Attention Milkweed Aficionados

If you want to read a DELIGHTFUL article about milkweed, you must check out this link:

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/nature/2009/10/a-flight-of-fancy-floss/

Our milkweed is only juuuust starting to split and let out its fluff, so I don't have any photos of my own...yet.

Playing with my New Toy, and other miscellaneous shots

I toured the Routes 28 and 28N loop this weekend. Stopped along the Hudson River to read the interpretive signage and look for photo opportunities. These bubbles were formed by the water rushing over rocks, so I tried to capture them "on film." Must've taken over 50 shots, and only about five came out without significant blurring. And look! There's a person in each bubble!

You just never know what you'll find in the woods. Is it a metal toilet? An old hardhat? Perhaps a funky hubcap?

Did you guess this is the inside of a wooden canoe? It was sitting outside a shop in Indian Lake, in the late afternoon sun, just begging to be photographed. I was happy to oblige.

Now, this is what kind of quality close-up (no cropping) you can get with a good macro lens. Yes, I bit the bullet and bought one...the urge was just too strong. But, oh, what a difference it makes! And it would be even sharper if I'd used the tripod. Ditto for the following photos.

Purple vetch flowers touched with frost.

Moss sporophyte, with operculum (the little cap underneath) still attached. Note the frost clinging to the sides of the capsule.

Frosty rosehips. Look sorta' like squids, don't they?

Monkshood with frost.

Hawkweed seed head with frost crystals. I think this is my favorite.

At Least the Kids had Fun

This fall I agreed to do an aftershool program at one of our local schools. Nature hikes, that's what they wanted, so I said "Sure!" At this time of year, first graders are really just big kindergarteners, and most of the group is in first grade; the oldest is in fourth grade, and there's only one. Needless to say, I have my hands full!

Yesterday was our third program, and thankfully the sun was out (sort of), so we went for our hike (last week we made journals inside, thanks to the rain). As soon as they were out the door, they took off, heading right for the oak tree in front of the school.

Acorns were picked up by the handful and stuffed into pockets, but the big ticket item was the acorn caps. Why? Because one of the most important things you can take into the woods with you is a whistle, and if you forgot your whistle, you can always make one with an acorn cap! I taught them this on our first hike, and once they learned how to do it, well, let's just say it was a big hit.

We walked down the hill to the nature trail behind the local library. The gravel parking area was full of maple keys, and even though they were all dried out, I showed them how to split the seed end and stick them on their noses.

Milkweed pods are still quite green up here, but that didn't stop the kids from pocketing fistsful of them as well. Pods were soon ripped open to expose the not-quite-ripe-yet seeds inside.


Along the creek we encountered a common merganser. As you can probably guess, the kids just couldn't stand there quietly and watch. The poor bird swam upstream as rapdily as it could to escape the screaming horde, then turned tail and ran down stream, much to the shrieking delight of my charges.

We checked out the beaver dams, smelled the wild thyme, and drew in our newly made journals. By 4:00 it had become quite chilly out, so we headed back towards the school to meet the buses.

I find these programs to be very draining - two hours with a dozen little kids fresh out of school is enough to wear anyone out! You have to have eyes on the front, back and sides of your head to keep track of them all, and they all want your attention NOW. They'll ask a question non-stop until you give them your attention to answer, but they won't wait to hear what the answer actually is. At the end of the day I'm usually just glad that we all survived the experience and no one was hurt. But then I hear them the next week talking about what they learned the week before, or they come up to me and say "I can't wait until next week," or "How many more programs do we have, because I want to do this every week," and I realize that even though I can't see it at the time, these kids are really getting something out of these programs.

And, y'know, that makes it all worthwhile.

Sleigh Bells Ring

We had some fine fall weather this weekend - the sun was actually out and I was finally able to get some gardening done (including planting the garlic).

Crabapple Glow

Toby was happy because we got to play a little soccer! Nothing like a good romp after a soccer ball to fill your afternoon.

Is this a happy-looking dog or what?!?

We had a nice hard frost Monday morning - it lasted until after 9:30 AM! Toby and I were on our walk and I had to dash back home for the camera.

White Pine (Pinus strobus) seedling.

Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) - aka: Bird's Nest

I didn't ID this at the time. I think it's Blackberry, though (Rubus spp.)

But this morning, that all changed. This is what greeted me out the garage door:

Across the street a couple turkeys were taking it all in stride.

I decided to play with the camera and take some black and white shots of the snow. I kind of like the Ansel Adams look it gives to the landscape.

Some neighbors have some old farm equipment out front.

I love the nostalgic look.

Down at the Hudson River.

Of course by now it's all melted away, but it sure made for a pretty morning drive.

Update: according to Dear ol' Dad, the piece of farm equipment pictured above is "an old critter-powered road grader used to smooth dirt and gravel roads when they became rutted and full of holes. Too bad there isn't something similar for asphalt highway potholes!" Thanks, Dad!

