tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24699719438302864932024-03-05T04:03:08.612-08:00Natural Worlds: the Tiny Urban ForestSome flora and fauna found in Western Massachusetts, largely during the summer months.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-45380067405625424942016-07-27T04:58:00.001-07:002016-07-27T05:04:06.979-07:00Red Fox<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABJws3Y5KePSqEfMNL472adODQTHpQUXUoPVDdBX1BeNKnKAPKTARUxAz0Tuoqg1nTJjTXJq8lhdMBG1Wv1qkQgD6Jc9AuDKcG0N_K2WlLgO_cB0DAVHwX2oFiZuLIoP-YfUi0Xizqpg/s1600/Red-Fox-Animal-Facts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABJws3Y5KePSqEfMNL472adODQTHpQUXUoPVDdBX1BeNKnKAPKTARUxAz0Tuoqg1nTJjTXJq8lhdMBG1Wv1qkQgD6Jc9AuDKcG0N_K2WlLgO_cB0DAVHwX2oFiZuLIoP-YfUi0Xizqpg/s320/Red-Fox-Animal-Facts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Fox Wasn't As Healthy as This Beauty</td></tr>
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Last week I saw a very lean red fox in front of my house, trotting down the road in that nervous way that fox have, alert for danger at every corner. The back side was scruffy so I'm keeping watch, hoping it isn't mange. I have yet to see it again but perhaps it'll be by. It had that deep rust red, with all the characteristic markers of fox -- black legs and feet, long face-- so it wasn't a small coyote. These Eastern Coyotes get pretty big.<br />
One night, I passed a neighbor's yard while walking the dog and saw in her tall pines two large owls, swooping down and hunting in the moonlight.<br />
A feral cat has adopted my outdoor space. It comes for food routinely: 7 am and 6 pm. Sometimes I catch it playing in the yard, leaping after bugs and pouncing on a large round rock. It gives the rock a few back paw kicks while hugging it with its front legs and then runs off again. It has a clipped ear, the sign of a trapped and spayed/neutered feral. When it rolls on its back, I can see patches of white fur, other than that, it's all black. It looks like a halloween cat because its so long, so I've called it Boo. I wish it had a more distinguished name. I'm open to suggestions. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-4003090186931642142016-07-08T07:42:00.003-07:002016-07-08T10:45:24.134-07:00A Spicebush Special <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcToR9VZu7YRr9TtYIkrEjNCnDFLT5fnHoD681oT-d80voZJk0ds774PhOz-wXq6B3amRyD_-BUVeR7IWiuH6U7etsHaojUf4a1oR4SjkxDnDZSA45RWPsAnFHqS8fFERGpBbr-0R_QA/s1600/20160708_102706.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcToR9VZu7YRr9TtYIkrEjNCnDFLT5fnHoD681oT-d80voZJk0ds774PhOz-wXq6B3amRyD_-BUVeR7IWiuH6U7etsHaojUf4a1oR4SjkxDnDZSA45RWPsAnFHqS8fFERGpBbr-0R_QA/s400/20160708_102706.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<li>And this blue-tailed wonder is a spicebush baby, the Papilio Troilus or a "Spicebush Swallowtail."<b> </b>Last week I was a little concerned about my young spicebush that I planted in the fall (purchased at Nasami Farm in Whately, MA) because many of the leaves were eaten and the stems that reached closest to the sun were barren. Then I found a folded leaf and opening it very slowly and carefully, I spotted a large caterpillar with a very bright, greenish yellow body and a huge black eye that seemed to be staring at me (just nature's design intended to provide some defense for the juicy little being.). I closed the leaf as one would tuck a baby in a blanket and this morning I spotted this beautiful spicebush butterfly. <cite></cite></li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-9561667383480802802016-02-01T05:29:00.001-08:002016-02-01T05:34:54.844-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVeT9CXaMtQSQu5utXOWImjMQCztVGE_5MI4_y0c4o1fL3U5tuWJYQyMYgfnp-Vuu5KPwnZRAyXS2HJDpPRAjBlHF9Aw12b_Lzgs_gwjpow5VAccvO2945LxZNGp8XwD63ZFf33TkEMo/s1600/wasp+nest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Wasp Nest" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVeT9CXaMtQSQu5utXOWImjMQCztVGE_5MI4_y0c4o1fL3U5tuWJYQyMYgfnp-Vuu5KPwnZRAyXS2HJDpPRAjBlHF9Aw12b_Lzgs_gwjpow5VAccvO2945LxZNGp8XwD63ZFf33TkEMo/s320/wasp+nest.jpg" title="Wasp Nest" width="180" /></a></div>
