A Happy, Mournful Sight

This morning, though it was just above 40 degrees, I saw my first butterfly of the year, a mourning cloak.

I also saw a pair of Sandhill Cranes, here as though possibly they'll stay, not just stop over on the way north.

Chorus frogs are chorusing...

There are also many interesting looking ducks migrating through... but I tend to see them while I'm running, which means it's hard to ID them -- not only do I have no binoculars, but I'm not willing to stop and study.

My Magical Morning

Saturday evening, rain came through at the head of a cool front.  It brought near-perfect weather for Sunday and today, with my sunrise run taking place in actual coolth.  Those conditions created a magical morning.

I entered the Savanna through a mowed trail that comes off of a residential area, so I came not into an area crowded with signs and wide trails, but rather right into the quiet savanna itself.  It was a heavenly pastorale, with the reaching crowns of oak trees growing not from meadows, but directly from clouds.  Their swirls formed gently-rolling white hills.  You could almost hear the Beethoven playing.  And it was pretty neat to run through thick clouds.

Looking closer at the prairie through which I passed, every leaf tip and flower petal, every seed head and stem was heavy with pregnant dew drops, the pre-evaporated fog.  When the sun's horizontal rays shone through them, they sparkled with such intensity I almost had to proceed with my eyes closed.  When, mercifully, I passed through the long shadows of hedgerows and tree groves, I saw that dewdrops weren't the only adornment of the plants.  Spiders had fastened webs to nearly every available specimen, a testament to how many invisible creatures share the space with us.  Made visible by the water, there were large droopy orbs that bridged two plants together.  There were tiny perfect circles -- in one single Queen Anne's Lace plant, I counted four individual webs, each the size of quarters, nestled into Vs in the plant's stem.  There were low-down messy webs, the type that make you think of that you-tube video about spiders on drugs.  (Funny, irreverent, recommended.) Everywhere I looked, silken strands connected pieces of the prairie.

I had to stop and take in the wetland area.  It is a pool dotted with snags -- probably trees that weren't adapted to the wet conditions that came on suddenly when drain tiles were removed.  This morning, they, too, arose out of mist.  Skeleton tombstones in a graveyard of trees, like a scene from a horror movie.  A heron perched on a branch, his neck curled and shoulders hunched... a grey, grumpy old man admonishing the passers-by with his glare.  And to remind me that I wasn't about to hear the sound of chainsaws or banjos,  a wood duck glided through the water, diminutive and graceful.

In some ways, I think it's a shame that I wasn't carrying my camera, haven't been into picture-taking much at all lately.  But in other ways, I'm glad.  I'd have taken a picture and been done with it.  This way, I spent miles working out wording, trying to determine how I'd describe the indescribable.  Although I've forgotten some of my well-worded phrases by the time I've finally gotten to the typing, I think it's still a good mental exercise, probably better than taking a picture.  And if I've failed to capture the moment?  Well, it was my moment, anyhow... I have the pictures in my head.  

Now...
In other bird phenology news... I noticed several goldfinches today that are looking slightly less... gold.  Some still seem bright, but others? Not so much.  Is it really time for winter plumage already?

Swimming, swimming...

Merganzers kept diving under just as I shot the photo... but at least I got a pic!

Friday and this weekend... buffleheads and coots and merganzers... don't these waterfowl have the greatest names?  I mean, really, who came up with them?  Even mallards, so common they don't merit a mention, have a nice name, it rolls off the tongue...

Grebe Games

Grebe

The lake this morning has its usual seasonal complement of mallards and geese.  But among them, several grebes swim.  Watching diving ducks is one of my favorite passtimes.... they go down, the circles of wake quickly disappearing, and leave the lake flat, undisturbed, as if they never were... and then they pop up! in a totally different spot.  Try as I may, I can never predict where they will emerge.  It's like a game (that most people don't think is fun).

Tour de Spring

This time of year, I have a little route that I walk to check on the trees/shrubs that I know are going to do things soon. Today was an eventful day on my tour de spring. Before I even got to my first tree, I heard the distinctive, comb-plucking sound of chorus frogs chorusing. Yea! Froggies!

The silver maple (above) was flowering. They flower from the top down, and it was over the weekend I noticed the top flowers in bloom, but I can't reach those to photograph, or even confirm. But by today, the lower buds had started to open, as well.

Then I check the American hazels, whose girl-flowers are so tiny most people would never notice them. (Notice the size of my fingers behind them). Their bright pink color is a treat, though, if you're one of the folks inclined to look closely. They were just starting today, only some of them... and the catkins aren't even swelling at all yet.

