Gleanings of the Week Ending October 31, 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.

What’s That Cloud? Your Guide to Cloudspotting – A little tutorial. Maybe a prompt to do some cloud photography too.

This white paint keeps surfaces cooler than surroundings, even under direct sunlight -- ScienceDaily – I remember being at White Sands National Park on a hot day and walking on the sand barefoot (i.e. the sand was not hot!). Hopefully the architectural norms will begin to shift toward white roofs and then durable paints/shingles will be readily available to make it affordable. The heat islands of cities would be reduced…which could be helpful now and an increasing benefit as climate change continues.

Google Maps Gets More Electric-Car Friendly – Android Auto (not the phone app) adding features.

Top 25 birds of the week: Land-birds - Wild Bird Revolution – Enjoy bird images!

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully touches asteroid -- ScienceDaily – We went down to Florida for the launch back in 2016 so I try to at least scan articles with updates. The sample is now safely stored away and will be heading back to Earth…arriving in 2023.

Why older people are harder to vaccinate - BBC Future – What vaccines can do…what they might not do. For example – did you know that the flu vaccine reduces disease but does not do much to reduce transmission because a vaccinated person can still shed virus particles?

Black Witch Moths: A Night-Time Trick or Treat – Because it’s Halloween….it will be a very quiet one this year with the regular form of trick-or-treating called off in our area.

The rats evicted from paradise - BBC Future – A positive result for humans correcting a problem we caused….only able to succeed because of the resilience of nature (and because we corrected before it was too late for recovery).

Flowers Are Changing Color in Response to Climate Change | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Adjusting UV pigmentation to protect themselves (rising temperatures/thinning ozone)…maybe confusing pollinators.

Nature Nerd Trivia: Wild Canids – Dog relatives from around the world.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Firsts for the season at our deck. We saw our first Dark-eye Junco for the season. A small flock has spent the winter in our area – frequently visiting our feeder – for many years. We think they go to the Appalachians/Alleghenies for the rest of the year rather than the far north.

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I finally managed to get a picture of a Red-breasted Nuthatch enjoying the seed spilled under our feeder. There were other times recently that I thought I saw one but was never fast enough with my camera.

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Hawai’i Island Festival of Birds Swag pack arrived. It took more than 10 days for the small envelope to get from Hawai’i to Maryland. I don’t know for sure how long it took because there was no postmark. I will use the field notebook (upper left, a nice fit for one of my photo vest pockets) and the magnet (lower right) is already on our refrigerator to remind us of the virtual festival…and we’ll sign up to go to the festival when it is held ‘in person’!

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Marguerite Henry

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I was browsing through children’s books available on Internet Archive and encountered a familiar name: Marguerite Henry. My family discover her Misty of Chincoteague book back in the 1990s when my daughter was at the perfect age to enjoy the story; during one of our visits to Chincoteague, we purchased a set that included the book and some of the sequels. One that I had not seen before was A Pictorial Life Story of Misty. It can be borrowed for an hour from Internet Archive…and since it is mostly pictures…that’s plenty of time to browse through it.

The author wrote a lot of other books and quite of few of them are available on Internet Archive – mostly for an hour checkout and, if there is another copy available, it will show as available for a 14 day checkout after it has been initially checked out for an hour.

One of my favorites of these ‘other’ books was Brighty of the Grand Canyon.

I also enjoyed Auno and Tauno – a Story of Finland – which was one that was available without checking out. The illustrator was Gladys Rourke Blackwood who, according to Wikipedia, illustrated some other Henry books.

The stories are dated at this point…but I enjoy the historical perspective – directly from the book and thinking about children enjoying the books when they were written and for 20+ years after. Misty of Chincoteague was published in 1947 – and my daughter and I were enjoying it in the 1990s and I assume the book is still stocked in books stores around Chincoteague! It has remained ‘current’ because the Pony Penning depicted in the book still happens annually.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

A wet day. There was a lot of rain from Zeta in Maryland on Thursday. There were flood warnings from 11:30 AM to 5:30 PM; we didn’t get out and our neighborhood had no flooding, so it didn’t impact us directly. And the wind was not bad either. We still have a few leaves on our trees.

Ten Little Celebrations – October 2020

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When I wrote the blog post about October 1990, I realized what a happy month it had been and now looking back at October 2020 and the things I recorded as little celebrations…the same is true. Maybe October is always my favorite month of the fall….lots of things that make me happy in this transition time of the year.