Truly nature's artisans, the wasp make tissue paper fine nests. This one I've passed without notice at least 100 times.<br />
Lately, and I haven't posted here forever (2 year?) the coyotes are making their presence known. There are three and all of them a sandy blonde. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-9943729725223570292014-05-16T18:15:00.000-07:002014-05-16T19:15:50.810-07:00Great Horned Owl and a White Coyote: So Much Excitement for a City!The nights are getting a little balmy with the wind blowing through the tops of the newly leaved trees, making that grass skirts dancing sound that tickles the eardrum. I've been walking the dog more and more, a few miles a day and seeing so many creatures and such loveliness all around, like baltimore orioles, the returning wrens, the bright yellow gold finches that could be mistaken for someone's parakeet. But last night and yeah, the night before that topped it for me. I'll start with the night before. We were on the road, Morris, loping along beside me, and I saw movement in the woods at the top of the trees. Well, I've heard hoo, hoo-hoo, HOO, HOO since January or Februrary all over the woods but haven't seen that owl yet, but there he or she was, having flown from a tall tree in the woods to a tree closer to the road and looking still and Buddhaesque up there, unflinching in its meditation and HUGE. I have never seen an owl that was that big. The size of five month old baby. It was bulky and tall. Very tall. And I watched and watched wondering why I was watching it so much, as if it would communicate something wise to me, or fly around animated with Prokofiev in the background like in a Disney movie. Instead it stayed so still and stone-like and stopped its hooing completely. I do hope there's another one out there but we believe (My sister and I) that there's only one because the Hoos seem to come from only one. But perhaps, in the best of worlds, there are two and there was nest and there will be more. So this story ends, when I decided that it would remain still for a very long time and I ran off to my sister's house to get her to come see, but she wasn't home, and when I returned to that spot, that bird had flown.<br />
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To top that off, Oh my god!, last night I was walking Morris up the road and heard our little Bella barking and barking and her Mom, Dina bringing her in and slamming the door. Bella is a little rug dog but she is full of spunk. There in the middle of the road stood a blond coyote, smaller than the one I had seen before, much smaller -- could it be a cub? It was maybe 35-40 lbs and scrawny, not like the heavy one I saw last winter. It was in very middle of the road and stood its ground, looking at me and Morris (a 75 lb lab-mix). I actually got unnerved and blew my whistle that's on my keychain but it didn't flinch, it just looked. So I turned around and headed back down the road toward my house and in a deep voice I said, Get, Get, and pulled Morris, talking in a tough way to him, " Come on! Get!" as if I wasn't scared but I was, not really knowing why. Coyotes don't run after people unless you're running and you look small and vulnerable (Or so I think after having read a bit). I'm not big but I know I was giving a vibe that I was shaken, my heart doing that boom boom against my chest ; and I was walking at a good clip, turning every minute to see that slender, strange moving , moving like a ghost, wavering a little, like something from a heat wave, slippery -- is that my imagination or do they move with grace, everything bending this way and