Outdoors at Brookside Gardens

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I try to take a few minutes before each shift volunteering at Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy to walk around outside in the gardens. There is a lot going on in August. I am featuring some of my favorite things I noticed and photographed in this post.

Button bush and cone flowers and sunflowers – with and without bees.

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Joe Pye Weed in bloom…very popular with the tiger swallowtails. One morning I photographed a dark morph female with several of the yellow and black versions.

Monarchs are more prevalent in the garden than they were earlier.

I can never resist checking the gingko tree near the conservatory. I like the way the leaves look outlined in gold of the morning sunshine.

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The sumac is a plant I am tracking this year. I recognize the seed heads but want to capture how the seeds develop. This will take me further into the fall since they don’t look like they’ve changed too much during this month.

There are always a lot of funnel spider webs in the low pines around the conservatory….and sometimes the spider is visible.

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There are several kinds of datura in the garden.

I had never nptoced what the seed pod looked like before.

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Some of the trumpets hang downward and I appreciated that the screen on my new camera can pivot so I can see what the camera is seeing when it is point straight up! I’ve always wanted to photography the unfurling flower.

The bald cypress has the scale insects like it did last summer but seems healthy enough to survive. The cones are beginning to form.

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The cannas are beautiful this time of year. Some are producing seed pods.

This is the view from the ticket taker table for Wings of Fancy. I ended up doing the job when no one had signed up for it….a  last minute change of plans.

There are milkweed plants close to the entrance to the caterpillar house and there are often insects on the plants other than caterpillars. When there are no visitors in the area…I roam around and take pictures; more on the caterpillars tomorrow.

Yard Work - August 2018

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I did some weeding in the front flower bed (pulling up weeds and cutting vines that were opportunistically growing into the bushes or climbing the brick façade of the house) earlier this week.

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I filled a trash can full of ‘greens’ to take to the compost pile; I also had some paper shreds and veggie scraps from the kitchen to add. I took the pitchfork to punch the material down and turn it over. The compost in the bottom is already looking ‘done.’

The next job was to cut some horizontal branches in the cherry tree – trying to reduce the risk of the tree splitting if we get an ice storm this winter. I noticed a spider in a web between the house and the cherry trees…some long silk lines that I tried to avoid. It was an interesting spider although I haven’t been able to identify it yet. I’ll have to take better pictures next time.

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As I walked around the house dragging the branches to the brush pile – I noticed that the sycamore had several collections of fall webworms. At least they were the native webworms and not the exotic ailanthus webworms (I saw the moth a few weeks ago at Mt. Pleasant).

Most of the branches with web worms were low enough for me to cut with the long-handled pruners. There was one higher branch that my husband cut using a ladder and saw…with me pulling the branch downward to stabilize it.

On the way back from the brush pile with the sycamore branches – I noticed a blue jay feather…a little the worse for wear but worth photographing. I left it on the stairs to the deck so I could photography it late. I picked up handfuls of sycamore leaves to put in the compost bin.

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I carried my tools up to the covered deck after I was finished and awakened the cat that was enjoying a morning nap there. He seemed more curious than grumpy!

Weekend in State College - Sunday

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On Sunday morning we headed to the Arboretum at Penn State.We spent the most time in the Children’s Gate Childrens Garden just like the last time we visited in October 2016 (posts about that visit are here and here). The entrance includes a water feature with a slightly stylized Great Blue Heron sculpture.

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There are areas growing food plants and models of fossils…a water feature to wade into, rocks positioned enable close examination, and a man-made cave (the included bat models hanging from the ceiling)… snake sculptures and real chipmunks that seemed to be everywhere. I kept thinking about how wonderful the garden would be for field trips!

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One of my favorite features is a bowl with kaleidoscopes positioned around it. Last time it had colorful gourds and squash. This time it had succulents.  I took pictures through the scopes!

In the rest of the garden there were many late summer blooms…and spiders too.

There was a lily pond. They had quite a variety of water lilies.

