztec Pictograms Are the First Written Records of Earthquakes in the Americas – One of the pictograms matched to a 1507 earthquake that coincided with a solar eclipse!

Food systems: seven priorities to end hunger and protect the planet – A thoughtful commentary re ending hunger and improving diets; de-risking food systems; protecting equality and rights; boosting bioscience; protecting resources; sustaining aquatic foods; and harnessing digital technology.

Eating walnuts daily lowered 'bad' cholesterol and may reduce cardiovascular disease risk – There was a similar article about pecans a few days ago. I’m glad I like both walnuts and pecans! However – ½ cup is a lot to eat in one day. Usually ¼ cup is considered a serving.

Top 25 birds of the week: Woodpeckers! – I always enjoy hearing a woodpecker in the forest…and its a special tree to see them in our yard. The piliated, downy, and red-bellied woodpeckers are native to our area.

How to fight microplastic pollution with magnets – Many people filter their drinking water…but the conversation about filtering microplastics is newer. Hopefully filters that are effective and affordable will become the norm. It will take a long time to reduce the microplastic load already in the Earth’s water. We are just not recognizing the damage they are causing.

Americans Moving to Disaster-Prone Areas, Despite Climate Change – I’ve started to think about this more recently so appreciated seeing this post. Taking climate change into account – why would anyone buy property in areas that will be increasingly flood prone or incredibly hot/dry? A house nestled in a forest may look appealing but there are an increasing number of people that have already experienced the hazards of that beauty.

1,800-Year-Old Flower Bouquets Found in Tunnel Beneath Teotihuacán Pyramid – I visited Teotihuacan in the spring of 1966 when my parents took me to Mexico City. It was one of the highlights of the trip. The new discoveries are interesting….and I am thinking about whether I would like to see it again. Maybe in spring of 2026? The article references a site with some great pictures of Teotihuacan – worth a look.

eBotanical Prints – August 2021

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21 botanical print books in August and added to the list. There is quite an age range in this group. The first 10 are from the early 1900s and are a continuation of the Jakob Sturm series I started browing in July. . The rest were published earlier; one is quite old – back to 1625!

There is something to enjoy in the botanical illustrations in all these volumes. I admire the meticulous detail recorded throughout the years, the colors that have remained vibrant for over 100 years, and the perseverance it must have taken for the authors to create and then publish their works.

The whole list of 2,209 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the August books is at the end of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the August eBotanical Prints!

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 5 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1901

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 6 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1902

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 7 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1902

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 8 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1902

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 9 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1901

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 10 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1903

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 11 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1903

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 12 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1904

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 13 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1905

J. Sturms Flora von Deutschland, in Abbildungen nach der Natur BD 14 * Sturm, Jakob; Krause, Ernst Hans Ludwig; Missbach, Ernst Robert; Lutz, K.G. * sample image * 1905

De frvctibvs et seminibvs plantarvm V2 * Gaertner, Joseph; Sturm, J.G. * sample image * 1788

Flore d'Amérique, dessinée d'après nature sur les lieux * Denisse, Etienne * sample image * 1843

Flore d'Amerique : dediée à la Société Linnéenne de Bordx. * Denisse, Etienne * sample image * 1835

Coloured figures of English fungi or mushrooms  * Sowerby, James * sample image * 1797

Descriptio et adumbratio microscopico - analytica muscorum frondosorum  - nec non aliorum vegetantium V 1-2 * Hedwig, Johannes * sample image * 1787

Fvndamentvm historiae natvralis mvscorvm frondosorvm concernens eorvm flores frvetes, seminalem propagationem, adiecta genervm dispositione methodica V 1-2 * Hedwig, Johannes * sample image * 1782

Exactissima descriptio rariorum quarundam plantarum, que continentur Rome in Horto Farnesiano * Aldini, Tobia; Castelli, Pietro * sample image * 1625