The celebrations that are could happen in any October:

The grand finale of the CSA season. The abundance of the last weeks of veggies from the farm….I have a freezer full to enjoy well into November…plenty of winter squash puree to make Thanksgiving dessert and breads and soups (maybe not all for the same meal). It happens every year….the celebration of the bounty.

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Conwingo outing. We didn’t know about the bald eagles congregating at Conowingo dam 30 years ago, but now that we do…there is almost always a trek to the place every October. Even if it isn’t a great day for lots of eagles (which it wasn’t this year)…we celebrate the field trip. This year it was appreciated even more because field trips have been such a rarity for us this year.



Fall leaves. Yes – cleaning up the leaves and acorns is a fall chore…but it also is a joy: the colors, the textures, the breeze made visible by leaves wafting from the treetops. The trees in our yard and in the forest behind our house fill our views; I’m realizing that I am celebrating the extra time I’ve had this year to observe them. Home has become more special during this pandemic year.

Wild turkey in our back yard. I missed it – but my husband saw it. He said there may have been more than one, but he only saw one clearly. We’d heard that there were wild turkeys in the forest but had never seen any until a few day ago. I am celebrating that they really exist…and hoping they return so I can see them too.

Flowers still available in the cutting garden. I thought the cutting garden might fade before the CSA ended…but it didn’t. I love having cut flowers in my office and on the island in the kitchen. Seeing them is an automatic mood brightener. Now I am beginning to realize that the strawflowers will last long into the winter – dried and arranged on a blue glass plate they remind me of water lily flowers.

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Letting go of more stuff. Cleaning out stuff that has collected in over 25 years we’ve lived in our house is tough. But I managed a big pile that I donated (picked up from our front porch) and am working on another. It feels good to clean out the house…particularly if it is something others could use.

And then there are the celebrations that are unique to 2020:

Cape May Fall Festival (virtual). I celebrated the whole festival of videos but particularly the roving reporters at the morning flight of songbirds. It would be wonderful be there some future year to see it in the field.

Hawai’i Festival of Birds (virtual). When I first discovered that the festival was going virtual, I thought it was a great opportunity because I probably would not make the trek to the Big Island again….but now I’m wavering…leaning toward making the trek for the festival and to see how things have changed since we were there in 2015. Maybe next year…or the year after. It’s an opportunity to celebrate an environment very different than the one where we live.

Telephone conversations with family. I normally take telephone conversations for granted…they happen often enough. During this pandemic year when I am not traveling to visit with my family, phone conversations have increased in importance….worthy of celebration.

Voting. In years past, we voted but it wasn’t something that made it to my little celebrations list and we usually did it on election day. This year we requested a mail-in ballot and returned it to a drop box….and checked the online site to track that it was received and accepted/counted. Voting is a celebration this year because of the challenges the country is facing on many levels….and a heightened awareness on our part of how much it matters.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Old monitor heading off to a new home. I’ve had my old monitor mostly idle for the past year – since I got a new one – and finally found a way to give it a new home. There was an article in the Baltimore Sun about a teacher in our area trying to find monitors for teachers that need a second monitor as they forge ahead teaching virtually. I sent an email letting them know I had one to donate and someone came to pick it up! I’m thrilled to let it go!

Squash Bake

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It was not a day for outdoor activities – cool, gray, and damp – so I decided to cook as many squash as would fit in the oven while my husband cooked new potatoes to have with his steak. Two acorn squash and two small pumpkins fit on the old aluminum griddle that I hoped would catch any little leaks as they cooked.

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I always cook winter squash whole….it makes cutting and taking out the seeds easy…and then I process the pulp. My big meal splurge of the day was eating one of the acorn squashes with my half of the steak. I took a picture of the squash before I cut it. It seems like the skins get a little darker as they cook. I added a little butter and cinnamon…a drizzle of honey…to the mashed squash. Yummy!

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We turned the oven off when my husband took his potatoes out and let the other 3 squashes continue cooking in the residual heat. Later in the afternoon, I processed them (took out the seeds, pureed the part I’ll use for custards and muffins and smoothies…those are just the top three ways I like to use winter squash. Some will probably go into the freezer….as soon as I can find a place. The refrigerator is beginning to look not as crowded as it did after the CSA share of the season (last week).

And I still have 2 spaghetti squashes left to cook. They’ll last in the refrigerator for at least another week.

Our Neighborhood Pond – October 2020

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It was cloudy and damp when I started out at midday for a walk to the neighborhood pond. I keep telling myself that I should make the trek more frequently because there is always something of interest along the route or at the pond itself. Maybe I will do it over the next few weeks…until the weather gets too cold.

