Gleanings of the Week Ending December 19, 2020

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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.

How Has Photography's Relationship With Nature Evolved Over the Past 200 Years? | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – A little history…that I used as a prompt to look for some of the works on Internet Archive. I’ll post about what I found for Kazumas Ogawa in a post next week.

Infographic: Deciphering Diet from Blood and Urine Samples | The Scientist Magazine® - Full article also available and more interesting that the infographic! The approach is still not perfected…but it may eventually help us get to personalized nutrition plans without as much trial and error that is required now.

Connection between gut bacteria and vitamin D levels -- ScienceDaily – Lots more needed to understand Vitamin D. This study indicated that blood tests for Vitamin D might not be useful at all since they don’t measure active Vitamin D….and active vitamin D is what correlates to gut bacteria…and potentially bone health. “Maybe it’s not how much vitamin D you supplement with, but how you encourage your body to use it.”

Get a Bird's-Eye View of UNESCO World Heritage Sites Across the Globe – Some beautiful places…from overhead.

How Non-Native Plants Are Contributing to a Global Insect Decline - Yale E360 – Insect declines….then birds. Lots of reasons to focus on planting natives a much as we can. I’m glad the forest behind my house is full of native trees and that I’ve replaced 2 bushs in the front of my house with natives. The challenge is to control the small but prolific invasive plants growing on the forest floor and into our yard enough for non-natives to survive. There used to be native jack-in-the-pulpits in our forest until several years ago.

How do we separate the factual from the possible? New research shows how our brain responds to both -- ScienceDaily – This article was frustrating. The study found that factual language is something our brains respond to. That’s not the issue at this moment in our nation’s history. The problem is the use of factual language about something not factual! Maybe this article is why we need to be more worried about public discourse/pronouncements.

It's One Hot Place Deep Down On The Floor Of Yellowstone Lake – About studies at Yellowstone Lake…the sensors and what they are revealing.

Shuttering fossil fuel power plants may cost less than expected -- ScienceDaily – Interesting…but I hope we’ll retire them all well before 2035 with the cost of renewals coming down so quickly. It will make economic sense to just do it!

Keeping Black Bears Wild And People Safe – This article is about black bears in Smokey Mountains National Park and the BearWise program more broadly. We do have Black Bears in Maryland and they occasionally show up in our area; there was one that showed up at our nearby elementary school a few years ago – caused a school lockdown until it wondered off.

Meet the Dipper, the Songbird That Swims – Evidently they are easier to spot in Colorado during the winter when they are concentrated long streams that remain unfrozen…but they are in the Rockies all year round…Dippers are elevation migrants (higher in the summer….lower in the winter). Maybe some post-pandemic trip we’ll look for them!

Ice Day

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The snow changed to sleet then rain around 3 PM and then the temperature dipped below freezing again overnight leaving it looking like snow on the ground but there was an icy crust on top of the snow and the streets were rutted ice. The gutters of the house were clogged with snow that had become icy. So – we had an Ice Day after a Snow Day.

I took some pictures in the early morning darkness. The temperature was about 25…and it looked like there was still white everywhere…the street looking white too. I’d heard a vehicle go by and there were enough cracking sounds to indicate that the street was not clear…was not turned to slush by an application of salt.

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As the sun came up, the street looked treacherous and our driveway looked snow packed. I took some zoomed pictures of the azalea outside our front door with ice nodules held by its leaves.

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I had scheduled a donation pickup from our front porch which I changed to leave in the garage – although I’m not sure they will come…maybe the street will be better by this afternoon.

The best picture of the morning was of our backyard. I didn’t realize until I was reviewing the pictures that I’d gotten the shadow of a dove in flight! My intent was to document the low place in our backyard making a little stream of melt water….but sometimes the unexpected happens and makes for more than a documentary picture.

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Snow Day

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Sunrise

I kept checking to see if had started snowing even before it was daylight….and noticed the sunrise. It was a good way to start the day even without snow falling.

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I enjoyed the pumpkin roll I had gotten at the grocery store when I went to buy half and half for the (potential) snow ice cream for my breakfast. It still wasn’t snowing.

Snowing

And then it started. The temperature was 30 or 31….so it didn’t stick immediately to the street and sidewalk, but our deck is raised….and started accumulating snow. Soon there was a dusting. The juncos still found the seeds I’d spilled on the deck…scratching the snow away. The small openings in the mat on the front porch started to fill. Even leave litter turns beautiful with a dusting of snow.

The leaves on the azalea by the front porch caught snow…the occasional red leaf stands out. I went out on the deck to photograph the stairs down to the yard; the dark mound on the landing mid-way down must be racoon poop after one of their visits to our bird feeder.