Horti academici Lugduno-Batavi catalogus : exhibens plantarum omnium nomina, quibus ab anno MDCLXXXI ad annum MDCLXXXVI hortus fuit instructus ut & plurimarum in eodem cultarum & à nemine hucusque editarum descriptiones & icones * Hermann, Paul * sample image * 1687

Botanica curiosa oder Nützliche Anmerckungen, wie einige frembde Kräuter und Blumen * Stisser, Johann Andreas * sample image * 1697

Hortus Herrenhusanus - seu Plantae rariores quae in Horto Regio Herrenhusano prope Hannoveram coluntur * Wendland, Johann Christoph * sample image * 1798

Botanische Beobachtungen : nebst einigen neuen Gattungen und Arten * Wendland, Johann Christoph * sample image * 1798

Macro Photography Practice (6 and 7)

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Continuing my practice sessions…

The big difference in the 6th and 7th practice sessions was location; instead of my yard, I was at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant. The 6th session was in and around the Honors Garden before a volunteer training class. There were late season flowers that made good subjects. There are two bugs; for one the light was wrong…and the other I didn’t notice while I was in the field (accidently in the picture)!

The 7th session was in the meadow. There were plenty of late flowers and seed pods. I’d taken a collapsible stool with me. It worked well but the backpack I was using for my gear didn’t. Next time I’ll use my many-pocket vest. Backpacks are great for the hiking part but terrible when doing the actual photography. I found it easier to already have my camera on a sling strap. The macro lens and diffuser can be in the many pocket vest along with a water bottle. The stool can clip onto the vest too. My favorite images are the two chicory flowers. The blue-purple color is wonderful, the shapes in the central part of the flower look like stylized palm trees and the pollen looks like sugar crystals!

It was a very hot, humid morning in the meadow, and we didn’t stay long.

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Making the bests of the time my husband was grumbling (and then heading back to the car), I used my position on the stool to take some zoomed images. The thistles had small insects in them…and the occasional skipper and butterfly. There was a milkweed pod that had split open, but the seeds were not spilling out yet.

The 7 macro photography practices session have been successful in acclimating me to the camera gear/configuration. Going forward – I’m adding a macro photography monthly post to my blog plan (keeping the zoom one too). The macro post will feature images that would be impossible to get via zoom!

Previous macro photography practice posts: 1 and 2 (includes gear); 3 and 4 (includes some indoor images); 5 (included Monarch chrysalis and increased magnification)

Ten Little Celebrations – August 2021

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So much to celebrate in August….

Drive through West Virginia. The beauty of the interstate in West Virginia (I64, I79, I68) that is part of my route from Springfield, Missouri to my home in Maryland is something to celebrate. It is full of curves, forests, mountains….and not a lot of traffic. It’s easy to enjoy as I drive.

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Cloud at sunset. Maybe it is being in the right place at the right time to see it that makes this a little celebration for me! This was taken from my office window.

Home again. I like to travel…but every time I do, I celebrate coming home. This time the delta variant ramped up while I was traveling and was relieved to get home…glad that my precautions on the road (vaccination last spring, masking, hand sanitizer, air purifier in hotel room, eating outdoors or in the car/hotel room) evidently worked.

Macro photography. My husband got me started with new gear and I’m improving although I am still at the stage of celebrating every in-focus image I get.

Stopping my diet Pepsi habit. I am celebrating more than 2 weeks free of my habit….still very consciously avoiding soft drinks completely!

Sunny day that was not overwhelmingly hot. We’ve had so many very hot days…that it was a treat to have one that was pleasant outdoors. My other strategy is to get some outdoor time before 8 AM before the day heats up.

Farmers Market. It’s fun to shop for veggies straight from the farm. In August, the cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, and peppers were all tasty. The watermelons may be what I celebrate the most.

Zentangle tiles make on the deck in the early morning. A celebration pf creativity to start the day.

Spaghetti squash custard. Yum. I celebrated the flavor and texture of a simple custard.

Video of a Monarch butterfly emerging. Probably the high point of August for me. I’ve always wanted to capture the moment. And this time I did!