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The first surprise was a stalk of day lily buds. This is the second year that one plant has tried to bloom in the fall. If these buds get far enough along toward blooming – I’ll cut the stalk to bring them inside since otherwise the deer or a frost will get them. It would be wonderful to have the flowers indoors.

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I also noticed that not only are the mock strawberries getting some reddish leaves…they are also producing new fruits!

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The walk to the pond was full of walkways intermittently filled with leaves or pine needles. (There is a curb concealed under the pine needles!)

I got to the pond and took pictures of plants gone to seed and reflections in the water. The largest tree at the pond’s edge is a willow. Part of the tree has a lot of shelf fungus and no branches with leaves…standing deadwood. The pond was very quiet…the raucous red-winged blackbirds are gone and the frogs too cool to be calling.

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The milkweed pods in the meadow next to the pond were disappointing. It has been so wet that the even the pods that have split open are not spilling their seeds. I did notice one plant with some early instar milkweed bugs. I’ll go again after we have some dry days --- and hopefully see lots of fluffy milkweed seeds swirling away in each little breeze.

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As I started back toward home, I noticed that the oak that had some dead lower branches has been trimmed. Maybe the trim will help the tree survive. Unfortunately, it’s not the only oak in the neighborhood that has had problems in the past few years.

Overall – a good walk on a damp fall day!

Savoring Strawflowers

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With the CSA ending this past week, I won’t be getting any more cut-your-own flowers until next summer…but the strawflowers have dried thoroughly in their arrangements and I am cutting the stems away. They will keep their form and color in a dry arrangement bowl for in my office.

I photographed them when they were still in the window arrangements – zooming from across my office to get the flowers catching the sunlight.

Now that I have cut them, I did another round of photography using a magnifying glass with a built-in LED light source and my cell phone. The magnifying glass housing is a little smaller than the phone which makes it easy to hold both together – focus – and take the picture. I’ve started using voice commands for this type of phone photography which makes it easier to keep my hold steady.

Flowers for my office and the kitchen island are always a mood brightener…a good mental health investment. So – next time I buy groceries, flowers will be on the list again just as they were in the early months of the pandemic.

Fall Foliage in our Yard

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The fall is in full swing around our yard. The oak and sycamore and tulip poplars are more than halfway through their fall. The red maple is about halfway through. I’m sharing our yard’s fall foliage in photos today….before we do another round of leaf mowing. This is the view from my office window…a pine on the left then a tulip poplar and then the red maple.

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At ground level in the back yard you can see the understory of spice bush (yellow) and the dark tree trunks (the red maple in the foreground); it’s been foggy on most recent mornings. The brush pile catches a few leaves.

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The maple does not seem to have as many pure red leaves this year. There is another maple behind the tulip polar that always turns yellow and I think one of the maple leaves below is from that tree.

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The tulip poplar leaves turn brown very quickly once they are on the ground so it is a challenge to get some with lots of yellow.

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I have taken a lot more sycamore leaf pictures this year. I’m not sure it is it the size variety of the durability of the leaves once they are on the ground. The leaves are large and leathery which make them easier to rake…and really need mowing keep them from killing the grass and clover in our yard.

The tree got a late start and didn’t manage to make very many seed balls because of the cold weather back in May…but there are certainly a lot of leaves to mow from that tree!

The Virginia creeper on some of our trees (oak and sycamore) and the exterior basement wall are changing color too.

The oak leaves that are falling now are brown…with an occasional flash of yellow.

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And then there are invasive ground plants that are changing from green to yellow and red. I would rather not have them….but they are hard to eliminate.

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There are things other than falling leaves that I found when walked around the yard.

A harvestmen spider

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Lady’s thumb (another non-native plant)

Deer trimmed day lily leaves at the base of the oak tree

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The micro clover is doing very well…still very green and spreading

A garden spider with 2 stink bugs in its web

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Spider webs in the azalea bush…maybe funnel spiders?

Overall – a lot of evidence of the season in our yard.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 23, 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.

Painless paper patch test for glucose levels uses microneedles -- ScienceDaily – A technology (microneedles) looking for a problem to solve (prediabetic testing). So far - it’s just a lab exercise but they were readying for human trials. They didn’t explain why it was focused on pre-diabetic testing and not for diabetics.

Top 25 birds of the week: Non-migratory – Beautiful birds…always a visual treat.

These are some of America’s most beautiful urban parks – The one in Greenville, SC looked very non-urban!

Food mechanics recipe to serve up healthy food that lasts -- ScienceDaily – Basic research in plant-tissue response to heat and drought…preserving food through drying.