Snowflakes

All the equipment to try snowflake photography was outside to get cold: the glass plate in a bowl, the magnifiers, the wireless clicker to cause my phone to take the picture. The snow was coming down fast enough that it was a challenge to not get too much on the plate. The snowflakes were often already clumped into larger structures on the way down (there were ‘flakes’ falling that were quite large…gauzy looking). So – not a great day for photographing snowflakes. I did get to experiment with the clip on 65x magnifier with its own light and the 25x jeweler’s loupe. Both are used resting on the plate with the phone positioned above them; it makes it easier to hold everything steady for the photos. Hopefully, we’ll have another snow – an opportunity to try again.

Snow Ice Cream

We got enough snow to make snow ice cream (a little over 3 inches)! I skimmed off the top inch just as the sleet started (later it rained), filling a large bowl. I had already measured out a cup of half-and-half, ½ teaspoon of vanilla, and a cup of pepper candy chips. The snow was still so icy after I used the mixer to blend everything that I added another cup of half and half and even then it didn’t taste as creamy as I thought it would….but it looked pretty with the bit of color from the candy and we ate it anyway.

After 2 bowls of snow ice cream, I was so cold I sat in front of the fire in the fireplace – getting warm on one side at least. It was a good end to our snow day.

House & Garden Magazines

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Internet Archive has quite few volumes of the House & Garden magazines digitized; they are in volumes with 6 issues each (like were in physical library reference sections). A search for the title “House & garden” provides a long list with all the volumes having a publication date of 1901 in the metadata (which is when the magazine was first published)!  It’s not possible to find the volumes for a particular year of interest on the list.   I am still working my way through the volumes…slowly but surely…but I am featuring 9 of the volumes in this post that I’ve already enjoyed.

The earliest volume is from July-December 1901. I always pay attention to books from 1901 because that is the year my paternal grandfather was born (earlier in the year). His parents had immigrated to the US from Eastern Europe and were tenant farms in Texas. Their lives were a far cry from the houses and gardens depicted in the magazine. I did find something familiar in this volume: pictures of Biltmore near Ashville, NC. George Vanderbilt would have been still alive when the article was written, and his daughter (born in 1900) would have been a toddler. What different environment it would have been to grow up in such a place!

I enjoy thinking about how people lived the magazine depict…the types of materials used for flooring and roofs...plumbing and lighting…elaborate gardens with water features…cottage gardens…architectural features like built-ins, garden rooms, and porches. The covers are often the only color pages in the early volumes…easy to spot when browsing through. Here are some samples:

July – December 1908

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There are pictures of the White House Rose Garden as it was during the Reagan administration in the September – December 1984 volume.

I’ve been browsing the volumes in no particular order so far, keeping track of the ones I’ve browsed…eventually I’ll have to go back and try to find the volumes I somehow missed.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Groceries. Snow is in our forecast and we had no half-and-half to make snow ice cream! I opted to make a quick trip to the grocery store for it and other items to avoid going again for 3 weeks. I went at the usual early time and it seemed like there were a few more people (maybe others that wanted to get ‘snow day’ foods) but still easy to stay distanced and find everything on the list quickly. I wore two masks; my daughter had talked about double masking now that our masks have been though the laundry enough times that the fibers might not be as tight. My glasses anti-fog wipe treatment worked just as well as it did with one mask.  I bought a slice of red velvet cake and ate it for my morning snack…felt like I had too much caffeine in me shortly afterward….but still enjoyed the treat. Overall – a good morning errand and reward!

Anticipating Snow

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We are excited to have snow in the forecast for Wednesday.

Visions of snow ice cream!

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I previously bought peppermint candy chips to be ready for the winter…sugar and vanilla we always have on hand. So – the ingredient we are missing is half-and-half.

Since last winter we didn’t ever have enough snow to make snow ice cream, my husband and I have decided that I should do a grocery shopping at 1.5 weeks rather than 3 weeks since the last time….for the half and half and other things we’ll need to see us through the holidays (in our case it’s not just Christmas…there is an anniversary and birthday too…all from home this year, connections via Zoom).

Here’s the strategy for making snow ice cream:

Wait until enough snow falls that most of the pollution is out of the air (i.e. 1-2 inches have fallen).

Once there is enough snow – set out all the ingredients (peppermint candy chips, vanilla, half and half, sugar is optional since usually the chips provide enough sweetness, food coloring is optional but helps to know when everything is thoroughly mixed) and the big bowl + electric hand mixer + spatula + serving bowls.