Finally, I check the alders, which have excitement in both the girl-flower and the boy-flower world. The catkins, as you can see to the left, are even greener than last week, and left a chartreuse pollen print on my brown jacket... though they're not yet pollen-y enough to make yellow clouds when tapped.

And the tiny pink female flowers, the future cones, have also changed since last week. (Oh, the trees, they are a-changin'... never mind, I shouldn't have gone there.)

My add-on at 5:00 pm...

In the bird world, I saw buffleheads... which is the best duck name ever... and possibly some other diving ducks that were too far away to ID (but, they could have been more buffles). Had to pull a crazy driving maneuver and get out of the car to get pictures. And this is the pair of birds that are apparently nesting in my neighbor's house. Which I think is totally awesome, but only because it isn't my house. I probably shouldn't have posted a picture of someone else's house, but it's so cute, and it's not like you can tell the address, and I'm pretty sure they don't read my blog. Bird nerds, please ID the birdies for me!

I love it, every day something new!!! Finally! (Although I hear that tomorrow's new development may be wintry weather, too bad after a lovely today!)

I've Got the Fever

Spring came! With temperatures topping 60 today, we finally had one of those early warm days that makes you really feel like it's over, we're on our way out, Spring has Spring! Inevitably, these days come before a huge snow storm or something... but while it was here, I took full advantage. I walked at lunch, I walked after work. (The later was, ostensibly, for fitness. I walked instead of working out, which was my original plan. The problem with this is, I stop to look at things. I could somewhat alleviate this problem by not carrying my camera -- thereby also ensuring that I saw "the coolest thing ever" -- but not entirely. I'd still stop to study and admire things.) So anyhow... here are some of the discoveries, both phenologically significant and not:

Aspen catkins.

Bulb plants emerge, here, hyacinths.

The lake was filled with ducks (and geese and swans). I think these are goldeneyes based on the white cheek spot in the right photo... but I didn't have binocs and I'm not that great of a birder anyhow -- it's possible there were 5 types of ducks there rather than just 2 (the other being mallard). Note: That open water isn't on the same lake I always use to determine ice off, which is still covered. Have to remain consistent!

A maze of goose prints... they just looked cool.

And a maze of vole tunnels, with a little, igloo-esque house! The snow melted and they left it abandoned, a vole ghost town.

The moon and a redtail.

So many birds today... Cardinals calling constantly for the last week, robins galore, killdeer, a bunch of LBBs, and plenty of these RWBBs. I just chose to include the photo because it was a good picture.

Finally, this is today's mystery. If anyone knows this plant, please tell me what it is... These seedpods (2 inches long) were painfully thorny and stiff, filled with hard black seeds about 2-1/8 inch in diameter. The plant itself was about 2-3 feet tall with a thick stem and no leaves to be found. It branched in a pattern that reminded me of the flower heads on wild indigo.

I also sketched the mystery pod. But it had a lot of thorns and I kinda got tired of them...

Weekend Update

A cute and fearless baby robin waits for its mom to bring it a meal.
An early spiderwort. Mine isn't close, and looks to be more on what I think of as a normal track -- blooming in June.
Lewis' prairie flax. A lovely, delicate blue flower, I like this plant especially because of its connection with the Corps of Discovery -- it is named for its describer, Meriwether Lewis... it's a native of more western prairie states, but I got the seeds at Monticello and I couldn't resist planting some and I quite like them.

In other news this weekend...

• ducks have started having baby ducks.
• We planted all the frost-intolerant planties outside in the ground, taking our chances on a freak weather occurrence... peppers, squash, tomatoes, basil, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera... it's all out there.

Updates

The sun is back out and I traipsed around for a short while to see what was happening:

• Grebes are here, tiny ducks on the lake looking strikingly different from the typical mallard.
• Northern Sea oats are growing (actually I noticed this a few days ago).
• Bellwort has sprouted and is about 2 inches tall.
• Also genitan has sprouted and is about 3 inches tall.
• Some thing I thought were done for are popping up... I got a Dutchman's breeches, and a new mayapple, over a week after the others were already umbrella-ing, even though their conditions are the same. Hmm.

Also... a wild ginger flower.