Doing Something About Global Warming Is Cheaper Than Doing Nothing – I selected a series of gleaning for this week that are focused on various aspects of climate change – with a mix of perspectives. This is the first one. For the pure capitalists…this one makes the argument for action in their terms. This first article came out back in September…so it is a little dated…but still makes some good points.

The daring plan to save the Arctic ice with glass - BBC Future – Do we want to consider Geoengineering?

40% of O'ahu, Hawai'i beaches could be lost by mid-century -- ScienceDaily – Sea level rise…and our response to it.

6 Graphics Explain The Climate Feedback Loop Fueling US Fires – Some good graphics about the fires on the west coast of the US. In recent days, fires in Colorado have been added to the news. At a time when forests sequestration of carbon is important for the health of the planet….the fires are reversing that benefit.

Natural Debate: Do Forests Grow Better With Our Help or Without? - Yale E360 – Hurray for natural regeneration – unless the land is too degraded for that to be possible…then our help is needed.

The Best Places for Solar Power If You Want to Clean The US Grid – Where investing in solar power would do the most toward reducing grid emissions…by state.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

A busy morning. The only extra activity I’d planned yesterday morning was to get my car washed since the dirt road into the CSA is history for the year. The car is cleaner (at least on the outside) than it has been for months! The weather was so great when I got back that I swept the leaves from the driveway, street gutter, and deck onto the yard so that the mower would mulch them when my husband mowed later in the day. When I got back inside – I noticed my husband had called from the vet parking lot saying his battery was too low to start his car (and the vet had resolved the cat’s bleeding claw issue)….so I was off to help that car situation. We managed to get home just in time to cook lunch. The level of activity was greater than any recent morning (months and months of mornings!) …and I felt a little discombobulated! I’ve begun to enjoy the pace of pandemic life!

Browsing Old Architectural Record Volumes

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Browsing through The Architectural Record volumes from the late 1800s and early 1900s available on Internet Archive, there are some articles that capture my attention – for example, two articles about Frank Lloyd Wright. The first one is in the volume for 1908 which features the Dana House (along with other houses and a building). The architecture still looks ‘modern.’ For some info about the Dana House today: Frank Lloyd Wright Trust and Dana Thomas House Foundation.

The second article was in the January-July 1913 volume – about Wright’s studio-home in Wisconsin. Enjoy the slideshow of the exterior of the place. For info about the place today see the Taliesin page on the Wright in Wisconsin page.

Another series of pictures I noticed were exterior pictures of the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina (starting at page 154) in the 1895-1896 volume as introductory picture series to the article “The works of the late Richard M. Hunt” – the architect of the house. The landscape was ‘new’ around the house when the pictures were taken. For information about Biltmore today, see Biltmore Estate website and the Wikipedia page.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Going for groceries in the foggy dark. It’s that time of year – at 6:15 AM it is dark. Add the fog and the short drive would have been disorienting if the route were unfamiliar. I was worried about not seeing a deer at the edge or in the road before it was too late – fortunately, I made it to the grocery store without incident. I have skewed my grocery shopping time an hour earlier during the pandemic…so I am going to be ‘in the dark’ starting out for groceries for months. It was lighter on the way home, but the fog was still around.

Ballot ‘accepted.’ I checked the website for the status of the ballot I put in the drop box on Oct. 5th and it shows that it is ‘accepted’ – which means that it’s been counted! It’s great to get confirmation that I voted successfully.

Haircut. My last haircut was in January, so it was long overdue. There were a few people allowed into the shop (no waiting area and appointments only), the doors were open (outdoor temperature was pleasant), and everyone wore masks. I chose not to get a shampoo, so my hair was just sprayed to wet it…and then it was cut. My husband got his haircut at the same time. We were done in about 20 minutes. My husband gave a tip that doubled the cost of our haircuts…reasoning that the workers are still trying to bounce back from the shop being closed for 3 months.

CSA Bounty – October 2020

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There were three CSA shares this month…all full of fall veggies: winter squash, cabbage, leafy greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula, bok choy), peppers and special items like ears of popcorn and fennel.  The last one was this week. I took some pictures of the bins as I walked around – appreciating the beauty of fresh food. I had a choice of turnips or radishes….got the turnips but appreciated the color of the radishes in the bin.

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And then it was on to piles of broccoli, garlic, sweet potatoes, a choice of lettuce or arugula (I got arugula), carrots with their leafy tops, spinach, bok choy, a small pumpkin, cabbage, spaghetti squash, cauliflower and stevia from the cutting garden. I got fennel with a huge feathery top as a choice item too. The bags were almost as heavy as when melons are distributed during the summer.