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Zooming – August 2021

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While I was out waiting for the Monarch butterfly to emerge, I took pictures of other insects and plants…using the zoom on my camera while I sat comfortably on a gardening stool on the front walk that borders the flowerbed. There was a black eyed susan with petals in disarray, flies, aphids on a milkweed leaf, and various insects on the mint flowers. It was a good way to fill in the time. Enjoy the slideshow!

These days – I appreciate seeing insects more than ever before. Many times when I expect to see them, there don’t seem to be as many around…or any at all; the stories about the crash of insect populations is observable in the field! It’s one of the manifestations of how humankind is warping the planet. With insects, the impact is direct with the use of pesticides and the herbicides on food/host plants for insects and indirectly through the cumulative effect of more and more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that impacts the climate overall.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 28, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

The subtle influence of the moon on Earth’s weather – Tides….and a lot of complex interactions associated with them. High tide flooding will increase as the climate changes for example.

So much ice is melting that Earth’s crust is moving – When the weight of ice is removed, the land lifts upward…but new measurements show that it moves horizontally as well.

Top 25 birds of the week: Spiderhunters and Sunbirds! – Lots of colorful feathers in this group!

Pecan-enriched diet shown to reduce cholesterol – 470 calories per day is a lot of pecans more than ½ cup. I like pecans but will generally stick to about ¼ cup at a time…may skew toward eating pecans over other nuts although walnuts are a healthy choice as well.

California Drought Hits World’s Top Almond Producer – And maybe almonds are a nut that will be increasing in price…maybe driving people away from almond milk. I’ve already made my switch to lactose free milk.

Northern paper wasps recognize each others faces – Each face is unique!

Giant clams have a growth spurt – thanks to pollution – Evidently modern clams grow faster than ancient ones because of nitrates in the water. It doesn’t necessarily mean that are healthy…just that they are growing faster.

Photography In The National Parks: Fun Fact Photography, Part 2 – The post not only includes ‘fun facts’ about the National Parks – it also explains how the images were captured!

What happens to your brain when you give up sugar – A well timed article for me --- I am dramatically reducing refined sugars and artificial sweeteners in my diet (i.e., I still eat foods that are sweet like bananas).  I thought the headaches that occurred in the first week of my new diet were the simultaneous reduction in caffeine but maybe they were also caused by the sugar reduction.

Watch a bolt of lightning strike the Washington Monument – The monument is on a hill and the tallest thing around…..a conduit to the ground for lightning.

Emerging Monarch

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I went out each morning after finding the Monarch butterfly chrysalis on the day lily leaf; on the second morning that the chrysalis had turned from pale green to clear – the indication that the butterfly was almost ready to emerge. Since I hadn’t seen any Monarchs in our yard this year…I decided to attempt capture the emerging butterfly with my camera.

I came back 30 minutes later…thought perhaps the chrysalis wall was weakening…that some parts in the middle were beginning to split. I had changed to my bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HS), mounted it on a monopod, and was sitting on a comfortable stool.

30 minutes later it looked like the top – above the horizontal row of gold dots - was beginning to split.

Another 30 minutes and I was out again – zooming in with the camera and thinking, at first, that nothing much had changed. But then I noticed some action on the other side of the chrysalis.

I changed to video since I knew the emergence would happen very quickly. It is not a great video (I need practice with video as much as I do with macro photography!) but I learned a lot from watching it later. The chrysalis did crack open but not exactly in the way I anticipated. What I was seeing at the top of the chrysalis was the abdomen of the insect which was huge! It must contain the fluid that is needed to expand the wings. The papillae on either side of the proboscis moved a lot at the beginning and I wondered if they were somehow involved in the fluid distribution or simply cleaning up the area around the face. See the video here.

After the video of the main event – I went in to let my husband know it had occurred and came back out to finish the event with some photes. Over the next 30 minutes the butterfly’s wings continued to unfurl and expand. At some point the butterfly ejected the extra fluid in its abdomen.

30 minutes later the butterfly finally opened its wings. Note that the abdomen is smaller than when it first emerged and it is probably a female.