that, like they don't any brittle bone?. Anyway, this white one was easy to see in the dark and he followed us home, keeping a distance of perhaps 100 feet (I am not known for my measurement savy). He or she followed us all the way and went down my neighbor's drive. I love to see the coyotes but I have so much fear inside from something in my past, something having to do with people, not coyotes. I want to confront that, and get better about being near -- not too near -- the coyote. I want to walk on the same street with confidence, without my heart pounding. But for now, I will have to chant to myself, coyotes do not hurt people, coyotes do no harm. And keep Morris from growing overly confident.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-33796654580749597402014-03-15T10:37:00.002-07:002014-05-16T18:17:06.872-07:00Some Coyote FactsCoyotes come in different colors. Blonde, brown, grey, mixed.<br />
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Coyotes travel around 2 miles at night. (update, read somewhere else they can travel 50 miles).<br />
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Coyotes hunt mainly at night.<br />
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Coyotes fear large dogs and people (under normal wild conditions).<br />
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Coyotes eat almost anything when hungry enough -- garbage, fruit, cats, small dogs.<br />
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Coyotes like to eat mice, rabbits, and squirrels in the wild. <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-43545674624424586202014-03-15T10:33:00.001-07:002014-03-15T10:34:45.736-07:00Books I'm Reading for my Neighbor Coyotes in Western Mass<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGQPb4vRQobA2U0dLrpTw32pe1p7S0U_z4iqf7owVPwjfOdfya74VFfNYs6KkfItozY8Uxvravm1GG_78GfdNluW1um8VPIhmiQBrQqknAk8NT7CQ9XsjGLyeXZGQ8Uy0mS43bN6QebM/s1600/wikimedia+eastern+coyote.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGQPb4vRQobA2U0dLrpTw32pe1p7S0U_z4iqf7owVPwjfOdfya74VFfNYs6KkfItozY8Uxvravm1GG_78GfdNluW1um8VPIhmiQBrQqknAk8NT7CQ9XsjGLyeXZGQ8Uy0mS43bN6QebM/s320/wikimedia+eastern+coyote.jpg" /></a><br />
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Coyote: Seeking the Hunter in Our Midst by Catherine Reid.<br />
Suburban Howls: Tracking the Eastern Coyote in Urban Massachusetts by Jonathan G. Way.<br />
Post created using Freedompop (a free -- so far except for the $30 hotspot -- internet service)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-61177761948481283212014-03-15T10:23:00.000-07:002014-03-15T10:23:09.317-07:00Eastern Coyotes Come to TownFor several weeks there's been some neighborhood commotion over the coyotes who have made their presence known. One woman spotted a single coyote coming out of the woods while she was walking and said to me, "I saw this dog that had the body of a fox but the head of a wolf and it was big as your dog(a lab mix). It poked its head out of the woods as I passed on the road. It was beautiful."
Another woman was very happy to see it after she had heard so many reports of its existence. She finally saw it one morning chasing a rabbit through her yard. Many of us, if we hadn't seen one by December 30th were disappointed as if we weren't among the elite.
We would pass each other on the road and the question would inevitablly rise from one of us "Have you seen the coyote"? I finally saw one, the one we're calling "the blonde one" while walking my dog quite late, around 11 pm. It was a very large dog, and a dirty yellow white. It hung around the snow banks and did a lot of weaving along the road as if trying to dodge its own shadow. It kept far enough away so I was comfortable but it was bit unnerving. I feel awe in the presence of the wild. I'd never been that close to a truly wild animal not in a cage except for a bear once in California.