While I was out in the cutting garden getting some cut flowers and the stevia, I noticed at least 4 black swallowtail caterpillars on the fennel; I wonder if they will make to it to a stage that will allow them to survive the winter.

The picture below is the last share on our counter after I got home - quite a pile which is now filling the refrigerator!

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I’ll eat as much as I can of this last share over the next week then freeze the rest….even though I might have to do some creative processing and rearranging to fit it in. I still have zucchini for the early summer in there. I’m going to pay attention to how long it is before I draw down enough on the veggies in the freezer from this summer to require purchases from the produce section of my grocery store. My estimate is that it will be well into December or maybe January!

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

A few minutes at our bird feeder. I found a short segment (about 1.5 minutes) on our bird feeder camera when 4 birds visited the feeder and appeared satisfied. I didn’t see the sequence when it happened because the Downy Woodpecker is not noisy when he comes to the feeder like the red-bellied woodpeckers are. A Carolina Chickadee shows up and the two birds position themselves on opposite sides of the feeder.

The chickadee leaves, the downy woodpecker finally gets enough seed…and leaves.

Then an American Goldfinch arrives…followed very quickly by a White-breasted Nuthatch. The nuthatch strikes a classic nuthatch pose.

The two birds move to opposite sides of the feeder, the nuthatch quickly finds the seed it wants, and leaves.

And the goldfinch continues calmly nibbling on seeds with the feeder all to himself.

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Images of Bridges – October 2020

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I gleaned paintings/photographs of bridges from the slideshow collections I enjoyed from Internet Archive back in June….as a themed perspective into 8 artists. Clicking on the artists name will access the slideshow on Internet Archive (i.e. more than just bridges!).

The artists were capturing moments of the world in which they lived. Bridges are part of the architecture they observed. The materials were varied – stone, steel, concrete, wood – depending on the time, place, and function of the bridge. I noticed that the bridges were either empty or painted with people (except for one that includes cattle and a man riding a horse). In one a person is walking in the rocky creek under the bridge.

Enjoy the color and beauty of these bridges!

Gustave Caillebotte (1848 - 1894)

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Hawai’i Island Festival of Birds

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Wow – 5 days of the virtual Hawai’i Island Festival of Birds. Like the other virtual festivals we’ve seen….I want to go to the Hawai’i festival some year…the sooner the better! When we travelled to the big island in 2015, it was before we’d been to any birding festivals and I took only a few (poor) pictures of birds.

When we go back – I’ll be more prepared after having the experience of this virtual festival. My cameras (and photographic skills) are better than in 2015 too.

The sessions were pre-recorded and not as lengthy some of the other festivals. This was the only festival where native names and language (Hawaiian) were an integral part of the festival.

I listened to all the sessions…even the ones that were readings of books for children about Hawaiian birds….and I learned something from them all.

Day 1 was the longest because I also watch the two virtual field trip sessions:

  • An interview with the authors/photographer for the Field Guide to the Birds of Hawai’i…how it was put together and introducing a topic woven throughout the conference - the extinctions of native birds and actions to help the surviving species

  • Natural history and status of Hawaii’s seabirds….the impact of sea level rise on Midway Atoll where 91% of seabirds nest in Hawaii…and translocation projects to higher islands (islands within islands to keep mammalian predators out of nesting areas). Pacific Rim Conservation

  •  A Virtual Tour of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge…only place in Hawaii where native forest birds are stable and increasing…We’d get a guide or go with a tour group from the festival when we go. Birds are hard to see in the forest!

  • A Virtual Tour of Kaulana Manu Nature Trail … newly opened…off the saddle road on the big island. There is good signage and it’s something we could do on our own. There was a decontamination station for cleaning boots; there is a fungus that causes Rapid Ohi’a Death…a tree that many native birds depend on.

  • The status of eBird, Merlin, and Community Science in Hawaii….I need to remember to load Merlin’s Hawaii pack before we go!

  • Choosing the best binocular for You!...some binoculars have a short enough minimum focus distance that they can be used for butterfly watching; I quickly decided that, for me, I’d rather use my camera’s zoom to get close images of butterflies rather than watching them through binoculars. But – I did hear about Insect Shield Scarves…which might be something to have for warm weather birding!

Day 2:

  • Marvelous Moli…The albatross…The speaker wrote a book – Holy Moli….If we want to see them on nests we’ll have to go to Kauai. Maybe the festival will have a field trip for that.

  • Kolea…Pacific Golden Plover…learned a lot about how tagging has evolved over the years and how sophisticated tagging has shown how long and exact their migration is. The book by the speaker found here.