What a great way to start the day!

Macro Photography Practice (5)

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Continuing my practice sessions…

Finding the Monarch chrysalis was the prompt for the fifth practice. There are so few of them these days; very different from the 1990s. I sat on a gardening stool to be comfortable and worked to get magnified views of the golden beads and the top of the chrysalis. The water droplets were just nice ‘extras.’

While I was busy with the chrysalis, a cabbage white sat for a few seconds on a nearby plant. It wasn’t a good angle and the picture is not sharp…but it was the first active insect for my practice session. I’ll be trying for more of these. The trick it to practice enough to be able to focus quickly!

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I practiced on a mint flower and a leaf….higher magnification that I’d attempted before.

There was a sticker like weed (one that I pull when I find it) within easy distance of my seat on the stool so I did a series of images – with increasing magnification. It was a more interesting subject than I anticipated!

I tried the same thing with a nearby day lily leaf – without as much success. The colors are somewhat interesting but my focus is off in some of the images…..more practice required.

Previous practice post: 1 and 2 (includes gear); 3 and 4 (includes some indoors images)

Day Lily Leaves

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In the later part of summer, I always cut the day lily leaves when they start to turn yellow so that they come back with new growth that is fresh and green until the frost. It probably reduces the amount of bulb growth underground but the beds are so dense in the beds that it doesn’t matter. Last year it happened in early August. This year the leaves stayed green longer. Maybe we got more rain or maybe the temperatures were better for the leaves to continue growing – or maybe their season is longer now due to climate change. The two areas we have day lilies are in the front flower beds and around the base of our oak tree.

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And every year, one of the tools I use is the old hedge trimmers I have from my grandfather.

He gave them to me when I bought my first house in the mid ‘70s; the handles were already mended. They must be over 50 years old and maybe much older! They are a wonderful reminder of him. I like using them more than the electric hedge trimmers because of the good memories that crowd into my mind when I pick them up (and they don’t bother my hands as much as the vibrations from the electric trimmers do). I also think how much things have changed since he was born in 1901…the way we now live on the Earth with a lot more people and technology that is damaging the planet…how we have to make some difficult changes to enable ourselves and future generations the quality of life on Earth that recent past generations experienced.

The area around the base of the oak was trimmed all the way around. When the new leaves come in they will cover over the mess. I noticed one side was lower than the other and realized the deer must have been nibbling there. The bed near the house was another story. I got about half done – avoiding cutting any of the black eyed susans – when I stopped because of a small discovery.

Do you see the Monarch chrysalis on the leaf (near the center of the image)? I was surprised to see it since I hadn’t seen any Monarch butterflies or caterpillars this year in our neighborhood. I’m going to take a daily picture of it until the butterfly emerges.

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Tomorrow’s post will include a few macro pictures of the chrysalis so stay tuned!

Macro Photography Practice (3 and 4)

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Continuing my practice sessions…

Getting the gear and camera settings set gets easier with every practice. My skill with composition and focus still has a ways to go.

My third practice was disappointing. I felt rushed. I returned to the holly, oak leaves, azalea, mint blooms, a black eyed susan, clover and a maple leaf. The subjects were OK but I didn’t get the magnification I wanted.

The fourth practice was on a rainy day and I was indoors. I looked at some cicada wings I had picked up during the 17 year cicada peak. The glare from the flash on the clear part of the wing was hard to avoid…I decided I liked the look of ‘lightning’ within the wing in the last image.

I had a dried out piece of ginger – getting a macro view of the outside and the cut end.

Even printed materials can take on a different look when magnified.

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The lid on my countertop collection bin for compostables has condensation on the end inside. Taken through the plastic, the droplets have a metallic sheen.

There was a leaf that had dried and fallen from a house plant. I liked the focus on the curve in the macro image – choosing this one from other focus points I had experimented in the practice.

I’ll improve with more practice….but am pleased with at least some of the results now. It’s encouraging enough to continue the practice!