Collect snow with a egg turner or anything with a large flat are to skim the top snow layers and transfer the snow into a large pan. Remember the snow compacts as it makes the snow ice cream. The fluffier the snow is – the more snow the ice cream will require.

Inside quickly put the snow into the big bowl…almost filling it. Add the other ingredients on top. The amounts are somewhat variable since snow has a range of consistencies – I usually start with 0.5 – 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 cup half and half, and .75 cup of peppermint candy chips. Then mix. Add more half and half if the consistency is crumbly rather than creamy.

Serve and enjoy.

Snowflake Photography!

Another activity to prepare for…probably something to do before enough snow has accumulated to make snow ice cream…photograph snowflakes. I’ve tried it several times in the past. March 2014 was a big year.

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I still have glass plates that will work well to catch the snowflakes…provide good background color. They’ll be out on the deck the night before the snow starts to be cold and ready for collection.

I’m going to try my phone with the lighted magnifier first. It’s only 5x so might not be quite enough for snowflake pictures.

I have loupe with a light somewhere that I need to locate. For both I will attach the magnification to the phone with a rubber band.

I’m still thinking about how to get the plate and phone into focusing range (i.e. close) without being handheld (too much heat generated with my hands). I’ll use voice or an external clicker to signal the phone to take the picture. So – I have a deadline of Wednesday to jerry-rig a set up.

Or - I might end up reverting to the loupes that sit on top of the plate and laying the phone on the loupe – the other end on a box to make it horizontal. The trick it to not add too much heat that will cause the snowflakes to melt too quickly!

I am soooo looking forward to a snow day!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 12, 2020

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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.

Massive Arecibo Telescope Collapses in Puerto Rico | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Very sad. It was already being decommissioned which was wrenching….but then the collapse meant that even the instruments that might have been usable elsewhere were destroyed. My husband spent some time at Arecibo during his graduate school studies in the 1970s.

What do slight arm movements reveal about our breathing and health? -- ScienceDaily – Evidently it works best during sleep when there is not a lot of other movement other than breathing!

Hegra, an Ancient City in Saudi Arabia Untouched for Millennia, Makes Its Public Debut | Travel | Smithsonian Magazine – Undisturbed for 2,000 years…once an international trade hub although most of the surviving structures are tombs…a few hundred miles to the south of Petra

Proterra Sells Its 1,000th Electric Bus and New Electric School Buses In Virginia & Massachusetts – Electric buses are very appealing…I’ve always hated the sooty exhaust from diesel buses. Buses operate in situations where many people (and children) are in close proximity, so removing buses as a source of city and school pollution would be a good step forward.

Glyphosate may affect human gut microbiota -- ScienceDaily – A bioinformatics tool to predict if a microbe is sensitive to glyphosate – in the soil…in the digestive system of animals. The compound, widely used as a herbicide, biochemically targets plants but the same pathway is also in bacteria.

Opinion: The Biological Function of Dreams | The Scientist Magazine® - Learning more about sleep…and REM sleep in particular.

The mystery of Siberia’s exploding craters - BBC Future – Gas emission craters. Studies have revealed a 3-5 year life cycle: a mound forms…rising several meters, the gas underneath explodes. They tend to form in areas where there is a thick layer of ice over permafrost…with some areas of unfrozen ground surrounded by permafrost…and very deep deposits of gas and oil. The big challenge has been to identify the source of the gas that builds up – because after the explosion it is already gone.

Forest fires, cars, power plants join list of risk factors for Alzheimer's disease: Airborne pollution implicated in amyloid plaques, UCSF-led study shows -- ScienceDaily and Air pollution spikes linked to lower test scores for Salt Lake County third graders -- ScienceDaily – Studies that show the impact of air pollution on humans….other reasons to step up the pace of the shift away from fossil fuels. Thinking positively – actions to address climate change tend to improve air quality.

Mistletoe: A Natural and Human History – A plant associated with the season! And there are other species of mistletoe from around the world.

Top 25 birds of the week: December 2020! - Wild Bird Revolution – Beautiful birds….at the end of the gleanings list for this week.

Around the House Macro – December 2020

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A quick walk around the house looking at familiar items with the 5x magnifying lens with a light…photographing through it with my phone.

The first stop was the vase of peacock feathers from my maternal grandmother in the early 80s. She had peacocks and picked up feathers as they were shed. I got a bouquet of them one Christmas. I put the feathers in a tall gold glass vase I’d bought in the 1960s – purchased with my allowance when we were shopping for school supplies one fall. They’ve been in that vase all along….moved to a new house twice. The colors are still iridescent and vibrant – to be expected with structural color.