  • Hula and storytelling….listening and watching…like a meditation

  • Albatross of Kauai, the story of Kaloakulua…a particular Laysan Albratross from 2013/2014 season

Day 3:

  • Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument…a big place…not sure how we would ever be able to visit

  • Garbage guts…a children’s book about plastic garbage in the sea and a Laysan albatross

  • Tracking the endangered ‘Akiapola’au…with transmitters and receivers in the Pu’u maka’ala Natural Area Reserve. I remembered that my daughter and I walked around part of that reserve in 2015. I didn’t photograph any birds, but I did take one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip just as we left the fenced area heading back to the car – a camellia among tree fern fronds

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Day 4:

  • Albatross…doing nest counts….they live very long lives (there is a female that was tagged in 1956 on Midway Atoll that is still producing healthy chicks there!)…World Albatross Day was June 19, 2020

  • A Perfect Day for an Albatross (book)… the author talked about producing the book and demonstrated her block print technique before the book was read by 2 educators at Kauai

  • Manu, the Boy who Loved Birds (book)…author talking with the publisher and the expert that helped with the book…and then a reading of the book…thinking about recent extinctions and what we can do to help surviving species in Hawaii

Day 5

  • Hawaii Wildlife Center…bird assistance/hospital and conservation programs…I learned that warm water is required if birds need to be washed because their normal temperature is higher than ours and if they are injured/oily/emaciated, they will go into shock if washed with room temperature water!

  • Manu-o-Ku (white tern) nesting in Honolulu…what happens when the chick falls out of the nest? Most of the time, volunteers are called and it’s put back in the nest or in the tree close to the nest…and the parents welcome it back!

  • No Ka Manu Hea Keia Nuku? (To which bird does this beak belong) (book) – In Hawaiian and about Hawaiian birds! It was a great finale to the Festival.

And after all the joy of the videos, I won a drawing for a festival swag pack that will be coming in the mail! The virtual festival was a great addition to our mid-October during this pandemic year!

Photography through a Window - October 2020

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It’s so easy to capture the backyard happenings through the windows of my office or breakfast area.

The sunset was colorful through my office window on the 1st day of the month….a fabulous beginning.

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There were the usual birds around the deck – Mourning Doves

And Carolina Wrens.

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There is a female Red-bellied Woodpecker that comes to the feeder frequently…picks out the sunflower seeds and scatters the other kinds for the birds below.

The White-breasted Nuthatches often seem to follow the woodpecker. There are at least two of them and they have plenty of assertive poses…always fun to watch.

When multiple birds are at the feeder – it is easy to compare relative sizes: Finches, Carolina Chickadee, Chipping Sparrow.

After I mowed the leaves – I noticed that the lawn mower left a pattern in the yard. The grass was a bit wet so the mower left an impression. The picture was taken about 24 hours after I mowed.

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When I empty the seed from then feeder before refilling it, the chipmunk often shows up before the squirrel! It’s fun to watch. The day was cloudy when it visited the deck recently and I got a lot of blurs because of the reduced light…but these images were clear enough to post.

Overall – a good month of photographing the scene through the windows in the back of our house.

30 Years Ago – October 1990

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Looking back through pictures and notes from 30 years ago – it was a happy month…but full of big changes that my family handled better than we’d anticipated. I went back to work full time…straight into to proposal team that required full time in the office plus some work at home time. I had just set up an office of my own at home the month before…was still using the IBM PC AT that was over 5 years old. My daughter was already trying to help. Note that I didn’t have a rolling chair yet. We purchased two that month for my husband and I (evidently after the picture was taken) and we still have them!

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My planning wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough that we all felt like things were going well. I made pumpkin muffins several times during the month since they were tasty snacks (or mini-meals) that we all enjoyed. And made meal plans each week for my daughter’s lunches packed for day care and our dinners.

My husband and I were thrilled that she took her first steps with us rather than in day care late in September…and then she was off and climbing. Even though we thought we had baby-proofed the house…but we had typical calamities of her running into her indoor tree house face first, hitting her head on the foot board of the bed while climbing up, and almost tilting over the back of her little rocking chair.

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We all enjoyed the fall foliage day trip to Catoctin with her riding in the backpack more than walking around. When we got her out to walk around in the leaves, they were deep enough to be at least knee deep for her…and she didn’t want to move around in them!

I was busy making the rounds of yard sales to stock up on larger clothes for her and found some bargains. Most of her clothes were bought used but I couldn’t resist a new green velveteen dress with a big white color that she wore for several holiday pictures in the coming months…and it got handed down to her cousins after it got too small for her…and probably sold at a yard sale 10 years or so later.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 17, 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.