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The one lotus plant they had was spectacular. It must be a hybrid with all the extra very curly petals. I was glad I took a closer look at it.

After lunch we headed home. It was a short but spectacular jaunt into Central Pennsylvania.

Weekend in State College - Saturday

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We made a last-minute decision to trek to State College PA to visit my daughter weekend before last. I had gotten a new camera the day before, so I experimented with it during the trip. The new camera is a Canon PowerShot SX60 HS and is billed as a ‘bridge’ camera in that it has a lot of features of my previous point-and-shot cameras but some added features too: optics that can accept added filters, some dials that make it easier to do some functions manually, and viewfinder + screen rather than just the screen. The optics zoom to 65x rather than 40x of my older point and shot. Enough the same that I knew I could use it immediately and give myself time to get comfortable with the new features.

We got to State College just before lunch time…decided to go out to Mexican food for lunch then walked around the campus. I started taking some architectural pictures.

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When we were in my daughter’s office I took close-up pictures of the plants in the window (I think she must have selected them to remind her of Arizona).

There was a graduation ceremony that had just ended, and we saw students in robes and their parents walking around campus. I took pictures of Old Main from several angles.

Next I utilized the 65x zoom for some botanical photography.

There is a Carnegie Building at Penn State that was one of the many libraries Andrew Carnegie funded.

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We had walked around long enough to stop at the Creamery for out afternoon treat.  I got bittersweet mint ice cream in a cup. Yum (and not as messy as a cone on a hot afternoon)!

Belmont Hikes with Summer Campers V

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The theme for last week’s summer campers at Howard County Conservancy’s Belmont location was STEM (Science – Technology – Engineering – Math). I decided to a pick some STEM related activities that were more like field work than actual hikes.

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As usual there were two groups of about 15 each. The first group was the younger one; some of that group were just getting ready for kindergarten. I started out by handing a ruler to each camper.

We started by using the rulers to measure samples I’d brought in a bin (a stick and tulip poplar seedling were popular) and parts of the nearby barn. We did quick tutorials for campers that had not used a ruler before. One student measured one of the tiles – discovering that it was the same across and up/down (i.e. a square). Six campers collaborated to measure the lentil over a low window of the barn (5 feet 4 inches)! Most of the time we tried to measure in centimeters although we used both sides of the ruler.

I started a log of everything we measured on a pad of paper and clipboard.

We measured most of what we encountered on our hike including flowers, several feathers, grass, pine needles and cones, a fake rock (used to cover equipment), holly leaves and berries, a stump and and some very colorful mushrooms.

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The second group campers were a little older – up to 12 years old. First, we talked about examples of science new sources (like Science Daily). I used an article about the discovery of moths roosting in hollow trees in Florida as an example. Then I showed them the information about the moth in the Maryland Biodiversity Project site…the way I knew the moth lived in Maryland as well as Florida. And we all knew there was a hollow tree nearby.

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I had two small flashlights and we started out.

We didn’t find any moths but there were a lot of spider webs in the hollow tree. There was something there that kept the spiders well fed! We found a dead cicada nearby in the grass and examined it closely before we started out next activity.

The second activity with the group was to determine the height of a tree using a piece of paper and a tape measure. The technique worked but after using it for 2 trees we decided a 25 feet long tape measure for measuring trees over 125 feet tall was too painful (we measured a tulip poplar and white pine)…and it was too hot for more field work. We headed back to the air conditioning and lunch.

It was the last day of summer camp at Belmont. These STEM themed hikes were a good finale for us all. Everyone is getting ready for school to start…and the training sessions for field trip volunteers start too.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 18, 2018

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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.

Top 25 Birds with Red Plumage – National Geographic Blog – Starting out this weeks gleanings selections with some eye candy…..bird photographs. I was disappointed that the pileated woodpecker was not one of the 25.

Going Quietly into the Night: The Unseen Plight of Africa’s Giraffes – National Geographic Blog – Did you know that there are 4 species of giraffes? And most of them are in trouble.