The second stop was to purchased flowers….a sunflower dried and on the window sill purchased fresh more than a month ago, the other a little over two weeks old but still vibrant.

The third stop was a peacock feathered ornament my sister bought about 10 years ago. It was interesting to compare the feathers to the ones from the vase that are so much older. Maybe with more magnification they would look more different.

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Lastly – a macramé knot from a wall hanging one of my sisters in the 1980s for a Christmas gift.  

These are the most visually pleasing items in my office – beautiful on their own and full of my personal history. Together with the view from the window, they make it my favorite room in the house.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Last big leaf on the sycamore. The last big leaf has fallen from the sycamore. I kept taking pictures of it in the afternoon almost every day. This one was taken the day before it fell. It retained a bit of golden color until the end. Its falling has symbolized the shift from fall to winter for me this year.

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Thanksgiving at the Birdfeeder

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It turns out the birdfeeder had some busy times on Thanksgiving — according to our birdfeeder cam. The day started about 1:30 AM when two racoons visited they feeder. They gave up very quickly. So far – none of the racoon visitors have gotten any seed.

There were the usual visitors off and on throughout the morning. Then there was a flurry of activity about 12 hours after the racoon visit…starting just after 1:30 PM. A White-breasted Nuthatch came to the feeder…was routed temporarily by a Tufted Titmouse…after the titmouse left, pair nuthatches returned….they came and went several times. Then a female Northern Cardinal was on the feeder with the male cardinal keeping watch below. The nuthatch and cardinal pairs are rarely on the feeder at the same time…the second bird waits on the deck railing or floor. The nuthatches take turns on the feeder; the male cardinal seems to be more in sentinel mode rather than waiting for a turn at the feeder. The nuthatches pick out the sunflower seeds. The female cardinal seems to like everything.

Toward the end of the day, the Red-bellied woodpecker was the last bird to get a snack at the feeder. The bird made a lot of noise….before it flew in and then when it was at the feeder. It does like to have the feeder to itself although sometimes it will share it with a small bird like a Carolina Wren.

Sunrise Moments

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Sunrise pictures involve timing…a morning with some clouds but not too many to block out the light completely at the critical time…and I have to be in the right place at that time. I know the locations at our house: the front door looks to the east and the forest behind our house gets great morning glow.

I stand on the front porch and use the zoom to get pictures without houses or power lines. The big oak in our front yard is always in the foreground.

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On some mornings – the light coming down the trees as the sun comes up is more spectacular. The trees get an orangey glow. Again – I use the zoom on the camera to frame the image without a house or deck in the image.

The seed pods of the tulip poplars look more like flowers in the colorful morning light.

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On the morning I took these pictures, the clouds were on the move and the glow on the forest only lasted about 5 minutes…the clouds blinking out the magic light just as I finished with my camera.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 5, 2020

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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.

Climate change presents new challenges for the drinking water supply -- ScienceDaily – Studying the Rappbode Reservoir in Germany and applying models….helping to predict what happens with warmer temperatures and increased drought…and what tweaks in reservoir management can mitigate.

The Lanterna of Genoa, the oldest lighthouse in Europe – The current Lighthouse of Genoa was built in 1543. The article includes some pictures of the technology used in the lighthouse from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Pollution and pandemics: A dangerous mix: Research finds that as one goes, so goes the other -- to a point -- ScienceDaily – Studying the relationship between along term ambient particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less and the spread of COVID-19….using air quality data and COVID-19 case across the country. There is a correlation – more pollution….higher COVID-19 transmission. Also: "We found black carbon acts as a kind of catalyst. When there is soot present, PM2.5 has more of an acute effect on lung health, and therefore on R0." This is an example of how air quality degradation has adverse health consequences.

Leila Jeffreys' Elegant Bird Portraits Show Feathery "High Society" and Photographer Tim Flach Captures Emotive Portraits of Fascinating Birds – I prefer birds in the wild…but sometimes portraits show the bird with more detail…certainly with less distraction. These two series were quite different but full photogenic birds.

Two centuries of Monarch butterflies show evolution of wing length -- ScienceDaily – Looking through museum collections and island populations of Monarchs, the researchers discovered how migration selects for longer, larger forewings….non-migrants have smaller wings! And they have determined that the effect is due to genetics rather than the rearing environment.

Photography In The National Parks: Birdy, Birdy In The Sky – Almost half the gleanings this week are about birds. I think this is my favorite. National Parks…great places for photography and birds add some action in the scene!