Top 25 birds of the week: October 2020 – Starting out the weekly gleanings with birds.

Linking calorie restriction, body temperature and healthspan -- ScienceDaily – Interesting research. I went off on a tangent thinking about “up to half of what we eat every day is turned into energy simply to maintain our core body temperature.” Many people in the developed world spend the majority of time in temperature-controlled buildings or homes…and that means we probably expend a lot less calories warming or cooling ourselves than we did prior to efficient heating and cooling systems. Just one more way we are changing our environment in a way that will tweak our future evolution.

The super-adaptable chimps that can withstand climate change - BBC Future – I didn’t realize how many different habitats chimpanzees are found in…and that the ones that live in environments with greater seasonal change have more varied behaviors to respond to those changes than chimps that live in an environment that doesn’t change much.

Environmental Education Goes Virtual: Creating Meaningful Learning Opportunities at Home: The National Wildlife Federation Blog – So many good online resources…they’ve been developed over years but are probably getting a lot more use during this pandemic year.

It's Tarantula Season At Bandelier National Monument – I’ve not been to Bandelier during tarantula season! The last time I was there was in March 2005 and that was before I started taking a lot of pictures….this article reminded me that I want to go again. Maybe we’ll plan to go in the fall and be on the look out for the male tarantulas trying to find a mate. Here are a couple of pictures my husband took when we visited in 1980!

Are we living at the 'hinge of history'? - BBC Future – It’s difficult not to look at current trends and think the future will be a dystopian one with or without seeing this as a ‘hinge.’ The last paragraph was the best of the article: “So, while we do not know if our time will be the most influential or not, we can say with more certainty that we have increasing power to shape the lives and well-being of billions of people living tomorrow – for better and for worse. It will be for future historians to judge how wisely we used that influence.”

Why is America Running out of water? – Shortages are not everywhere…but there are places in the US that are already problematic…and there are a lot of people living in those areas.

Raptor Rescue: When Bird Injuries Warrant Rehab – This article was a good summary of things I’ve heard about before re injured birds.

Unusual climate conditions influenced WWI mortality and subsequent influenza pandemic -- ScienceDaily – Something new about the 1918 flu…torrential rains and unusually cold temperatures kept Mallard ducks from their normal migration…and thus spread the virus more broadly in the battlefields of the Western Front.

What 'net-zero carbon' really means for cities - BBC Future – Using London as an example: no/fewer cars and all transport EV, less concrete…more timber, buildings reused/retrofit, green roofs and walls, renewable energy, reduced waste through recycling and energy production, urban farms. It’s technology that exists now…and already is being applied…ramped up, of course.

Picturesque Spain – in 1922

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I enjoyed the 200+ pictures of Spain taken by Kurt Hielscher when he traveled the county beginning in the summer of 1914 then throughout World War I when he couldn’t leave. He published the photographs in 1922 in French, Italian and English editions. The books were very successful, and he went on to produce photographic records of Germany, Scandinavian countries, Italy, the Balkans, Austria, and Romania. He was one of the first photographers to make a living producing travel books. World War II curtailed/ended his travels and publications.

The first book – about Spain – is available from Internet Archive here. Hopefully more of his books will become available as eBooks as their copyright expires.

I’ve selected 8 sample images from the book….enjoy a little view into Spain in the early 1900s! (Use the arrows on the sides to move through the photos.)

Coloring Zentangle® Tiles – October 2020

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My favorite activity just before bedtime is coloring Zentangle tiles. It’s very relaxing and ends then day with a little creativity…appreciating the tiles and the other beauties of the day. I picked 12 tiles to feature this month out of the relatively large pile I created; I’ve been going back through old tiles finding ones to color. In fact – I made two passes on a couple of tiles: one to color and the other to add some white gel pen highlights.  

I am creating more tiles during these pandemic times. It isn’t a major time consumer during my day, but it  has an outsized impact of sustaining/renewing a positive mental attitude. When I finish a tile (or some stage of the tile), the appreciation of what I’ve done reminds me of the other aspects of my day that brought joy…things I am grateful for. A few valuable moments….

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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.

Mowing Leaves

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It’s that time of year – our yard needs mowing more because the leaves need to be chopped up than the grass is high. Right now, the oak and sycamore are the ones dropping leaves. I wait for a day when the leaves are dry then make a pass around the places that have the most leaves. In the front of the house – I rake the leaves that are in the gutter up onto the grass before I start. I’m always pleased with the results. Our yard was in better shape this year because I did this same thing last fall – letting the soil benefit by keeping the leaf mulch from the trees growing in our yard.