I love sharing my neighborhood with wildlife but I worry: Will people keep them safe and themselves, too. Will they be tempted to feed them and create problems such as coyotes becoming agressive around food? Will they keep their cats in, especially at night? I hope I'll see them again. I am pretty certain that I will because they'll have some pups soon. There's just enough woods here for them and for that we're fortunate. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-51255873815877409302013-11-03T05:51:00.001-08:002013-11-03T05:59:40.936-08:00Seasons' TransitionsLast night we fell back in time. Somehow it feels connected to the oaks and their heavy plum and rust colored leaves, their obstinence in holding on, or holding back. Last year it was a disaster, the early blizzard fell on trees and the weight made them crack and groan. The pain of the forest was audible, trees crashed to the ground, limbs were torn, and homes of several animals were demolished. This transition from fall to winter is gentler this year, in fact, some of summer still lingers in the crickets and a few cicadas that insist on clinging to the bark and sounding off like broken car starters. The robins still circle around the yard -- I have so many earth worms! Raking leaves, I can scoop up fist fulls. If only I ate worms!<br />
This year, I won't rake back near the woods. But most of what's around the yard I'll take up. There must be a lot of tiger moths about -- I've seen so many wooly bears this year -- found some small ones dead in the road not too far from here as I walked Morris. Perhaps pesticide killed them. This is still a neighborhood that values a big green lawn.<br />
Last year, next door to me, a 1920s, kidney- shaped pool, full of bleach and shock was emptied into the forest. Then it was filled in with soil from the garden so that the garden is now a sunken garden inviting flooding and soil erosion. And just as sudden, the forest grew quieter. The frogs -- and there must of been a good-sized bull frog and lots of smaller ones -- were silent. Such disregard for animals makes my heart break.<br />
Last year I didn't hear the peepers.<br />
The squirrels are out digging like mad, small groups of gray squirrels with black squirrels are on the lawns. I worry about those chemicals in the grass and what that will mean for squirrel reproduction. My grass is chemical free (hopefully). I am sure there are chemicals from the rain and run off from neighbors.<br />
Morris finds a few squirrels that have darted out before the cars. He always looks for them as we circle around. His nose needs to find them every time, they're in the leaves on the side, no one has buried them.<br />
I read a story once about a person who felt compelled to bury all road kill in ceremony. Sometimes I feel like that. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-64941381938081739772013-05-12T10:21:00.002-07:002013-05-12T10:21:58.045-07:00SquirrelsSlowly I am seeing more and more furry friends: cottontail, chipmunk and squirrels! A beautiful woodchuck is still around and at night there's a lone owl, hooting away. Last year its hoots were reciprocated but this year, it seems for naught, the messages are falling on a dark woods with no response. Two bird houses are at full capacity -- one with wrens, the other chickadees. I think the chickadees got there first because last year it was the wren's chosen spot. <br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-30476606713049587592013-05-12T10:18:00.001-07:002013-05-12T10:29:50.567-07:00Wren. It is so obvious that I'm being watched. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-76867719015043115932013-05-12T10:13:00.000-07:002013-05-12T10:13:14.313-07:00Weird Flies seem to be mating in the woody area<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuZreRVWVyakniwkNQPlrsoGAE2kdCDzGSahioHuDI4yz2L3e3RsCwvtRzgfAk_EDrS9q08OfIZlLwmP597aWKg33zddrL-WTDqpcYOA6Now_8vvqt3Xp8TSxxopyTrbfQJ_lZiy1cv4/s1600/spring+wren+035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuZreRVWVyakniwkNQPlrsoGAE2kdCDzGSahioHuDI4yz2L3e3RsCwvtRzgfAk_EDrS9q08OfIZlLwmP597aWKg33zddrL-WTDqpcYOA6Now_8vvqt3Xp8TSxxopyTrbfQJ_lZiy1cv4/s320/spring+wren+035.JPG" width="320" />Please leave a comment if you can </a></div>