Top 25 birds of the week: Coastal birds – Some I’ve seen (particularly the ones in this group that were photographed in New Jersey). Others are totally new – like the Great Stone-curlew found in coastal areas of southern Asia…striking head pattern…and eye.

Tens of thousands of 12,000-year-old rock paintings found in Columbia – Found in an area previously inaccessible to researchers due to Columbia’s 50-year civil war. Made with red ocher.

Vitamin D regulates calcium in intestine differently than previously thought – Still new discoveries to be made about how our bodies work…how complex and interconnected the chemistry is….a system of systems.

Newly Discovered Underground Rivers Could Be Potential Solution for Hawai’i’s Drought – The potential for water wells off the coast of islands…supplementing fresh water available on the land to support the population living there.

Through my Office Window – November 2020

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So much to see from my office window….

The resident Blue Jays come through several times a day. During the summer months I can only photograph them on the deck or at the bird bath. Now that the leaves are off the trees it is easier to spot them in other places in our back yard.

The Northern Cardinal pair are regular visitors as well. I see the female more often than the male.

The Carolina Wrens are around all during the year. They are easiest to photograph at the feeder since they are preoccupied with getting seed – stay for more than a few seconds.

The Chipping Sparrows and Tufted Titmouse are at the feeder almost every day. The titmouse often takes its seed to the gutter above the feeder to open the hull to get the good part.

The White-Breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, and Carolina Chickadee are all regular visitors.

American Goldfinch and Downy Woodpeckers are in our area all the time but they come to our deck and feeder infrequently.

There are birds we see primarily during migration times. Red-winged Blackbirds are at the neighborhood pond all through the year but only come to our feeder and forest in flocks during the fall and spring.

Sometimes we have Brown-headed Cowbirds around in the spring (laying eggs in other birds’ nests) but in the fall we just see them as they move through in small flocks when they stop to raid the birdfeeder.

Our resident Red-bellied Woodpecker comes to the feeder often. Right now - the female is all we see. Earlier this year there was a male and I hope there will be a pair next spring…another chance to see young birds.

The squirrels come to the deck for water and the seed under the feeder that the birds have scattered. Sometimes they try to dump the feeder but are generally not successful.

Now that the leaves are off the trees it is easier to see the Mourning Doves in the trees. Just before I wrote this post, I counted 7 doves preening in trees behind our house!

The sunsets are visible from my office window as well. The challenge is to look for it at the right time.

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My favorite picture ‘through the window’ this month is the last big leaves on the sycamore. It was taken on the 23rd. One of the leaves fell shortly after I took the picture but one is still hanging on.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 27, 2020

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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.

Iridescence - from archaeological glass to Art Nouveau – A little history of iridescent glass…how the effect is produced.

Photographer Captures Beauty of Starling Murmurations Across Europe – Awesome coordination of birds in flight. The starlings are not numerous enough in the US to create murmurations like this….but we did see flocks of tree swallows wintering in Florida that did.

New study reveals United States a top source of plastic pollution in coastal environments -- ScienceDaily and Plastic pollution is everywhere. Study reveals how it travels -- ScienceDaily – Plastic everywhere. We need to find a way to stop the waste.

Top 25 birds of the week: Plumage! - Wild Bird Revolution – Shots of color (I appreciated them more because it is a very cloudy day as I write this).

Into The Badlands Of El Morro and El Malpais National Monuments – Two places in New Mexico that I’ve visited several times…appreciated the pictures…reminder of how special these places are.

Which particulate air pollution poses the greatest health risk? -- ScienceDaily – Evidently the oxidative potential of particulate matter is key….wood combustion and metal emissions from brake and tire wear have higher oxidative potential, for example.

How to cut carbon out of your heating - BBC Future – A comparison of different types of heating…and other elements of carbon production related to heating where we live.

Wind & Solar Are Cheaper Than Everything, Lazard Reports – Great trend….now the market forces should push harder toward cleaner electrical generation.

The strange and surprising ways wild animals prepare for winter – The story starts out with bears but quickly moves on to animals not as well known for their winter preparations: moles, honey ants, chickadees, and snakes.

These Four-Foot Lizards Will Eat Anything—and They're Invading the Southeastern U.S. | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – The tegus, native to South America, and brought to the US as pets. They have roamed wild in southern Florida for a decade…and now are spotted around the southeastern US. It loves to eat eggs and thus is a threat to native species like quail, turkeys, alligators, and tortoises. The race is on to try to stop the invasion of this reptile.