10 Questions About Nut Butters | Berkeley Wellness – There is a segment near the end of the article that expands to show a table of “What’s in your ‘Nut Butter’?” – worth taking a look. I use almond butter more than peanut butter these days….but may explore some of the other options (not the high sugar ones).

Chemists discover how blue light from digital devices speeds blindness -- ScienceDaily – If this research is confirmed by other labs is seems like we should be demanding screens that are ‘less blue.’

A Tough Plant, Not A Weed | The Prairie Ecologist – Ironweed in the prairie…and the insects that it attracts.

Life Scientists Cut Down on Plastic Waste | The Scientist Magazine® - Hopefully every field/business is consciously reducing plastic waste. We are being overwhelming by single use plastics! The same type of thinking needs to happen at the individual level in our homes as well.

Sharpen your science skills with NOAA’s webinars for educators | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Webinars created for teachers….but open to everyone. They’re archived too.

Archaeologists identify ancient North American mounds using new image analysis technique -- ScienceDaily -Analyzing new satellite and aerial sensor data with Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) more than 160 mound features have been identified in Beaufort County SC….and there could be many more along the east coast of the US. This analysis pinpoints areas for archaeologists to look at on the ground.

BBC - Future - How do you treat someone who doesn’t accept they’re ill? – A thoughtful article about how communities are responding to people suffering psychoactive disorders…and refuse treatment.

Owl Underground: A Summer Encounter with Burrowing Owls – Cool Green Science – A short video from the side of an interstate highway in Idaho….and an article about burrowing owls.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in August 2018 – Part III

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Continuing the posts about last week’s visit to  Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, this post features the birds we saw. The first was a Great Blue Heron in one of the lotus ponds. It was moving around. Maybe it was looking for breakfast, but it didn’t find it while we watched.

We saw a Great Egret just off the boardwalk out over the marsh toward the Anacostia River. It was looking for breakfast…and found a fish!

A fish crow surveyed the marsh overhead….making noise to let the rest of the marsh know we were there.

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Further out toward the river were some more Great Egrets on a snag among the drying lily pads. One flew off its perch after a fish and then continued hunting among the lily pads.

As we walked back through the gardens toward the parking lot, my husband spotted a Great Blue Heron on a bridge over a pond. Do you see it?

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We slowly walked toward it. It noticed us and turned around….then flew off.

We noticed as we crossed the bridge that it must use the bridge railing as a perch frequently – based on the white bird droppings there.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in August 2018 – Part II

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Last week we made our last trip to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens for this year. Today’s post features the insects and a turtle that we saw. There were a few monarch butterflies; there are so few these days that I always celebrate even if I just see one!

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The insects my husband wanted to photograph were dragonflies. There were several species flying in the garden but the only ones that sat long enough to photograph were the blue dashers. They like to perch while they survey their surroundings. I photographed individuals on a dried flower (note how battered the wings look),

On signs,

A lotus pod (did something take a bite of the pod?),

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And on other vegetation.

My favorite critter of the visit, was a Eastern Painted Turtle. It was getting some sun at the edge of a pond and looking very Zen. It was not still. When I first saw it, the front legs were tucked in. Then it stretched them out and turned itself toward me. I was on the other side of the pond an appreciating the zoom on my camera to capture the turtle without disturbing its morning.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in August 2018 – Part I

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Last week we made our last trip to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens for this year. The lotus flowers are nearing the end although there were still a few plants blooming.

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There are many more seed pods than flowers now…at all stages of development.

The button bushes have a few blooms still…but are also showing off seed pods.

There was an oak leaf in the parking lot that looked a lot like a city map (white roofs) with noticeable greenways.

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The rose mallows are still full of buds and blooms.

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I was glad to see the water lilies still blooming. The extra rain might have prolonged their season a bit this year.

Stay tuned for a post about insects and a turtle we saw at Kenilworth tomorrow…and then the birds we saw will be featured in the post for Friday.