Previous practice post: 1 and 2 (includes gear)

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 21, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Nine things you should know about sea horses – The males give birth! Like many creatures right now – they are in trouble from climate change (and overfishing in some parts of the world). Not long ago – I learned that there is a species of seahorse native to the Chesapeake Bay. They live in sea grasses and estuaries…habitats that are in trouble.

Electric cars and batteries: how will the world produce enough? – One of the important steps that needs to ramp up as batteries (and solar cells) reach end of life – is recycling. We need to think about closed loops for the resources required to manufacture future renewables!

New analysis of landmark scurvy study leads to update on vitamin C needs – An example of the research behind how those ‘daily requirements’ of vitamins and minerals were developed. I wonder if more of the values need to go through a validation…how many would change just as the vitamin C requirement did.

Top 10 Grassland Species Across the Globe – The ones we have in the US are Long-billed Curlew, Black-footed Ferret, Pronghorn, Swift Fox, and American Bison.

The multi-billion dollar giants that are melting away – Glaciers. When they are gone…many parts of the world will be drier places. This article is primarily about central Asia…but the situation in South America is similar.

Loss of biodiversity in streams threatens vital biological process – Fungi and bacteria can’t do the decomposition job alone…the aquatic insects (often larvae) and crustaceans are needed too. And the populations and diversity of those organisms in our streams is declining.

Top 25 birds of the week: plumage! – Bird photographs…always colorful and interesting.

Gender revolutions in who holds the purse strings – The study was done in Britain…I wonder if similar (or different) changes are happening elsewhere in the world.

‘Polluter pays’ policy could speed up emission reductions and removal of atmospheric CO2 – A change that could speed up the transition we need to make…if we can somehow overcome the lobbying for the status quo trajectory.

Photography In The National Parks: Fun Fact Photography – This is a kind of photography you can do in lots of places. A little curiosity and a camera…some web searches…a neat cycle of learning/art that can turn again and again.

Precursors to Fall

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It is not fall yet but we already have a few leaves falling; the majority are oak or sycamore. There are always the precursors to the big fall that happens in a few months…usually reaching a crescendo in October in our part of Maryland.

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There is always one corner of our deck where the leaves accumulate. The wind sweeps them into the corner and the only way they leave is with some effort on our part with a broom or rake. Right now - they are mostly sycamore leaves but later the tulip poplar leaves will be there too.

The sycamore leaves are sometimes bigger than dinner plates this time of year. The big ones have been growing all summer. There are still smaller, younger ones on the tree….and sometimes they fall off while they are still green. I noticed an odd leaf that was very dark around the edges…not the normal look to a sycamore leaf on the ground and I’m not sure what caused it.

The oak leaves are changing color on the tree – looking glorious in morning light.

There are some unusual looks for the oak leaves too – green at the stem area then brown in the upper part of the leaf or green in the center and brown around the edges. These leaves might indicate the tree is somehow challenged – hopefully something it will recover from.

I am trying to separate what is normal for our trees and what I might notice that is an indication of climate change. One thing I am starting to monitor is when the big last big swirl of leaves happens from the tulip poplar; in fall of 1994 (the year we moved into this house), it occurred on Halloween. I wonder when it will be this year.

Black Squirrel

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We have a black squirrel visiting our deck occasionally. The zoomed images show that the undercoat fur in not black and the claws are more visible because of the contrast with the coat color. Other than the darker coat, it seems the same as the other squirrels; it doesn’t get seed directly from the feeder either. I’m pretty sure it is in our neighborhood all the time…that our deck/feeder/bird bath are on the edge of its normal territory so we don’t see it every day.

The acorns are not having a big year – so the squirrels may be keener to get the seeds this year. The last few years have been slim for acorns from our oak. I’m not sure if it’s just the normal fluctuation between mast (big acorn) years, if our oak is infected with something that reduces its acorn production, or if the weather in the spring caused a problem. I am pretty sure it was some cold weather in the spring of 2020 but not sure about this year.