Birdfeeder Camera – November 2020

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The action captured by the birdfeeder camera has been more than black squirrel antics. Raccoons visit a couple of times a month, usually around 2 AM…they have gone away frustrated so far. They leave poop on the deck or the steps between the deck and ground. I wonder if it is before or after they attempt to get a meal at the bird feeder. Also – is it the same racoon or different animals? I know that the river (Middle Patuxent) is like a highway for young racoon seeking a territory of their own.  

There are two new bird visitors to the feeder I discovered when I reviewed the videos:

Red-breasted Nuthatch. This is the first year I’ve seen this bird in our yard. I had seen it fleetingly on the deck several times. It was at the feeder on the 20th and was gutsy enough to stay there when the Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up.

Eastern Bluebird. Birds are not frequent visitors to our yard – and I’m glad it came to the side of the feeder visible to the video camera. It flew to the feeder while white-breasted nuthatch was there. The nuthatch left and the bluebird took the perch where it had been. Then the female red-bellied woodpecker flew to the feeder and the bluebird departed. Shortly after the woodpecker left the bluebird returned.

I’m thrilled that the video camera managed to capture some birds at the feeder that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

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Applesauce muffins. I am making holiday foods a few days early…and we’ll begin enjoying them early too. The applesauce spice muffins will be great for breakfasts.

Oatmeal cookie bars. I use the recipe from the Quaker Oats box but this time I added the rest of applesauce that I’d opened for the muffins into the batter. The cookie bars are more cake like – very yummy with chunks of apple from the applesauce. They’ll work for breakfast, snacks, or dessert.

Black Squirrel Antics

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I noticed a black squirrel at our feeder while I was watching one of the Crane Fiesta webinars…and took a few pictures.

Later I checked the birdfeeder cam and saw a series of squirrel antics - several strategies to get seed from the feeder. It started at the bottom where the holes are located and birds get seeds. As soon as the squirrel puts its weight on the feeder – the holes are closed! It got no seed that way.

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Then it tried from the top. There is no seed at the top but the squirrel did a thorough sniff…trying to get into the feeder. No luck for the squirrel.

The next strategy was to jump on the feeder. The squirrel started out upside down then turned the other way while the feeder was swinging wildly…finally it jumped off the feeder.

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It sat below the feeder for a bit – recovering – then left the area. Still hungry.

There was a black squirrel that visited our deck back in June but it didn’t explore the feeder. I wonder if this was the same individual. There have been times that I think I see a dark squirrel in our neighborhood as I drive out for errands. We see the gray/brown squirrels on our deck and at the feeder frequently…the black one is still ‘special’ because it doesn’t visit often.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Drying sunflower. I am still enjoying the sunflowers I bought earlier this month. They are drying on the windowsill in my office. I love the color that remains. I photographed one of them with a black fabric background so show off the color and curves.

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Broken treetop. I glimpsed what I thought was a freshly broken tree through the pine needles from my office window and went out in the back yard (2 stories down) to see it without the pine being in the way. I was still looking though some other trees into my neighbor’s yard - but it does appear that one of the larger branches of a tree broke…and the top fell into the forest rather than toward houses. We did have a storm that came through last week with some high winds…which might have been when it happened.

Crane Fiesta

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We thoroughly enjoyed the virtual Crane Fiesta run by the Friends of Bosque del Apache. Checkout their website (bottom of the home page for a collection of short videos). The Facebook page of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge has the morning fly out and even fly in recordings from during the festival.

I went back to look at my pictures from November 2016 and November 2018 when we enjoyed the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque. One of my favorite pictures is one I took the very first day in 2016; it shows that when the angle is just right – it is possible to see through the nares of the crane beak. It was a learning experience for me!

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Here’s a slideshow with a few other 2016 pictures from around the refuge.

In 2018, I did some rapid bursts of pictures to capture sequences of crane take off. I picked individual pictures from several of those to include in the slideshow below. It was colder than in 2016 but we were better prepared – snow pants, hand and foot warmers, balaclavas…layers. On one of the mornings, we watched the cranes stepping very carefully on ice.

I already looking forward to the next time we can be at Bosque del Apache during the festival week…. maybe in 2021.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 21, 2020

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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.

Photography In The National Parks: The Redwood Forests Are Made For Vertical Shots – Botany (redwoods), photography (including two short videos), natural places…a great way to start the day or boost my mood any time.

Tarantulas: Color, Cancer and Cramps – I remember a tarantula on the sliding glass door of our house in Wichita Falls, TX when I was in my early teens…at eye level. Fortunately, it was on the outside and I was inside. It was about the side of the palm of my hand. This article talks about research on tarantulas; they are probably more interesting than scary!