Butterflies Resting – on Me

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While I was manning the exit at Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy the first hour after it opened yesterday, I had 3 different butterflies decide to take a rest on me. The first was a blue morpho that sat on my left hand. It must have felt very secure since it sat still while I got my cell phone out, entered the security code, started the camera app, and braced the cell phone on my arm to get pictures – moving in closer and closer. The butterfly’s wings were tattered but the orange in the upper legs and the palpi (between the eyes) was very distinct. The proboscis is neatly coiled.

The second butterfly was another blue morpho that started out on my sandal. I crossed my leg, so I could get a get a closer shot. The butterfly was very interested in the strap of my sandal and then my ankle with its proboscis. The wings were in better shape that the first butterfly; notice the yellow and orange color toward the outer edges of the wing.

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The third butterfly was a malachite that was on my hat. A visitor told me I had a butterfly on my hat and it stayed there when I took my hat off so I could see it! I had to one-hand the phone again but was pleased with the pictures I got of this butterfly. I like the patterning of the underside of the malachite butterflies…even more than the brighter green of the other side of the wings.

I’ve never been so lucky to have so many butterflies resting on me during a visit to the exhibit. They were on other people as well…something special about yesterday.

Deer in the Back Yard

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There is a doe with two fauns I’ve seen moving through our backyard several times this month. The fawns still have spots but are moving through the neighborhood with the same caution and grace as the mature deer. I’ve seen then coming and going from the forest.

Last fall there was at least managed hunt in the forest near our neighborhood and I’ve noticed an improvement this summer – not as many trees with lower branches thoroughly munched and our day lily leaves are still green (maybe it helped that I cut the flowers before the deer could notice how delicious they were).

The deer move slowly through our neighborhood but keep moving. I’m not sure where they are heading when they leave the forest, but our backyard is no long a prime stopping place. I managed to get a few pictures from an upstairs window on one of their saunters.

Neighborhood Walk – August 2018

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I started out about 7:30 AM. The temperature was in the mid-70s already and the humidity was high. It was better than waiting until later when the forecast was for 90 degrees. The birds were quiet again; it was well after sunrise. I did see a robin with a grub (or caterpillar).

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The storm water pond sometimes has egrets or herons…but not on this morning. The frogs were noisy at the pond although I didn’t see them. It seems like there were enough of them to attract the herons as they have in previous years.

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I did notice two dragonflies flying over the pond attached to each other – the male clasping the female behind the head. He landed on some grass in the pond – too low for them to complete the ‘wheel’ that is the next phase of the mating choreography. I didn’t stay long enough to see the finale.

A female purple finch (white eyebrow) flew to one of the dried reeds.

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On the way home there were quite a few mushrooms in one yards – on both sides od the sidewalk. They were not all the same kind either. I wondered if the owners had done something in that area that made it good for mushrooms since I didn’t see others during my walk.

I returned home – ready to be in the air-conditioned house for the rest of the day!

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 11, 2018

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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.

Chemists characterize the fatal fungus among us -- ScienceDaily – Aspergillus fumigatus is deadly to people with compromised immune systems. It affects more than 200,000 people annually including 25% of all leukemia patients – killing half of them. Understanding more about the organism may enable better screening and treatment.

 Learning from ‘little monsters’ -- ScienceDaily – Research on macroinvertabrates. Since I volunteer for field trips with schools to streams and rivers to sample these critters – I read anything that comes up in ScienceDaily about them.

How Rising Seas Could Threaten the Internet - Yale E360 – Within the next 15 years, 4,67 miles of fiber conduit and 1,101 notes in the US are expected to be underwater. New York, Miami and Seattle will be the most effected.

Earthtime.org -- Visualizing the Impact of Humanity | CleanTechnica – Three very short videos…about earth’s temperature over the past 137 years, the more recent time sequence of wind turbine installation in Europe and solar installations in the US.

Pic for Today – Point and Shoot Photographer -  Nature photography with a point and shoot camera. I subscribed so I get the picture and short description with my news feeds every day.

