Gleanings of the Week Ending February 1, 2020

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.

Unusual Urban Bobcat Spotted in Washington, D.C. | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Wow! There is more open area where I live (between Washington DC and Baltimore)…maybe there is a bobcat around here too.

Low doses of radiation used in medical imaging lead to mutations in cell cultures -- ScienceDaily - Discovery that radiation creates breaks that allow in foreign DNA must be confirmed in animal studies. Maybe this is just a pathway to learning more about how cells cope with natural amounts of DNA damage….or maybe we need to look again at the risk/benefit of some routine diagnostic testing.

Stunning Chronophotos of Powerful Osprey in Mid-Hunt – Very dramatic!

Surprising Beauty Found in Bacterial Cultures – The video is less than a minute…worth watching.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: #Feeding – National Geographic Society Newsroom – They all must eat. I kept track of what they were eating in the pictures: snail, insect or other small invertebrate, frog, rodent, fish, lizard, algae, carrion, nectar, skink, or seeds.

Walnuts may be good for the gut and help promote heart health -- ScienceDaily – I like walnuts….now just to eat them more consistently!

HEADING TO THE FOREST: Bringing Joy, Accomplishment & Hope to Children | Children & Nature Network – Forest days for kindergarteners and nature kids from preschool to high school…backyard to back country. More examples of how education in nature is happening. This was part 2…the earlier article can be found here.

America's most widely consumed oil causes genetic changes in the brain: Soybean oil linked to metabolic and neurological changes in mice -- ScienceDaily – Start reading labels….there is soybean oil is in a lot of processed foods like mayonnaise and salad dressings….the list goes on and on. Evidently other soy products (edamame, soymilk, tofu, etc.) don’t cause the same changes observed with soy oil.

Blue Jay: A New Look at a Common Feeder Bird – Our feeder is not accessible to blue jays….but we see them at our birdbath frequently….and hear their calls in the forest and our yard trees.

Macro Photography Shows Stunning Details of Carnivorous Plants – Some botanical pictures to finish out the gleanings for this week.

Zooming – January 2020

The beginning of the new year….sunrises, birds, snow. It was a busier-than-usual January – but not for photography. I still had plenty of zoomed pictures to choose from. Most of them were taken at home but there are a few from Conowingo (the eagles and crane) and one from Belmont (the sparrow). It was a good start to the year.

Enjoy the slide show for January 2020!

Horseshoe Crab Shedding

The big excitement when I volunteered at the Robinson Nature Center Touch Tank last week was watching a horseshoe crab shed it’s outer shell. When I first came in, I was surprised that one of the horseshoe crabs was on the top of the sand rather than buried underneath like they usually are. Then – over the course of about an hour the crab shed….moving relatively quickly in the last 15 minutes. The first place the process is visible is at the top front edge. I took pictures along the way from two perspectives so that it’s possible to see the upper shell separating and the legs/body underneath.

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Finally, the main part of the crab was free of the shed although the shed was still resting on its tail

I took a sequence that shows that the tail is very flexible when the crab is newly shed. Its shell is soft as well. We don’t pick up or touch the horseshoe crabs that are shedding or newly shed.

We moved a nearby rock and the shed floated a short distance away. The horseshoe crab was still on the surface of the sand and its shell was probably beginning to harden. This would be a vulnerable time for the horseshoe crab in the wild. The shed was upside down in the tank, showing part that had covered the legs and body of the crab. The shed is almost clear…with some brownish highlights.

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It was an interesting sight to everyone that was in the Discovery Room at the time….doesn’t happen all that often.

Ten Little Celebrations – January 2020

2020 has started out with more activity than I anticipated….more volunteering, more classes, more events…and some travel at the end of the month.

Bluebird passing through: We don’t see bluebirds around that much….so it’s a special day when we do see one.

47th wedding anniversary: It doesn’t seem like such a long time…compared to my parents celebrating 67 years. I’m going to think of something special for our 50th coming up in 3 years!

Children enjoying the Touch Tank: There are moments in every hour that I spend volunteering at Robinson Nature Center’s saltwater touch tank that are little celebrations for me and for the children. Whether it is awe from something an animal does…or how they feel…or just understanding something new.

Conowingo Eagles: Even on a morning I don’t get any particularly good pictures – I enjoy every trip we make to the Conowingo…and that the eagle population is back from the brink!