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Identify this insect/ fly? It's on everything right now. This is Sassafras. But it's on Rhodies, etc. in western Ma. </div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-38127743322854789232013-05-04T06:23:00.000-07:002013-05-04T06:27:58.703-07:00Poison on Your LawnThis morning two squirrels before 9:00 am. Put out critter food: corn, sunflower seed, peanuts. All the feeders are down and put away. Mass Dept. Of Wildlife guesses there may have been a virus that went through over winter or we had a proliferation of squirrels the year before from the bumper crop of acorns. Three years ago we had so many acorns that my son's car was damaged -- it looked like dough that someone had repeatedly stuck their finger into. I'm hopeful as the months pass that I'll see more squirrels.<br />
My concern is the prolific use of lawn pesticides being used everywhere for "green lawns." Alternative grasses, clovers, flowers, mosses, ferns, could populate spaces and poisons, because these chemicals are poison, could be curtailed. I wonder how long people spend thinking about what they're doing when they have their lawns treated? If they have one thought it is probably what they will pay for the treatment and not the cost to the environment or their own health. Squirrels bury their food in those lawns. Fireflies breed in them. There are homes that I pass where I need to hold my nose because the smell of chemicals is so strong. Leeching in the ground water, it is only a matter of time before you drink it.<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-47489394889264160082013-04-30T17:12:00.000-07:002013-08-13T07:07:14.516-07:00Also missing are chipmunksI miss squirrels and yes, maybe it's too early to see chipmunks. But we haven't seen those either. I did hear that there is a fisher but I haven't seen it. It really couldn't eat everything, could it? And I've seen a gorgeous woodchuck with a thick reddish brown coat and bushy tale down in the dingle. I hope to take it's picture but its very shy.<br />
Walking in the woods by what Greg calls "the tall grass" I found several wild turkey. And one evening I saw a deer while walking Morris.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-45979427144054322852013-04-30T17:00:00.001-07:002013-04-30T17:19:33.054-07:00Where Have All of the Squirrels GoneIt feels as if I didn't pay enough attention. I last saw a squirrel in my yard -- a small forest -- perhaps one month ago. Incidentally, around the same time that people began spraying their yards again. There are no local squirrels in my yard even though a woods is close, there is shelter and much habitat provided by a huge several huge oaks, a beech, a dawn sequoia, plum trees, flowering pear , a towering weeping cherry, and much sassafras and other trees.<br />
My tulips are gorgeous this year because no one is eating them. It is so distressing not to see squirrels anywhere when I walk my dog in the 2 mile circle around the neighborhood. I miss their chattering, clucking and chucking at me -- like a teenage sucking his teeth. I miss their scratchy noise as they chase each other around a tree's bark, and of course, I miss their acrobatics, jumping from limb to limb. This disappearance began over winter as fewer and fewer seem to bother the suet and the black oil sunflower seeds. I don't understand what happened to them. I am sad. Image from last year, 2012.