Allergy clinic finds large percentage of anaphylaxis cases from tick bite meat allergy: Increased awareness, more available testing led to 33 percent of cases identified as alpha gal allergy -- ScienceDaily – Wow! This is not good. Lyme Disease is serious but not anaphylaxis serious. We’re going to have get even better at avoiding tick bites.

AGU and AAS: Working Together to Expand the Understanding of Exoplanets - From the Prow - AGU Blogosphere – There seem to be more areas where we are acknowledging that interdisciplinary approaches are needed. The old lines of specialty can be limiting.

Hollow trees host massive moth slumber parties -- ScienceDaily –black idia moths in Florida are found in roosting in hollow trees during the day (they are active at night like most moths). The post didn’t identify the species but there are black idia moths in Maryland. I am going to start looking more carefully in hollow trees when I’m hiking although it’s already close to the end of the season.

Great Fall-Blooming Plants for Pollinators - The National Wildlife Federation Blog – The fall-blooming plants are not just for bees…they help the butterflies too!

Free Technology for Teachers: Take a Look at Microsoft’s Free Hands-on STEM Lesson Plans and Projects – I am going to take a look at these…see if there are any that could be easily incorporated into field trip conversations this fall.

Morning Walk at Mt. Pleasant (part 2)

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Today I’m focusing on the plants I photographed during my morning walk earlier this week at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant. The seed pods on the sweet bay magnolia are in all stages of development: from green to

Seeds bursting from the pod (I always think they look like red M&Ms) and then pods that are mostly empty and dry.

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There are always chicory flowers after each rain. I liked the blurs of yellow and green behind this macro image.

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Goldenrod is beginning to bloom. Goldenrod is one of the nectar plants for butterflies into the fall. People thought it caused their terrible fall allergies but now ragweed is said to be the primary culprit.

There was Queen Ann’s Lace in the meadow as well. It’s always interesting to me how different a plant appears in the macro view.

As I hiked along the narrow path near the stream there was a young sycamore that had leaves that were beginning to lose their chlorophyll for fall. The leaves were backlit so I took some macro images to show the changes.

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There are still new leaves being unfurled on the tree too; this one was about the size of a dime.

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Thistles are not very friendly looking! Too many prickles.

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Bind weed is an occasional plant in the meadow. The flowers always look like they have little pleats.

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This mint flower – taken from above with the macro lens – was coated with morning dew.

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Dandelions are always attention getters. They look a bit like bursts of fireworks…or yellow streamers.

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Even the clovers that are usually not noticed have a unique beauty seen through the macro lens.

Do you recognize mile-a-minute? It’s an invasive plant that grows very quickly and has wicked thorns.

And now for the Pokeweed. The ones I photographed were still blooming and the fruits that were formed were still green. They’ll turn purple later…and the stem will be bright pink. I’ll remember to photograph the plants through the fall to track their development.

By the end of the walk – I was hot…ready to cool off in the air-conditioned car as I drove home and to drink a lot of water.

Morning Walk at Mt. Pleasant (part 1)

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Earlier this week, I took a morning walk at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant. I stopped by the nature center first to leave some comments on a new BioBlitz guidebook; my plan was to hike down to the Davis Branch. I forgot my camera at home so was ‘roughing it’ with my Samsung Galaxy S7 and clip-on macro lens.

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I stopped near the Honors Garden to look at the sweet bay magnolia…and noticed some eggs under one of the leaves. The only way I know to figure out what they might be would be to isolate the leaf and wait for them to hatch! I didn’t do that…so it will be a mystery. Maybe a ‘leaf footed bug’?

I walked down toward Montjoy barn and noticed that the pear tree in the old orchard looks terrible – many bare branches. It’s an old tree and I hope it sees another season.

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Near the demonstration garden at the top of the path, an Augochlora sweat bee was slow enough that I got a picture!