I am quite taken with these flowers. We focus all our attention on the showy flowers. This week, with my students, we are learning about pollination and we focus on the idea that brightly colored petals attract pollinating insects, which often see them differently than us due to their eyes. The petals are the insect version of the Golden Arches or the neon "Eat at Joe's" sign. But not all flowers are using brightly colored flowers to attract their pollinators. Some, of course, are pollinated by wind -- these tend to be green... why waste pigment on something that can't see? They also tend to be long and hangy. Some flowers smell nasty to attract insects that might normally go for rotting flesh. These have the same demographic of pollinator. Flesh-colored flowers right along the ground where something creepy-crawling could happen right into them. But they're really quite striking... deep brown-red, fuzzy all over, with three twisty triangle petals like a jester's cap. They have white insides that make it seem as though a bug is "heading toward the bright light." A treat for the lucky folks that bother to look in the leaf litter for flowers instead of waiting for the bright colors to hit you in the head!

Slushy Snow Walk

In addition to red wing blackbirds descending in droves, here are some of yesterday's discoveries:

Fallen sticks imprinted into the snow, only appearing from the over-head vantage point.

Deer track.

Colorful fungi bands, green moss... you can almost imagine it's not winter.
Someone's a messy eater.
Two someones, actually...
(I even saw a pair of mallards, but they are not pictured here.)
A spot of green grass. Yeah, I know it's last year's green grass. But it's still green.
Geese directly overhead.

Bird Brained

This morning was perfectly calm -- not a bit of wind to ripple the water -- and warm. Despite a full cloud cover, the sky was bright. Birds must have loved the weather, as I had a bird-filled morning. (Birds... one thing for which my point-and-shoot camera, carried in a pocket and pulled out discreetly during class, is really inadequate.)

This coot was swimming in the pond this morning, along with several mallards, one of whom is reflected in the water at the top of the photo.

Red-wind black birds were out in huge flocks, and very talkative. Their calls sound like March to me, if March can have a sound, although obviously theirs is a spring arrival announcement AND a fall going-away call.

That little duck-shaped dot in the center is a grebe. I spent some time watching them go under and re-appear in different places. I could watch diving ducks for hours as they disappear and pop back up. First grade students, though, have about 3 minutes of duck watching in them. (Also note: by late morning, the water is less mirror-like and the wind is causing a bit of a chill...)

I saw 4 herons this morning, but none in such a strange position as this fellow, who actually camouflages perfectly with the roof upon which he is perched.

Other bird sightings this morning, which went unphotographed: a bluebird, on a bluebird box, looking grayer than usual, but still definitely blue. And a bunch of LBBs, goldfinches, etc.

In the non-avian world, these things were all over the edge of the pond. I suspect they are frog eggs, which may not make it, as they are on the shore. The lake levels were very high last week with all the rain we've gotten and are starting to recede. I guess these almost future frogs got stranded. (Anyone know more about what these are? Let me know!)

This is our car katydid from yesterday. It was on the windshield. So cute.

Some photos

Too busy/distracted for good writing, but here's the phenology updates from yesterday.

Yesterday was cold and intermittantly rainy.  I made the mistake I always accuse students of -- dressing for yesterday.  I was quite cold during my outdoor classes.

I heard a bluejay, but I didn't see it.  (Can't blame the bird.  I wouldn't have shown my face to 21 first and second graders, either.)

At right is a picture of the hazelnut flowers, both male (catkins) and female (bright red!).

Here is the baby bergamots, sprouting purple and fragrant in the prairie.

Also, I tried to get a picture of a migrating duck, so we can play name that duck.  Scaup?  Any other ideas out there?

diving dUcks

Today was, frankly, dreary.  Grey and foggy and misting all day, after a night of... yup... more rain.  At least it was warm, which is not supposed to be the case for the rest of the week.

Some ducks are migrating through.  I really enjoy ducks -- so much that I bothered to learn them! It is the one group of birds I know pretty well, an

d can identify on sight... if I have a good view.  Unfortunately, I don't carry binoculars, so generally, my view isn't good.  The ducks I saw today, for example, looked like plain black silhouettes.  The only reason I know they weren't mallards is because they dove.  Mallards are dabblers; their bones are hollow so they can't submerge themselves completely.  When they search for food, their duck butts stick up in the air.  Diving ducks, on the other hand, have solid bones.  This makes them awkward fliers, but excellent swimmers.  To me, they are a wonderful guessing game.  I could watch them forever.  They disappear in one spot and, a minute later, they pop up in a totally different location.  Where will they com

e up, and when?  I am almost never correct, but I keep guessing.  

I think maybe they seem special, too.  A bit rare, an

d yet easy to see and ID (with binocs).  Not at all like warblers -- hard to find and won't sit still.  

On to the plant world.  Call me crazy, but I think these alder catkins are swelling.  Two days ago, there was no yellow visible at all.  (Perhaps I'm grasping at phenological straws -- wanting spring when spring isn't here... I think the filbert buds are slightly bigger, too.  But I'd need a ruler ot be sure on that one.)