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-50489066792170833122012-07-08T13:05:00.000-07:002012-07-08T13:05:13.263-07:00Grey Squirrel. Massachusetts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbanxKyFW8ief88UHkF6s_qT4nEfHtP1Dgw-Hr_9B4_7jif9gIkNdDH4l156wUuOQEX7PlByo2UcvNLs3TgRZfw5WPHUmpbUFheBovxuPCs6N0auzbEfxwy4TobNdUUoZdV70fBqeshfg/s1600/june+2012+069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbanxKyFW8ief88UHkF6s_qT4nEfHtP1Dgw-Hr_9B4_7jif9gIkNdDH4l156wUuOQEX7PlByo2UcvNLs3TgRZfw5WPHUmpbUFheBovxuPCs6N0auzbEfxwy4TobNdUUoZdV70fBqeshfg/s320/june+2012+069.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-16289819804728031552012-07-08T13:02:00.000-07:002012-07-08T13:02:41.333-07:00A Prolific Summer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdy2yP_D1vnx3LEc6LQkOuzZ5zYa0c6D5OJdRElFumgUcOL8PvTB6c6b23yxMxGH2lUlxmUHZRK2yr1IORZ7FiSnbtCDJ1pjVQIRNTJhuXAauytkY5Le6OOOjzkuF-mwpB3DKynsz0yz0/s1600/june+2012+053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdy2yP_D1vnx3LEc6LQkOuzZ5zYa0c6D5OJdRElFumgUcOL8PvTB6c6b23yxMxGH2lUlxmUHZRK2yr1IORZ7FiSnbtCDJ1pjVQIRNTJhuXAauytkY5Le6OOOjzkuF-mwpB3DKynsz0yz0/s320/june+2012+053.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We have so many chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, opossum and skunks this year -- perhaps due to the wild growth of vegetation around us, that recently we spotted a fisher, a mammal seen in Connecticut but not this far north generally. Yes, I have been feeding the the squirrels and chipmunks. And by way of my garden, the rabbits.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-14386864861352024892011-08-29T16:45:00.000-07:002011-08-29T18:02:48.605-07:00New Bug in the Neighborhood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DIUi7dXBQrCPojYyxlo0uqnDIGnoirKYdE-YXl7r6NLptCWp7eKvXCExna-xp6fMv2mB-DsmUTsrBjbQKntIFKS_M8O_T6N6aH1796j_WuRY3Uh41hefEmTYf6c62QkIPjIuA-nTluk/s1600/very+end+of+august+mushroom+2011+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DIUi7dXBQrCPojYyxlo0uqnDIGnoirKYdE-YXl7r6NLptCWp7eKvXCExna-xp6fMv2mB-DsmUTsrBjbQKntIFKS_M8O_T6N6aH1796j_WuRY3Uh41hefEmTYf6c62QkIPjIuA-nTluk/s320/very+end+of+august+mushroom+2011+023.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Looks like a Pleasing Fungus but I read they don't go north passed Florida.<br />
This is New England. Maybe I'll submit this bug to the bug guy. We have had an incredible number of Mushrooms....<br />
Later that evening.... Just opened my Audubon Field Guide (forgot I had it!) and found the Tomentus Burying Beetle. I think I have a match! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-36246510108265030462011-08-21T07:26:00.000-07:002011-08-21T07:26:32.200-07:00Heavenly Movements<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrX2njw-rrqXQ1foHUD0PoRmLuOVLF_3zhR1gWSFApBbWuBccHQMiESdd0twzCfj-Mv_XlxpnpgRxOM1G-lRETw6bWo9GN6g6DoDJuJ3SPN2IEcrrINlARdwRmHBOVn_xh7JiQr9CiK0/s1600/mushrooms+august+end+2011+043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrX2njw-rrqXQ1foHUD0PoRmLuOVLF_3zhR1gWSFApBbWuBccHQMiESdd0twzCfj-Mv_XlxpnpgRxOM1G-lRETw6bWo9GN6g6DoDJuJ3SPN2IEcrrINlARdwRmHBOVn_xh7JiQr9CiK0/s320/mushrooms+august+end+2011+043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-22459361435673652942011-08-21T06:34:00.000-07:002011-08-21T07:24:11.234-07:00Still Seeing Small<div style="text-align: left;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdCaBdIhn_zLlKQ3eF-4ND7s3QJLyY_4bjvK12FLxhPXdYF5bI2HFAioQ9bPiF7QZyxjgafTeTBRyArImoxVf3Bcv6nPQTUdX6pKDZABckVBXE8wqYDCYUVmFhjJXwOrxzVgZBoHNnSA/s1600/july+mushrooms+2011+088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdCaBdIhn_zLlKQ3eF-4ND7s3QJLyY_4bjvK12FLxhPXdYF5bI2HFAioQ9bPiF7QZyxjgafTeTBRyArImoxVf3Bcv6nPQTUdX6pKDZABckVBXE8wqYDCYUVmFhjJXwOrxzVgZBoHNnSA/s320/july+mushrooms+2011+088.