Native American Festival

This last weekend was the Native American Festival in Saratoga. It wasn't listed as being a pow wow, but it turned out to be very much like other pow wows that I've attended.

There were many vendors, some with beautiful art work: native pottery, carvings, flutes, paintings, baskets, etc. There were also the cheap "Indian" stuff vendors - tacky colored feathers on leather strings that you clip to your hair, wooden whistles for kids, etc. There were also storytellers, singers and musicians. And, of course, the drummers and dancers.

The dancing is usually the highlight of these events. As usual, it started with a grand entry, wherein the flags enter the dance circle. This was followed by a veteran's dance, honoring those who fought for our country. No photos were to be taken during these dances. Afterwards, however, we were allowed to "shoot at will", photographically speaking. So, here are some of the images I took:

Group of women - note all the different styles of dress.

This gentleman was one of the veterans.
Vietnam, I believe.



This gentleman was/is a WWII vet.

Woman Dancer

This gentleman was one of the veterans. US Navy.

Jingle Dancer. These dancers are named for the jingles

on their dresses. Only women are jingle dancers.

This was the head man dancer, Don.

These two images are of a young man who is doing a Grass Dance.

The Grass Dance, apparently, was done to prepare an area

for an encampment or ceremony; the steps of the dance

are done in a specific way to flatten the grass.

The long yarns on his outfit mimic the tall grass of the prairies.

This man was the fanciest of the men dancers.

Another of the men dancers. I believe he is Oneida.

A Walk in the Park

I had an aftershool program yesterday afternoon down in North Creek. I arrived early to get some guidance from Evelyn, who showed me where I lost the trail when I was here on Monday. And, of course, we botanized a bit.

This sweet little flower is Smaller Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis laxa), a native forget-me-not, and so very very tiny! It is amazing that anyone can find them!

We were looking for Slender Gerardia (Agalinis tenuifolia), a small, pink, snapdragonish flower. First Evelyn spotted the seed pods. It is late in the season, so our hopes of finding a flower started to flag.

But at last she found two, one of which fell off as I moved a grass to take a photo.

This lovely daisy-like flower I believe is Lesser Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron strigosus), also known as prairie fleabane. It is growing in a lovely clump just off the beach at the Ski Bowl. It's not listed in the Audubon Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, and only has a mention in passing (no illustration) in Newcomb's.

But at least Newcomb's gave a description, which pretty well fit this, the key being nearly entire leaves and stem hairs that lay close to the stem (rather than sticking out).

Can you find the butterfly?

It's a Pink-edged Sulfur (Colias interior), and I had a devil of a time chasing one down to photograph! Just as I got close enough, they would fly off - every one of them! The wind had really picked up at this point, and many of these butterflies were being blown backwards. And when they landed, their wings listed to the side, like a sailboat heeled over in a strong wind. Update: I stand corrected. I was reading up on sulfurs at BugGuide.net and began to doubt my ID of this butterfly. If you look closely at the large spot on the hindwing, you will see it has a little satellite spote. This double spot is pretty conclusive that it is NOT a pink-edged sulfur. It might be an Orange Sulfur (C. eurytheme), although it could possibly be a Clouded Sulfur (C. philodice). Apparently, just to make things a bit more complicated, the two are known to interbreed. This is why I prefer flower ID - for the most part it is a whole lot easier.

Anyway, I guess the thing to look for to tell the difference between Clouded and Orange is the width of the dark band on the edge of the wings. This band is black, and it stands out like a sore thumb on the top of the wings. However, it is strong enough in color that its shadow can be seen on the underside. If you look carefully, you can see that the edge is a bit darker, and this dark area does not extend past the row of light spots. On Orange Sulfurs, this band is quite broad, and on Clouded Sulfurs it is more narrow. Based on the photos in Butterflies Through Binoculars, and my photo here, I am now leaning towards this specimen being a Clouded Sulfur. Feel free to chime in if you have a better idea.

There were several patches of this fuzzy-flowered plant in the sandy "waste" near the parking area at the beach. It looks like the fur on a soggy cat because it had been raining off and on. Evelyn thought this was some non-native plant that has "bunny" in its common name. Any ideas? Update: Betsy correctly identified this as Rabbit-foot Clover (Trifolium arvense), which likes to grow in dry sandy, gravelly locations, which this certainly is.

I didn't have my Newcomb's out at this point (I was trying to chase down the butterflies), so I didn't key out this flower. I thought it was a cinquefoil, but looking through Newcomb's now I'm beginning to thing that maybe it is Yellow Avens (Geum aleppicum).

It's That Time of Year...

Need we say more?

Okay, I will. Yesterday while driving to North Creek for an afterschool program, the weather was trying really hard to snow. Big fat drops of rain splatted against the windshield, leaving little granular bits behind that rapidly melted.

This morning, well, you can see - snow on raised surfaces, and still falling. Flowerheads, large leaves, and the woodpile were all dusted with the white stuff.