Hot tea with cream: Or maybe with just milk. It’s my favorite winter beverage.

Middle Patuxent Water Monitoring: I always enjoy getting in the river and then doing the gleaning of the macroinvertebrates to identify. Since it was winter, I was braced to get very cold…but we had a wonderful sunny (not too cold) day!

Honing skills for volunteer gig: None of the classes were very long but were informative and applicable to me becoming a better volunteer. The topics ranged from autism, Howard Country Green Infrastructure Network, sensitivity training (impact of microaggression), outdoor wear fashion and function, and the spotted lantern fly. Wow – quiet a range of topics and all the presentations were excellent.

Snow in the afternoon: So beautiful. I celebrate every snow these days because I don’t have to drive in it!

Zentangle® with Howard County Conservancy volunteers: I love guiding group Zentangle sessions. This particular group seemed to enjoy the session…and had some ideas about ‘next steps’ in a practice. And like the campers last summer…got a little Zen as well.

Cooper’s Hawk on a Snowy morning: Often a ‘little celebration’ is a surprise that just happens. Seeing the Cooper’s Hawk fly into our sycamore was that kind of celebration – although I am glad the hawk is not around my backyard more frequently (since I enjoy the other birds).

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 25, 2020

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 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: January 2020 – Starting out with wild and wonderful birds this week.

Infographic: How does nature influence human health? – Most people intuitively know that nature has a positive impact…but now there is more and more research to quantify that impact.

The Plastics Pipeline: A Surge of New Production Is on the Way - Yale E360 – Just when I really want manufacturers to find ways to package products in something other than plastic….the industry has plans to ramp up production of plastic. Consumers can still make a difference with our purchases (or lack of purchase). I’m slowly but surely reducing the items I buy that come in plastic….always looking for alternatives.

New aqueous lithium-ion battery improves safety without sacrificing performance: Non-flammable, cost-efficient, and effective battery -- ScienceDaily – Hurray for all the battery research going on right now….hopefully there will be more and better options near term. It would certainly boost the speed we can transition away from fossil fuels.

Pylos Tomb Artifacts Suggest Trade Links - Archaeology Magazine – Amber from the Baltics, imported carnelian, pendant depicting an Egyptian goddess….the Greek site might have been a stop on a trade route.

Happy New Year from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station – Kelly Brunt posted this on January 3rd….and I just got around to looking at it. She was one of our hosts at NASA for my HoLLIE class and then the keynote for our graduation. It was good to read about her recent activities!

Super Resilient Protein Structures Preserved a Chunk of Brain for 2,600 Years – Wow – what an amazing and surprising find! And there is has been some research to figure out how it managed to be preserved.

Towards Ecophilia: Being hopeful in spite of it all -I enjoyed the pictures and activity descriptions about children in nature.

How US sewage plants can remove medications from waste-water – Using granular activated carbon and ozonation….more than 95% of certain antidepressants and antibiotics can be removed. This is important to help reduce the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria and maybe other environmental harms as well. But it can be expensive.

The oldest person in the world turns 117 – I liked the last paragraph of the story the best: Last year, when Tanaka received her record for the world’s oldest person, she was asked about the happiest moment in her long life. Her reply was simple: “Now.” Wouldn’t it be great if we all could feel like that no matter how old we are!

Through my Office Window – January 2020

It’s easy to photograph birds through my office window – when I am in the office and not totally focused on something else. I’ve positioned my computer and raised the bird feeder slightly so I can see activity in my peripheral vision while I am working at the computer. I just grab my camera, stand up, make a few steps, and take pictures!

The Dark-eyed Juncos are around all the time although I rarely photograph them. We have our own little neighborhood flock. They are fast moving…like they are nervous all the time.

We have a pair of Northern Cardinals that are around every day. Their color and sounds stand out.

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The raucous groups of Blue Jays come to our trees and sometimes to our bird bath. I go to the window based on the sounds. One day this month there was a big thump on the roof above my office. Three blue jays (silent) flew off to the sycamore as I made it to the window and a single blue jay feather drifted down. Was there a fight? Did there used to be four blue jays and a hawk got one?