The front flower bed is still green from the day lily leaves….and a few fading black eyed susans. I am not clearing it since the critters that need the cover for overwintering may already be in place.

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While I was mowing the sycamore leaves, I ran over a puff ball! I didn’t see it until there was a big puff of brown dust. At first, I thought something was wrong with the mower! I must have come along whenthe puffball was primed to blow. The sycamore leaves are not quite as big this year as they get some years since late frost last spring killed a lot of the leaves that would have become the largest ones on the tree had they survived. Still – the leaves are substantial enough both in terms of size and thickness - that they make a the mower sound a little different when they are chopped. They tend to last too long on the grass if they aren’t mulched into small pieces.

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I’ll probably have a few more leaf mowing rounds before the end of the season…probably one more for the oak and sycamore then the tulip poplar and red maple. By Thanksgiving – the yard will be in winter mode.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

A porch full of stuff. Pickups of donations have started again in our area. I had a porch full. My husband kept the cat away from the open front door while I put all the bags out before 8 AM. The donation staging corner of the living room is now available to accumulate another load!

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Paintings of Cut Flowers – October 2020

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I’m looking back at a series of Internet Archive slideshows that I viewed back in June…picking out the cut flower paintings. Click on the artist’s name to see more of the artist’s work which includes other subjects as well as the cut flowers. Enjoy the artwork!

Gustave Caillebotte (1848 - 1894)

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7 Months in COVID-19 Pandemic

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Today marks the 7th month since the WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic. I started a monthly post taking stock of the impact on my day to day life back in July (previous posts: July, August, September). Here’s the one for the 7th month!

There were few ‘new’ activities for us in the past month:

Propane taxi. We are using our gas grill again! We were glad the service to get it delivered was available in our area since the pre-pandemic process required a lot of contact with other people to trade in the old tank and get the replacement.

Voting. We would have been voting at this time even without the pandemic but we requested a mail-in ballot and put it in a Maryland drop-box at a nearby early-voting place rather than voting in person. We are checking the ‘status’ online; right now they are listed as ‘received’ and we anticipate that they’ll be ‘accepted sometime after the 12th when our country begins counting.

Conowingo field trip. We ventured out on a short road trip to Conowingo Dam which is a little over an hour from our house. It was the first time since February for an outing like this. It was good to get outdoors in a place other than the immediate neighborhood where we live….and we did some bird photography. It turned out to be very easy to wear our masks the whole time we were out of the car and we had plenty of hand sanitizer. The visitor center was open; everyone wore masks, and the bathrooms were clean/well supplied (as they were pre-pandemic too).

Gathering a pile of stuff to donate…to be picked up from our front porch. Charities are beginning to pick up donations again in our area. I have accumulated a pile of stuff and realize there is a lot more that I am willing to part with. The key decision questions for me are:

  • Have I used it in the past year?

  • Does it give me joy?

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Indian corn on the front door. I put the three ears of Indian Corn we’ve had for years on the front door to provide some seasonal decoration. There are some fall related chores as well like mowing the leaves that are falling. I have ended the work in the flower beds and brush piles to let overwintering critters settle in; most of what’s in the beds will be easy to clear away in the spring when the early spring flowers start to emerge.

Overall the ‘new’ activities, have continued our strategy of choosing low risk ways to go about our lives. There are things that we’ve continued -

  • Cape May Fall Festival (virtual). The fall is full of birding festivals that have gone virtual. The Cape May event was intense and we learned a lot….are all ready to go in person sometime in the future. There are others coming up that we are looking forward to. These have become our alternative to travel during the pandemic.

  • Groceries every other week and CSA pickup every week and curbside pickups. The routines of replenishing our supplies are functional and also provide us an opportunity to leave the confines of our neighborhood. Sometimes I use the opportunity to photograph a sunrise or the plantings at the CSA. As the weather has cooled, wearing a mask has become even easier.

It’s always good to have plans. We’re assuming that the pandemic will be the status quo at least through the end of the year (and probably beyond) and we plan to continue our strategies to reduce our risk. We are also assuming that the area of Maryland where we live will continue to adhere to CDC guidance as well as is happening now.

  • We’ll probably take a few fall foliage road trips like the trip we made to Conowingo – maybe to Catoctin/Cunningham Falls or Dan’s Mountain.

  • At some point we might get a POD container to load up with non-essential furniture and boxed items to make it easier to re-carpet our house as soon as COVID-19 is controlled.

  • And then there are the holidays….with special food and creative ways to enjoy our family even though we will not be in one location.