The cheap pen that changed writing forever - BBC Future – A little history for the week. The ballpoint pen was unveiled on October 29, 1945 in the US. However – the first patent for a ballpoint pen was back in 1888. Laszlo Biro developed a practical ball point pen by perfecting the ink (different than ink used in fountain pens) and got a patent in 1938 in Britain but World War II came along, and he fled to Argentina. His pen was released in Argentina in 1943, but the pen was little-known outside of South America. Find out more from the article.

Biophilic Cities For An Urban Century – During the pandemic, I have appreciated where I live for its proximity to nature; I live at the edge of a forest and the 30 year old development has larger trees in the yards too. Turning our cities from gray to green would be different but there are reasons to make the choice to do it. The authors consider urban economics, environmental health, and ecology…and propose that going forward that we should actively design for biophilic cities. If cities were more like the first picture in this article (and all those cars below were electric) – they would be much more pleasant places to live!

Top 25 birds of the week: Wild Birds! – Can’t resist….I always enjoy the collection of bird photos every week…so include it in the gleanings list.

Slideshow: How Ecologists Study the World’s Apex Predators – Projects from around the world studying the impact of predators…using a variety of techniques.

New solar panel design could lead to wider use of renewable energy: Designing solar panels in checkerboard lines increases their ability to absorb light by 125%, a new study says -- ScienceDaily and Solar Panels + Agriculture: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Two articles about solar panels….we’ve seen more of them in the past few years…there are a lot of indicators that it’s only the beginning of the upward trend gaining momentum.

The Craters on Earth – They mapped 200 sites – high resolution topographic maps and satellite images…geological descriptions and photographs…details of each impact event. I followed the links and found that publication is available for pre-order here; the page provides the table of contents and additional sample images.

How Cowbirds raise their young, without raising their young – We had a group of cowbirds at our feeder one day this week. They seemed to be moving through rather than staying. There were some last spring as well, but I didn’t notice any cowbird chicks coming to the feeder like I have in previous years.

Plastic-eating enzyme 'cocktail' heralds new hope for plastic waste -- ScienceDaily – It appears that we are getting closer to a cost effective was to endlessly recycle plastic – which would dramatically reduce the need to produce plastic from fossil fuels. It’s also a good example of the benefit of collaborative research – international…multiple specialties…sophisticated (and rare) equipment.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Bosque del Apache Sandhill Cranes. We are enjoying the Bosque del Apache Crane Fiesta. It started out with a live video of the morning fly-out of the cranes. The recording is now available on the Facebook page of the refuge….remember to turn on your speakers to listen to the birds and enjoy the sunrise (it starts out before sunrise and runs for more than an hour)!

We’ve been to the area twice in November for the Festival of the Cranes and we always enjoy photographing the cranes (and snow geese) each morning. I simulated it by taking screen snaps as I watched the live video. Enjoy my little slideshow…but watch the video from the refuge’s Facebook to get the full effect!

Lincoln Memorial

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Internet Archive has the June 1923 volume of The Architectural Record – which has pictures of the Lincoln Memorial when it was relatively new, since it opened on May 30th, 1922. Note the small size of vegetation and open area around the monument. The area has changed in almost 100 years! Enjoy the pictures! (Note: In the first group of pictures, click on individual photos to see larger versions…the last one is the wall with the Gettysburg address.)

Jumping to 2020 - The Trust for the National Mall site has a live view of the monument from the top of the Washington Monument…looking down to the World War II Memorial and the reflecting pool toward the Lincoln Memorial and the Potomac / Tidal Basic. The area is a mix of vegetation, water, and monuments…with traffic of Washington DC on all sides. The area is an oasis from dense buildings but still embedded in the city. In the springtime, the cherry trees bloom in the area.

My husband and I are looking forward to being able to see the monuments again – post-pandemic. These pictures from 1923 are so detailed….I want to spend time photographing the monument again….and the other monuments that are nearby – Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., Vietnam Vets, Korean Vets, and the Washington monument.

Neighborhood Pond – November 2020 – part 2

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The high point of my walk to and from the pond was a gingko tree. My husband and I had spotted it on the day we took his car to get a new battery – a flame of yellow leaves in a yard along the main street of our neighborhood. In the few intervening days, most of the leaves had fallen. I took pictures of them on the street – in the grass – drifts in the street gutter.

The graceful shapes are one of my favorites (I make the Zentangle pattern frequently and these pictures give me some ideas of variation of the pattern!). This time of year, the color is yet another reason to enjoy the gingko trees. They are not natives to our area but have been planted as ornamentals in yards and parks.

On the way back from the pond I photographed one branch of the tree that seemed to have held on to more of its leaves. Some of them still have smudges of green.