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEise5jXohg4A9wmjZ_8RxDW0sdQzTwobPkUGe-oeSM2omc5598WO7WJw_mSLbS7PbGIvyKqHn3Y2UwUuYelTKql2-g0Uwzdt-FgUsiE1dVPFI742euCprNHAQPBP0HPNgYXJ-C_Hw1w4Oc/s1600/july+mushrooms+2011+098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEise5jXohg4A9wmjZ_8RxDW0sdQzTwobPkUGe-oeSM2omc5598WO7WJw_mSLbS7PbGIvyKqHn3Y2UwUuYelTKql2-g0Uwzdt-FgUsiE1dVPFI742euCprNHAQPBP0HPNgYXJ-C_Hw1w4Oc/s320/july+mushrooms+2011+098.JPG" width="320" /></a>This summer I've experienced a shift in how I see the world. Maybe it's the wisdom of dog being passed onto me from Morris -- we walk, he sniffs, I wait -- what's in front of one's nose is most important. I am focused on what's in front of me: small insects, mushrooms -- I never thought about mushrooms with such excitement. Suddenly they are appearing everywhere and different kinds, so many that I can barely learn their names. I am in awe of people who study them and --as if I've stepped off a precipace -- I could change my life and devote my time to these resilient little entities. (oh, that picture is a robin's egg, not a blue mushroom. Each time I discovered a mushroom, I run for the camera. But I think: What will I do come winter? I can see myself writing about them, and painting them, but I do not want to make paintings that are cute, quaint. The mushroom is too mysterious and otherworldly. Today I found a group of white mushrooms in the woods and when I took their pictures the pixels glowed around them. </div><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-76476341997409396822011-08-07T17:12:00.001-07:002012-07-08T13:15:21.650-07:00Time of the Butterflies.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwdLZJFmzOfY3el-j56VGzaFaVQ7FDAMtAtaE0ZIh1PVLUbC8B4bIcN0mr46M4SD_mBU9Ib0Np53OaAyPBN_XEOrMa772xps0Hsm-RosNEqyrh7IYvk1KDOgmrheXQ3YoxPAKlms6Gnw/s1600/erin+and+eli+074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwdLZJFmzOfY3el-j56VGzaFaVQ7FDAMtAtaE0ZIh1PVLUbC8B4bIcN0mr46M4SD_mBU9Ib0Np53OaAyPBN_XEOrMa772xps0Hsm-RosNEqyrh7IYvk1KDOgmrheXQ3YoxPAKlms6Gnw/s320/erin+and+eli+074.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Swallowtails, Monarchs, small hummingbirds, all passing by too briefly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-16235518738267068392011-07-24T07:17:00.000-07:002011-07-24T07:17:44.268-07:00RACCOONS. A SAD TALE.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2RJZdq2UCoy7fZQ7XGJfetxWoGM-IaENfYIQF-4kux9-HWCNtOucXJrFNWhcx1DYWtiBWpq7zOkePTXEK4o4T_eiOoEqtJYNhudXGwiPWZmgAvQeVTM1XcxaUyy7FfG8fKfnGUvPjG0/s1600/july+mushrooms+2011+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2RJZdq2UCoy7fZQ7XGJfetxWoGM-IaENfYIQF-4kux9-HWCNtOucXJrFNWhcx1DYWtiBWpq7zOkePTXEK4o4T_eiOoEqtJYNhudXGwiPWZmgAvQeVTM1XcxaUyy7FfG8fKfnGUvPjG0/s200/july+mushrooms+2011+014.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Injured Baby Raccoon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We've had families of raccoons. This little one must have fallen from the nest because he had a broken pelvis and had been attacked as evidenced by bite marks. A vet took him in but couldn't do anything because he had been attacked. We are ever vigilant about rabies in this state where raccoons are prime carriers. For a few evenings, just after dusk when the raccoon parent probably left the nest to forage, I could see his two siblings in a large knot of a tall, significant oak, rolling their heads around and teetering dangerously close to the edge of their nook like drunken sailors. I just held my breath and silently chanted, "Please don't fall." They didn't. Later, one night there was much fighting in the woods. Horrible shrieks. Such is the hard life of the wild.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-52299252178075960782011-06-27T10:15:00.000-07:002011-07-24T07:04:29.823-07:00mushrooms, fungi and more fungi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZk3WvOnK2sbmVsJhJ1YFRYTByeWO4flLye1FnrcSzDXiPP6ngbKDkfI_x7mSvvIH1M2Kg_42qEm1z4FnZ_T0v3Ga9yvo5M6yhABjHU4gdJgsLZinl5AXVuoe2UiZDGaRf4LWCXusb1Do/s1600/mushrooms+2011+june+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZk3WvOnK2sbmVsJhJ1YFRYTByeWO4flLye1FnrcSzDXiPP6ngbKDkfI_x7mSvvIH1M2Kg_42qEm1z4FnZ_T0v3Ga9yvo5M6yhABjHU4gdJgsLZinl5AXVuoe2UiZDGaRf4LWCXusb1Do/s200/mushrooms+2011+june+023.