The Carolina Wren is at the feeder and the bath almost every day. Sometimes I am drawn to by their song and it takes some looking to find the bird. We have at least two around. We’ve had several instances where they’ve found their way into our screened deck….and we open the door for a while to help them escape.

The Red-bellied Woodpeckers come to the feeder almost every day. We have at least one pair….although the female comes more than the male (Could there be more than one female?...Maybe). The dig around for the larger seeds they like at the feeder.

Mourning Doves are frequent visitors as well. They are too big for the feeder, but they do clean up the seed underneath and they drink from the birdbath.

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The House Finches have returned after a hiatus of a few years.

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I like the White-breasted Nuthatch for its orientation and postures. It is head down on the feeder more than upright!

The Downy Woodpecker comes to our feeder less frequently although I see them in the trees. Maybe that’s a positive indicator that they are finding enough food they favor in our forest.

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There are birds that don’t come to our feeder but are probably frequent visitors to our yard since we are at the edge of a forest. Common Grackles pass through frequently. They look like small black birds at first glance but with a little zooming the different coloring is distinctive…and the yellow eye.

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There are also flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds that come through. They very rarely come to the feeder. They must be finding plenty of food elsewhere.

We have the Reolink camera monitoring our birdfeeder all the time these days; that gives us a great opportunity to catch more bird interaction. I’m saving that for an upcoming blog post!

A Few Minutes at Belmont

When I got in the car to go to Belmont Manor and Historic Park last week, it was evident I hadn’t been there since November; it was so far down the ‘recent’ list in my navigation system that I switched to the ‘saved’ list! Once there I finished my errand quicker than expected so took a few minutes for pictures.

Inside there was Katrina, the diamondback terrapin. She was very active.

Outside on the side of the building, there were the familiar signs.

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The red maple planted by last year’s HoLLIE class looked healthy (red tinged twigs) – dripping from the mists that were swirling around.

But the small birds that seemed to be everywhere were what drew my attention. I’d seen a mockingbird as I walked toward the building earlier, but the small birds moved around closer to the ground in larger numbers – in the leaf and brush – blending in. I managed to photograph one – song sparrows!

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Birds on Busy Days

Sometimes I manage to see something interesting from my office window even on a day I am not in my office very much. Back in December I walked into my office, glanced at the tulip poplar at the edge of the forest….and stopped because there was a hawk in the tree. I grabbed my camera for a quick picture and then it flew away. It looked like a red-tailed hawk.

This month – right after we got the board set up for our birdfeed camera mount, I came into my office and discovered that the doves had already discovered the new perch. The camera is only big enough for one but there are other perches nearby – the gutter above and the solar panel to the side are popular.

Overall our back yard seems to be a popular place for birds. Fortunately, the predators are infrequent and don’t stick around. Our feeder and bird bath have busy times during the day…and other times are very quiet. Some visitors come every day while others come only occasionally. I’m always thrilled to find bird action when I first walk into my office!

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 18, 2020

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.

Earth at Night – This is an eBook from NASA that was last updated in December 2019….lots of pictures of the earth at night, analysis, and the technology behind the images.

Genomes Sequenced for Every US and Canada Butterfly | The Scientist Magazine® - Work by an evolutionary biologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. 845 butterfly species were studied.

Adding copper strengthens 3D-printed titanium -- ScienceDaily – Current titanium alloys used in 3D printing were prone to cracking and distortion. The copper alloy seems to overcome that problem.

When the best way to take notes is by hand - BBC Future – I like to take notes by hand….it always seemed easier to me than using a laptop (although I tried using a laptop to take notes in meetings during my career). Now it seems that it is better for internalizing concepts too. No need for me to try to change to anything else!

Blue Whales’ Hearts Can Beat Exceptionally Slowly | The Scientist Magazine® - As low as 2 times per minute! The high was 37 beats per minute.

Image of the Day: Ochre Paint | The Scientist Magazine® - Evidently ancient people heated aquatic bacteria mats growing in iron rich water to make a bright red paint which was used for rock art. The paint contains microfossils of the bacteria (Leptothrix ochracea). The red color is highly thermo-stable…something that has applicability to manufacturing.

Crows could be the smartest animal other than primates - BBC Future – Clever crows. Not so long ago we thought humans were the only ones to make and use tools.

Incredible Winners of the 2019 EPSON International PANO Awards – Panoramic photographs…a little eye candy for the week.