Our oak (and the others in our neighborhood) are more important to the long-term health of the squirrels (and other wildlife in our neighborhood – including birds and insects) than our feeder. In an ecosystem being challenged more and more by climate change – we are becoming more aware of how our actions are important to sustaining what is here.

Macro Photography Practice (1 and 2)

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My husband got me started on a more advanced form (for me) of macro photography by sending me some YouTube links (this one from Micael Widell was the first) and identifying the gear that would work with my Canon PowerShot SX70 HS. After talking to me about the possibilities with my camera and sending some sample images he had captured with a similar set up on his more substantial camera to encourage me (posted a few weeks ago here), he ordered the filter adapter for my camera…

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And the macro lens.

I used the same diffuser that fits over the front of the camera as he used with his camera (we got another one since we will be going into the field together once I get enough practice).

The new gear purchases were about $100. Here’s the way my camera looks ready for my practice – from the front and back. The idea is to be able to hand hold the camera (i.e. no tripod) – often with one hand – when in the field.

The technique works best with manual focus and flash…two features of my camera that I haven’t used very much. The idea is to set the manual focus to a particular distance and then leave it alone in the field and simply move the camera to get the focus desired.

It was easier for me to start with plants in my yard in my first sessions. I found that I could get reasonable results with autofocus (still having to move the camera to get the focus on the part of the image I wanted) for plants…but it takes more time than manual focus….which would be problematic for insects that are more likely to move.

Here are the collection of my best images from my first two practice sessions.

Black eyed susans

Mint flowers

Lichen and moss

Ninebark leaves

Bush cut branch and water droplets on leaves

Wild strawberry

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And finally – an insect during my second practice session.

The image below is cropped from the image on the left above.

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Overall I am pleased with my first attempts…but still need more practice!

Changing Food Habits

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It’s hard to change the foods we eat. Recently several articles about ultraprocessed food and the impact of our food choices on the environment have prompted me to evaluate what it eat…and decide on some changes I want to make. It’s going to be hard…many of the foods I am focused on are well-entrenched habits. This is only the beginning.

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Diet Pepsi (and other soft drinks). They are not food – just liquid that has 0 nutritional value and may have negative impacts on health (jitters and hydration skew caused by caffeine, increasing craving for sugar). But I’ve been buying and drinking them for a very long time; they are a habit that is hard to change. Earlier this year, I changed from plastic bottles to aluminum cans when it became obvious that plastic bottles were not being recycled properly (whereas aluminum cans were)…but that is not enough. When scrutinized objectively – they are not worth anything positive…so why buy them at all.

Peppermint candy. Aargh! These come in big bins…I buy them when I travel then continue eating them after I get home. The lure of sugar and peppermint. I will stop buying them to avoid the temptation. Maybe I should start chewing fresh mint leaves from the garden to get the flavor but not the refined sugar!

Soy or Almond Milk. I’ve been drinking the non-dairy milk – to get calcium via my diet without the challenge of lactose intolerance. The change I am contemplating now is to transition to lactose free milk as a less processed alternative and get more protein too (9 grams vs 6 grams for soy milk).  Also - all the non-dairy milks have supplemental calcium so they are almost like taking the supplement which is an ultimate in ultraprocessed ‘nutrition’!

Turkey sausage. Highly processed but a better choice than pork sausage in terms of calories from fat and also less environmental impact (poultry vs swine). It does have a lot of sodium. I won’t eat it more than once a week or so…but is a quick way to add protein to a meal.

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Dark chocolate. Ultraprocessed…but I am choosing to still have it for my 1st breakfast (two squares of the Lindt 70% is my favorite). I like the kickstart it gives my day…enough calories to keep me going before I am ready to prepare my 2nd breakfast at mid-morning. But I am not going to eat more than that small amount very often.

Overall – I am pleased that I have so many fresh vegetables (and some fruits) in my diet. I enjoy the farmers market and the produce section….and finding new ways to prepare salads, smoothies, soups, stir fries – skewing toward raw and whole!  I haven’t become a vegetarian – yet – but I am eating less meat that I was 5 years ago (almost no pork and less beef)…ramping up nuts.