Some id references: http://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Documents/CommonBees.pdf and https://www.insectidentification.org/insects-by-state.asp?thisState=Maryland

I saw a flock of goldfinches as I walked down through the meadow. They kept moving just ahead of me all the way down the hill. I regretted leaving my camera at home. There were also lots of dragonflies and butterflies and gnats in the meadow. I should have sprayed my clothes and hat with insect repellent for the gnats.

When I got down to the stream, it was cooler because I could easily stay in the shade. I walked down stream a little and saw what looked like one of the trees purposefully upended as part of the upstream restoration that must have been sweep away by one of the recent rains. It is now caught on some rocks and other tree debris and will ‘slow the flow’ in its new location too.

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When the water is high – there are two paths for the stream in the old ‘beach’ area. The one in the upper left is the main channel; the one in the middle of the picture is no longer flowing and will dry up if we don’t get another big rain this week.

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I took the narrow path along the stream. There is high vegetation on both sides. Sometimes it opens enough for sun loving plants like milkweed to grow…and this skipper landed just in time for me to take a quick portrait.

There was a vista of a restored area of the stream. The pools look a little larger than I remembered – possibly because it has been so rainy recently. One part of the path was very muddy and I wondered if there was an intermittent spring there.

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There were two butterflies on a Joe Pye Weed nearby. Rather than use the digital zoom on the phone, I clipped the area I wanted when I got home. It’s easy to identify the two butterflies: tiger swallowtail and monarch!

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I hiked back to Montjoy barn on the sunny side of the stone wall. I didn’t stop along the way since it was hot and sticky. When I got to the shade near the barn I looked more carefully at the vegetation and found a new-to-me orange, white, and black insect. I had no idea what it was but I took several pictures and then identified it when I got home: an ailanthus webworm moth. It’s an insect that followed the invasive Tree of Heaven to our area. Aargh!

Tomorrow I’ll post about the plants I saw along my hike.

Horsenettle

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When I first got to Belmont…well before it was time to organize for the hike…I walked down into the meadow and discovered an area of shorter vegetation that was thick with Carolina Horsenettle. It looked like an area that might had soil added…and the seeds of the weed must have come in with the new soil.

I started taking pictures. The flowers of these plants are like tomato flowers – although considerably bigger. Horsenettle is in the same genus as tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant but no part of this plant is edible. The flowers are pollinated in the same way as those food plants…with bumblebee’s buzz pollination. I suspected if I had a very high-speed camera that the bee I saw on the flowers we getting showered with pollen as he buzzed close to the flower. Note that many of the leaves have holes; whatever that is eating them, gains the plant’s toxicity as a security against predation. The stems have thorns so it’s better to use the zoom on the camera instead of trying to get close.

The fruit of the plant looks like a tiny green striped tomato right now. In the fall they will be yellow. I point them out on school field trips…making sure the students know they are not tomatoes…not edible (and about the thorns as well).

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Belmont Finches and Red Winged Blackbirds

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Before the big hike last week at Belmont, I sat in the shade and took pictures of birds coming to the bird feeders while the summer campers were inside the Carriage House getting ready. I noticed finches at first. Sometimes there are 3 or 4 at the feeders together.

When the red winged blackbirds come the finches scatter. I managed to get one picture with both. The red winged blackbirds are a little bigger…and they tend to dominate wherever they are.

There was another bird that showed up that looked scruffy. Was it another red winged blackbird? I continued taking pictures to find out.

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I think it is – one that is either sick or a juvenile getting adult plumage!  The patch of color on the top of the wing looks mottled but it’s there.

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Belmont Hikes with Summer Campers IV

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Last week was probably the longest hike of the season for the summer campers at Howard County Conservancy’s Belmont location. It was the combined group of campers so when we started there were just under 30 campers and all their junior counselors and counselors. More than half of them made it the whole distance.

While we were getting organized I took a few pictures of the lichen and moss in the large English Elm to the side of the carriage house. I also noticed that there was more moss than before on the roof of the carriage house – probably from all the rain we’ve gotten this summer; we go for days where nothing dries out completely.