Trashed farmland could be a conservation treasure -- ScienceDaily – Interesting idea…but how much land is in this category and what happens to the people that are still trying to eke out an existence on that land.

Future For Silversword Plants At Halaeakalā National Park Dark – Rare plants…have not recovered as well as the Nene (Hawaiian goose) – for several reasons. Plants around the world are having to adjust to changing climate and some will not be able to change fast enough to continue to exist in the same places…some may become extinct. I hope the Silversword survives.

Maryland State House Ceiling as Zentangle® Prompt

I am always noticing potentials for Zentangle patterns. An easy one was in the skylight at the Maryland State House (when we visited back in December). I made a tile without much thought about deconstruction. The stained glass ‘flower’ is was my primary interest.

I used a string to guide the pointed arc shape around each flower…then just make the curves. I filled in the spaces between the ‘petals’ to add some drama…and then it was just the tried and true Zentangle auras to fill in the rest of the space.

I did a simple step out of the way I deconstructed the pattern after I made the tile!

Zentangle prompts are everywhere! I’ve been looking at books about ancient pottery recently….lots to patterns to glean from them. I try to limit myself to one of the ‘Zentangle prompt’ posts each month, but I am very tempted to do another this month.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

A Little Snow

Last week we had a little snow…a few inches one afternoon and evening…enough to delay the schools opening the next morning. I took a picture as it was coming down in the afternoon before the day got too dark.

The next morning, I started before sunrise then took several pictures catching the changes in light as the sun came up and from behind the morning clouds.

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The sycamore has a few leaves that caught the snow…but there were also branches acting like skewers for ribbons of snow on the tree.

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The evergreens always hold a lot of snow. This time it wasn’t enough to break any limbs.

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The red maple twigs already look a little red against the snow they hold.

The tulip poplar seed pods act as little cups for the snow…the branches of the tree like a candelabra. The snow was wet enough to stick to almost all the branches.

The big surprise of the morning was a hawk. When it first flew into the sycamore while I was getting my breakfast, I thought it was a mourning dove, but then decided it was a little larger…and then it turned its head and I knew it wasn’t a dove. The pictures were taken through a window with a screen but the shape of the tail is distinctive enough to indicate that it was probably a Cooper’s Hawk (rather than a sharp-shinned). No wonder there weren’t any birds around our feeder at the time!

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The snow melted slowly over the course of the day. I was glad I didn’t have anything I needed to do away from home.

Memorable Picture

I took this picture back in November. It is the side of the Missouri State University stadium. What do you think the image between the two columns represents?

My mother glanced at it – thought it was a spider….but the logo is actually of a bear! It a rectangular clip of a squarish logo that is obviously a bear. But I can see how it does look like a spider at first glance….and that’s what makes the picture memorable. It draws me back to a moment in time on a cold November day, walking between the building and our car, noticing the fierce whatever-it-is, laughing. I took the picture just after my mother’s comment and we all pilled into the car. A happy time.

Eastern Bluebird – January 2020

On the second day of the year, a male Eastern Bluebird appeared in our backyard. I saw him first near the bird bath. By the time I got my camera, the bird was in the sycamore…looking serious. It was a relatively cold day so the bird’s feathers were a little fluffed to provide more warmth; he looks very rounded.

I thought he had flown way but when I checked the videos from our birdfeeder, I found that the bird had attempted to visit the feeder….but headed to a perch was too high to get and seed. It quickly backed away and I didn’t see it again. Even though the clips from the Reolink video are a little blurry – it does show how the bird maneuvers to back away from the birdfeeder.

We don’t see bluebirds very often so this it was a pleasant surprise to see the bird. In January 2018, I managed to photograph 3 bluebirds at our birdbath!

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 11, 2020

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 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Seabirds – Starting with the birds this week. I’m thinking about the Delmarva birding sessions later this month…they’ll be sea birds and more to see.

Clearing damaged cells out of the body helps heal diabetics' blood vessels -- ScienceDaily – Interesting….but still a lot of research needed before it could potentialy be used in treatment.

The toxic killers in our air too small to see - BBC Future – Nanoparticles – 90% of particles by busy roads are nanoparticles below 100nm. The smaller the particles, the greater potential toxicity. Anything smaller than 30 nm can make it to through the lungs and into the blood stream (larger than that doesn’t gets past the lungs). The Global Burden of Diseases study estimates that air pollution could account for 21% of all deaths due to stroke and 24% of deaths from ischaemic heart disease.