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN22BjaARDtOwYI0UP9cHxLXUpzToNP98CaZyy_FurFgCYtAQwcm1ttC06-k6w9eHIH0GVco58wIJUDFaMh59EQPgoX4WlkRpuJ0RR4iOMwGNCwocOP5TrFxAIkpTPilYi3DPlJK93PC0/s1600/mushrooms+2011+june+033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN22BjaARDtOwYI0UP9cHxLXUpzToNP98CaZyy_FurFgCYtAQwcm1ttC06-k6w9eHIH0GVco58wIJUDFaMh59EQPgoX4WlkRpuJ0RR4iOMwGNCwocOP5TrFxAIkpTPilYi3DPlJK93PC0/s320/mushrooms+2011+june+033.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs5O1MRA9xd2lAMvv1zMmRhYJTlyJPBhJ3nX0FXqUoubnS_xgtl-B3J5uaQ0hLdskn1mNta3lsH_W71KUA4FEG6h04sGTG9JWNiuLglAnBj-pjZWAilIfBUgA3G6BXnOJ0ROWKUKZvNM/s1600/mushrooms+2011+june+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs5O1MRA9xd2lAMvv1zMmRhYJTlyJPBhJ3nX0FXqUoubnS_xgtl-B3J5uaQ0hLdskn1mNta3lsH_W71KUA4FEG6h04sGTG9JWNiuLglAnBj-pjZWAilIfBUgA3G6BXnOJ0ROWKUKZvNM/s320/mushrooms+2011+june+020.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-70194300588986596262011-06-05T13:49:00.000-07:002011-06-05T14:02:44.517-07:00Poison Ivy and What's Love Got to Do With It?Some forms of love are toxic. But some love is especially good and healthy. Poison ivy can be a good and healthy love if you are a bird. There are over sixty types of birds who relish the ivy's berry. Let's not call it poison, let's call it bird ivy and just try to avoid it for ourselves. As for chemicals that kill bird ivy, leave them alone. They really are toxic. <br />
Check out this nice site: <a href="http://www.kingdomplantae.net/poisonIvy.php">http://www.kingdomplantae.net/poisonIvy.php </a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Poison_Ivy_Leaves.jpg/800px-Poison_Ivy_Leaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Poison_Ivy_Leaves.jpg/800px-Poison_Ivy_Leaves.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>image from wikimedia commons. creative commons license. Foto from Ithaca nature trail (<b class="selflink">Stilfehler)</b><br />
<a name='more'></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-3234107196642087752011-06-01T14:24:00.000-07:002011-06-01T14:24:43.001-07:00Zalipie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Zalipie_-_painted_cottage_04.JPG/800px-Zalipie_-_painted_cottage_04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Zalipie_-_painted_cottage_04.JPG/800px-Zalipie_-_painted_cottage_04.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>from wikipedia. Zalipie, Poland (near Tarnow)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2469971943830286493.post-77083018545014182542011-05-30T06:42:00.000-07:002011-05-30T06:42:45.840-07:00Spring Path<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmA1RdQr2TYQrrqcaNGqLJ5bCdNYcNukTblkWSYzYQsV1_707co9fGGl84v0bUecN35e2YtgGNvVAC8hZ5_vbV5sbVvMp0ZjWAHf0rTsIT1H5o925jEZ3gaJp3wL_mzYDAJmcJsHOvUA/s1600/snapping+turtle+128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl5KMK0DVGRNkD-NE9dgz20Id0VL39gXA5elJ647UwAQcd2trorK7lj_DzMEsodc74QDYJLT-G0byb_u2YO0lBrNYC81l-6V6Pu0aAHZwD2iP4_IS0L6Hq9fLwAbnF_jniD7NHLT4dYtY/s1600/snapping+turtle+091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptnNoaInSVRyjO-GdSDkS-OVfQT6B8kf5BaDWKaeR0epjpw6hdIR1nmUWn9aTmKP3B_62wf9D2vauZo7Hi-KyxQMDOxMLJ9n5wO49PKRDpPGTZvVOz1fULflcvK0DFOIM8IJGbjRJw-U/s1600/snapping+turtle+096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptnNoaInSVRyjO-GdSDkS-OVfQT6B8kf5BaDWKaeR0epjpw6hdIR1nmUWn9aTmKP3B_62wf9D2vauZo7Hi-KyxQMDOxMLJ9n5wO49PKRDpPGTZvVOz1fULflcvK0DFOIM8IJGbjRJw-U/s320/snapping+turtle+096.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> A quiet path strewn with petals makes one cautious and aware that around the bend something small and fragile could be startled. Gold finches, mourning doves, Carolina wrens, and Baltimore orioles, are a few of the backyards visitors. A bumper crop of chipmunks scurries out of every nook and garden cranny.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0