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Neighborhood Pond – November 2020 – part 1

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I walked down to the neighborhood stormwater pond recently. There were still a few leaves that had not been swept away by the wind (or mowing or raking). I walked through drifts of leaves in the street gutter and sidewalks…crunching.

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I was early enough that the light was good for reflections on the pond. There was no breeze, so the water was a good mirror.

There was a red-winged blackbird in the cattails. It moved around a bit….called to others that had moved to nearby trees as I had walked up to the pond. I sat on the bench for a few minutes, but the other birds stayed away from the immediate pond vegetation.

The sun sometimes made a spotlight on the vegetation…bringing out the nuances of fading fall colors.

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The meadow on the far side of the pond has not been mowed and looks like it is being taken over by invasive pear trees. They’ll probably mow it again in the spring.

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All the flowers around the pond have gone to seed.

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As I started back, I noticed a tree with 3 squirrels’ nests! There were other similarly sized trees near it…but somehow the squirrels found this one more attractive.

A dogwood still held its colorful leaves. The native dogwoods usually have leaves that turn early and drop; this one is probably a non-native and I didn’t notice any seeds.

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Most of the oaks in the neighborhood have lost their leaves completely. Maybe they have just reached the age that they don’t hold their leaves longer. Ours was one of the early droppers this year.

I checked the micro-clover that we planted in some bare spots a few months ago. It is still growing very well everywhere we planted it. Hopefully, it will help the soil improve so we won’t have any bare places next spring.

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Tomorrow I will post about the high point of the walk to and from the pond.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Crane Fiesta 2020. The virtual version of Festival of the Cranes from Bosque del Apache is called Crane Fiesta and is happening November 19-21. It is being delivered as cost-free webinars….but registration is required. The link to register is https://friendsofbosquedelapache.org/festival-of-the-cranes/.  My husband and I are looking forward to the three days of virtual birding….the next best thing to being there (and looking forward to going back to New Mexico in November2021)!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 14, 2020

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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.

Mapping out rest stops for migrating birds: New metric can help determine when birds fly over a site or stop to refuel or rest -- ScienceDaily – Stopover-to-passage ratio during migration research involves analysis of weather radar data collected since the 1990s…teasing out bird movement from precipitation! Results so far have included some surprises (and there are probably more to come as more of the historical data is processed and the processing becomes more and more sophisticated).

This Crocodile Dad Gives Over 100 of His Kids a Lift – A large species (gharial) with a narrow snout…in India.

Top 25 birds of the week: November 2020 – Birds from around the world….so much beauty in the natural world to see…and try to protect.

Top Solar States Per Capita 2012 vs. 2020 — CleanTechnica Report and US Energy Dept. Aims For Affordable Solar Power – Two posts about solar power. The first article shows the growth since 2012. In states where there wasn’t much growth, I wondered if the utilities in the state or the state government posed barriers to solar power. It seems like the whole country  should be in the mode of getting out of the way or encouraging renewal energy. The second article was about community solar programs from DOE with a mission to ‘bring affordable solar power to every household in the US by 2025’ – a worthy goal but is there enough money in the pipe to do it? This is not a technical problem as much as ‘are we ready to just do it.’

Lullabies in any language relax babies -- ScienceDaily and Baby Bottles Can Shed Millions of Microplastic Particles: Study | The Scientist Magazine® - I’ve been thinking recently about how much things have changed since my daughter was a baby over 30 years ago. I had a lullaby tape (in English) that I played for her in the evenings (although when she got old enough to choose – she wanted soundtracks from Disney movies as often as the lullabies). Now – we’d have digital music playing (rathe than cassette tapes) and maybe there would be lullabies in different languages too. The second article is about some worrisome research and I hope that pediatricians are keeping up and advising parents on best approaches.

When Domestic Birds Go Wild – Chickens, turkeys, ducks, swans, guinea fowl, peacocks, ornamental pheasants, doves and pigeons, emus, and parrots.

Picturing Earth: Astronaut Photography In Focus – A video – just under 70 minutes….with good imagery and discussion.

The return of Europe’s largest beasts - BBC Future – Bison, wolves, and elk…will the agricultural sector of Europe learn to cope with the big herbivores…and a predator?

As Waters Warm, Ocean Heatwaves Are Growing More Severe - Yale E360 – It’s easier for us to notice the heatwaves on land…but the ocean is taking the bulk of the increased heat on the planet and research on marine heatwaves is just beginning. The precise definition of the phenomenon was only proposed in 2016.  

See the World in Detail Thanks to the Close Up Photographer of the Year – Ending the gleanings list this week with some eye candy….enjoy the visual treat.