A little prairie can rescue honey bees from famine on the farm -- ScienceDaily – Food crops can provide good food for honey bees…but maybe not for the whole season.

Adult Humans Can Regenerate Cartilage: Study | The Scientist Magazine® - microRNA may have potential in human regeneration of tissue.

Agar Art Contest 2019: See this year’s winners – Art made with live bacteria.

Infrared Reveals Egyptian Mummies' Hidden Tattoos | Smart News | Smithsonian – 7 mummies – 3,000 years old. All the mummies with tattoos at the site were women.

Gabapentin: A Risky Answer to the Opioid Epidemic - The Atlantic Gabapentin has become the 10th most-commonly-prescribed medication in the US. It is viewed as a safer alternative to opioids for chronic pain….but it is problematic in combination with other sedating medication and it doesn’t work as well as hoped….particularly for back pain. It appears that looking for a quick fix for chronic pain is – again – not working as advertised.

Photography In The National Parks: My Favorite Spots For Great Photos – From Arches, Bryce Canyon, Big Bend, Acadia, and Padre Island.

Scientists Don't Know Why Freshwater Mussels Are Dying Across North America | Smart News | Smithsonian – It’s not just in one place….and may have multiple causes. But this just highlights that some mussel species that have already gone extinct…and our rivers are very different than their ‘natural’ state.

Camera on the Birdfeeder – Setting Up

I posted some initial results of our bird feeder camera back in December. This post is a little more about our experience…now that we’ve settled on a configuration. The camera we are using is a Reolink Argus 2. In December, we were experimenting by using a ladder to temporarily mount it; our goal was to decide where to mount the camera and the best settings.

Our first attempt at more permanent mounting (and one that would not show in the pictures like the ladder did) was on a bracket just below the eave of the covered deck. We discovered almost immediately that the bracket was not as stable as we had thought it would be; a breeze could cause the camera to move. So – we started thinking through alternatives.

Even with a wobbly camera,  we did capture a good sequence of a male and female red-bellied woodpecker interaction at the feeder (the male is the one that has red from front of his head all the way back to where the black and white feathers begin). The female was there first but flew to the support for the covered deck when the male arrived – pecking the wood (in frustration?) then flying off.

Our next mounting scheme was to mount a board to the supports for the covered deck and then the camera with its solar panel on the borad.  So far it is working well. We’ve been tweaking some settings. I’ll post some results in a few days.

I use the Reolink Client on my PC to view the videos captured by the camera. I download the ones I want to clip for my blog – either as single images or a sequence of images. It’s been a lot of fun to watch the antics of birds that I didn’t catch from my office window. So far, we haven’t had any unexpected visitors…but I am enjoying the views of behaviors I would not have seen otherwise.

My 2019 in Review - Photos

I managed to pick 26 pictures that were my favorites of the year either because I liked the way they turned out or because of a memory they evoked. I noticed some themes after I had collected them.

All except one are outdoors (although two were taken through my office window so I was standing indoors when I took them).

Many were pictures of plants: bare trees, witch hazel, red yucca seed pod, button bush, joe pye weed, cardoon, sunflowers, beautyberry, and red buckeye (nuts).

7 were pictures of animals or evidence of animals (other than birds): whelk shells, horseshoe crab beginning to roll over, northern red-bellied cooter (turtle), tiger swallowtail butterflies, cicada, spider, gray tree frog.

6 were pictures of birds or feathers: pelican, ibis, gallinule, bald eagle (wet), red-bellied woodpecker.

There are two sunrise pictures: one from my front porch on the first day of 2019 and one from October when we were camping in southern Virginia.

More than half the pictures are from places I go that are close to where I live (i.e. not requiring an overnight trip).

First Day of 2020

I got up early enough yesterday to see the sunrise. The clouds were too low and thick for it to be a great one…but it was the first of 2020. I did the same thing last year….with clouds making the color smudgy.