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Once we headed out, I didn’t have much time for taking pictures. We cut across the mowed grass field to connect with the Morning Choice trail and enter the forest near the grove of Bigleaf Magnolias. We saw at least one seed pod high in the trees. They have the look of tropical trees with their large leaves.

We continued – connecting with the Ridge Trail and noticing that the trail that goes down the Avalon Area in Patapsco Valley State Park was closed. On and on through the forest – noticing some trees that had recently fallen – their roots not being able to keep them upright in the soggy soil. Even though it was the Ridge Trail it was up and down…we even crossed a stream. We stopped for a little bit longer rest.

I photographed a millipede. There were several that the campers found…very pleased with themselves since the critters are well-camouflaged in the forest.

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We finally made a final trek into the valley and over a little stream we were all familiar with because of its proximity to the Carriage House. It was time for lunch and I had already met my 12,000-step goal for the day before noon! Everyone was tired…in a good way…thrilled to have made it back from our trek.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 4, 2018

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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.

Babcock Ranch in Florida Is to Sustainable Living What Tesla Is to Sustainable Transportation | CleanTechnica – This is how new development meshes with sustainability. We need to figure out how to retrofit existing communities toward sustainability too.

Interview: Adventurous Photographer Shares His Experiences Shooting Lava – I don’t have a desire to photograph active volcanoes with flowing lava….but I enjoy photographs taken by others.

US opioid prescribing rates by congressional district -- ScienceDaily – Opioid addiction is such a sad outcome in the US medical system…and it doesn’t seem like we are making progress even with the recognition that we have a problem.

Think everyone died young in ancient societies? Think again | Aeon Ideas – Even before the advent of modern medicine – there were people that lived to be very old. One of my great grandmothers lived into her 90s and all my grandparents survived their childhoods before vaccines. But many people didn’t. Epidemics like flu, typhoid, yellow fever and bubonic plague killed many people in the areas where they struck….but some people survived.

New battery could store wind and solar electricity affordably and at room temperature -- ScienceDaily – Lots of research on batteries and other forms of energy storage now….required if wind and solar power can supply 100% of our energy needs. I almost brought of ‘the grid’ but I’m not sure that a grid is going to dominate the future of our energy needs…it might…or might not.

Truth, Disrupted – An article from Harvard Business Review about false (not fake) news.

Researchers are one step closer to developing eye drops to treat common sight loss condition -- ScienceDaily – Good news…if this development lives up to the early results.

Top 25 birds with a sugar rush – Have to include some eye candy….and birds…in every gleanings post!

Unique Assemblage of Stone Tools Unearthed in Texas - Archaeology Magazine – The age of the assemblage is older that Clovis-style tools. The variety of colors and shapes of the stone (picture) is appealing too.

Researchers explore popular food trends in nutritional review: Evidence suggests beneficial outcomes from legumes, mushrooms, coffee and tea -- ScienceDaily – The most surprising result from this research: “The verdict on dairy as part of a heart-healthy diet is still out, and if consumed, full-fat dairy should be avoided.”

Dogwood Sawfly Larvae

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The saddleback caterpillars were not the only new insect for me last weekend at Brookside Gardens. I noticed a lot of white ‘caterpillars’ on a yellow twig dogwood near the gift shop end of the conservatory….they were dogwood sawfly larvae!

When I went back with my husband on Monday, there was a person spraying the plants just as we got to the gardens. I’d heard that other plants in the garden were infected and it didn’t take me long to find some that had not been sprayed. I got close enough pictures to realize that the larvae have a similar color and texture to lemon bars: white (like a dusting powdered sugar) on top and glistening yellow underneath.

They were so plentiful on the dogwoods that some fell off into the grass below

Or started climbing up into the bald cypress that was overhead.

Probably by the time I go to Brookside this weekend they will mostly be gone – either because of spraying or the plants will be devoured and the larvae in the pupa stage.