We decided that the clouds were going to clear off enough to make a trek to Conowingo Dam to see the bald eagles worthwhile. It was a cold morning, so we wore snow pants and took hand warmers. As we drove in, I noticed the seagulls first; we hadn’t seen any gulls last time we went to Conowingo (in late October). As I got out of the car, I heard some eagles and saw one flying with a stick. It circled around and went up to the platform near the top of an electrical tower. I later zoomed in for a picture of the sticks accumulating for the nest. There was a nest there in previous years so the pair may just be adding new sticks…making sure the sides are high enough to contain the chicks until they are ready to fledge.

The water was high from recent rains and the dam was generating power. Both gulls and eagles were benefiting from the fish available – stopped by the dam. We didn’t see any cormorants or great blue herons this time.

The eagles were active but very far away on the rocks and abutment…swooping above and into the water for fish. It is very close to out of range for my camera so most of my pictures are a little blurry.

There was an interaction between two birds on the abutment. They both looked rounded with their feathers fluffed and I wondered if it was from their ‘argument’ or just being cold.

Another interaction – two juveniles. One was on the rock but flew off just as the other came in for a landing.

Another juvenile was fishing…but didn’t manage to land a fish in this foray.

My husband’s camera did a bit better. He managed to photograph an adult catch a fish, jostle it into position, be chased by a juvenile…and then take the fish up to the nest. Was there a mate at the nest? We couldn’t see.

He also got some good pictures of juveniles; we are both beginning to appreciate the wing patterns of the juveniles – lots of variety in their look before they get their adult plumage.

I took a picture of one of the two cranes that are on the top of the dam facing the lake. I assume they are used to get large debris that washes down the Susquehanna from points north out of the water.

Zooming – December 2019

December was not a big month for photography. I did enjoy birds and wildlife…the decorations too…but I found myself in observational mode rather than trying to take photographs. I did quite a lot of volunteer work early in the month, and there never is time for very much time for photography when I’m paying rapt attention to people during a volunteer gig.

Enjoy the slide show for December 2019!

Happy New Year 2020!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 28, 2019

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 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Colourful Birds – National Geographic Society Newsroom – Starting off this last gleanings list of 2019 with birds! My favorite picture of this set is the scarlet macaw with a stick. Is it eating it or using it as a beak-pick?

Artistic Photographs of Mushrooms and Myxomycetes by Alison Pollack – Focusing on small things in the forest.

In Search of Australia’s Amazing Rainbow Finch – A bird survey experience…and some pictures.

Patchwork of Corn in the Snow – As of late November a lot of corn was unharvested because it was too wet. Corn needs to dry on the stalks before it is harvested and this 2019 crop may not be harvested in some areas until February or March of 2020.

Watching Wildlife on Skis – Winter wildlife….another benefit to being out and about (with proper gear) during the winter.

Life Rides the Wind in the Desert | The Scientist Magazine® - Finding life in the Atacama Desert.

Decking the halls of history: the origins of Christmas decorations – A little historical note for after the holiday.

Image of the Day: Horns and Wings | The Scientist Magazine® - Technology that can turn off genes is the enabler of this research into how horns and wings develop in dung beetles…and maybe other insects too.

Children’s Book Review: Wake up, Woods – A book about native woodland plants for children.

Real Reindeer Are More Amazing Than You Ever Imagined – Another Christmas themed post…about an iconic animal that isn’t just a cartoon.

Brookside Gardens – December 2019

I walked around Brookside Gardens on Christmas Eve. It was sunny, but still only in the 40s with a little breeze; I was wearing my coat and gloves…put my hood up for part of the time. I noticed a tree has been cut down recently near the junction of the boardwalk to the Nature Center with the path from the Conservatory parking lot toward the Japanese Tea House (Brookside map here). The shelf fungus growing on the stump still held the saw dust!

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I noticed some birds too. The only two I managed to photograph were a White-throated Sparrow that was searching a mat covering electrical cords for the seasonal lights (the bird found at least one snack) and

A Northern Cardinal near the fragrance garden. I saw a lot of Cardinals…or maybe it was the same one following me around! Their color certainly makes them stand out.

The gardens are full of dried flowers and seeds. The sumac is the most colorful. I find the shapes of the dried ferns very appealing. They have a feathery look to them. Some of the grasses do too.

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The Conservatories were my last stop – for poinsettias and the model train.

There were quite a few families enjoying the garden while I was there. The excitement and joy of the children in the model train exhibit is like experiencing a seasonal group hug!