Bob White!

The Blackacre Nature Preserve, near Jeffersontown in eastern Jefferson County, KY, protects 170 acres from a farm dating back to 1785. Part of their mission is to re-establish the native Kentucky grasses and other plants that would have been abundant in those days. A butterfly walk on the grounds was advertised in the paper on Friday morning, and approximate 80 people showed up this afternoon, overwhelming Alan Nations, the naturalist on staff.

The wind was a bit stiff, and the butterflies decided to wait it out somewhere else for the most part. After the official walk ended, Bob Lenning, Chris Knopf, Dick and I decided to walk around a bit on our own. We had the thrill of our lifetimes. Bob said he will remember it as "The Day We Saw the Quail!" When I was a girl, we heard Bob Whites whistling in the neighboring farm fields on a regular basis, but I never saw one. Now, I hear them far less, since their habitat is filled with houses and shopping centers.

As we walked along the edge of a large field, we heard a Bob White in the grass, and even saw it stick its head out for a second, then disappear again. On the way back, we heard two different birds whistling their names, and stopped to see if we could join the conversation. Suddenly, we saw some small brown birds peering out from the grass. Is it safe? They decided it was, and walked under the fence for a dust bath in the horses' feeding area. This is a community dust bath and they were joined by many of the neighborhood female Red Wing Blackbirds.

This pair left for the field again, and the second pair came out for their bath. Bob commented that they probably come out like this about the same time every day, and we should return for more observation. The second pair went off under the other fence when finished with their bath. So often, we only look for the male bird, since it is more easily identified. Today, the female Red Wing Blackbirds were abundant, and the female Bob White (Bobbi White?) came right out to be admired too. We even caught their Sunday Afternoon stroll as a movie. Watch how they know just where the break in the fence is. This is a path they must take regularly. What a thrill!

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Your Forest, Your Adventure

Jefferson Memorial Forest sits atop 6,191 acres in the Knobs of Southern Jefferson County. Going there is like traveling to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky in only 20 minutes. The road winds in sharp switchbacks to the top of the ridge, while narrow streams cascade down crossing from one side of the road to the other. In times of flash flood, this is not a good place to be, I'm sure. Dick just completed his training to volunteer at the forest, and we went to explore, since I had never been there at all. "Mixed deciduous" is the key phrase to this forest, with good combinations of maple, several varieties of oak, beech, and hickory, along with pine and cedar trees - the forest with something for everyone.

The trail we took down to Mitchell Lake runs along a ridge, level with the treetops. Step off the trail even a bit though, and you might tumble down to the bottom of a steep valley. This gives a slight advantage to the birder, reducing the risk of injury through Warbler's Neck, since you don't have to look straight up all the time. The warblers still hide among the leaves, and flit from one tiny branch to another. They want to see us, without us seeing them. I think they count points and keep score. Our big find of the day was a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, who stayed in the same general area long enough to be photographed several times. A Yellow Rumped Warbler kindly turned around to show off his namesake. An Eastern Towhee moved every time I found him in the binoculars, as usual. Other small birds were not cooperative, and I have emailed pictures of two mystery birds to Brainard Palmer-Ball, my birding expert. Any one else want to take a shot at identifying these birds?

We whispered, trying to avoid spooking the birds, when we heard a crashing through the underbrush. A large brown figure dashed uphill, and at first I thought it was a doe. The second one that came along let me look a little closer, and it was coyote! Good think they weren't hungry.

The Mayapples were blooming, although some had yellow spots on their leaves. Blight? There is a blight and leaf spot disease they get. After finding no Jack in the Pulpit at Natural Bridge, we were delighted to find a whole hillside of them right here at home. Among the Jack in the Pulpit, were a collection of Trilliums with larger leaves than we saw last week. Trilliums have three leaves, of course, but I never knew that Jacks have three leaves too. Early Spiderworts also have three petals, but the leaves are straight. Tiny Bluets lined the trail down to the lake.

A beautiful day, with my favorite husband, doing something we both enjoy. What could be better?

Out of the Unknown

Part of the fun of tuning in to nature is the learning. With my memory it's especially rewarding because I get to learn the same things over and over again. Tavia's Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher was a new one for me. I'm now wondering if the little gray bird with white tail stripes that I saw from a distance the other day might have been a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher instead of a Slate Colored Junco like I assumed at the time. I'll never know but next time I'll look a little more closely before jumping to conclusions. I remember thinking at the time, "Haven't the Junco's left yet?"

The picture posted here was named "UnknownRedShrubFlower" in my pics folder until I stumbled upon it while browsing The Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants - Eastern/Central. The picture in the guide slapped me "upside the head." Because it's such a distinctive flower I knew it was a match. The unknown shrub has been transformed in my mind to Wahoo (Euonymus atropurpurious). I've seen this plant before, I think, but never took time to look it up. The picture here was taken last fall at Floyd's Fork Park in Jefferson County KY right along the creek. Hailed by it's exotic shape and brilliant red/scarlet foliage, flowers and berries I was compelled to stop the car and snap off a couple of pictures. I looked in the rear view mirror first, of course.

It turns out the plant is considered to have numerous medicinal uses and the fruit, seeds and bark are considered poisonous. I have to laugh. A beautiful unknown plant now has a personality. Not only is the personality bestowed with a history of herbal medicine, it has an absolutely intriguing name. Why in the world would it be called Wahoo? Could it be for it's tonic, laxative and diuretic properties? Perhaps, but I won't to jump to conclusions.

Today is the Day!

My redbud has begun to open!

And my crabapple too!

Thanks to Cheri, this beautiful poppy is blooming in front of my house!

Spring Thoughts on Trees

With redbuds just opening around our area, we are once again threatened with the possibility of an untimely freeze. I'll be anxiously looking each morning for the next couple of days, afraid of seeing damage from the temperature going too low. It does seem to me that some blooms are running later this year, perhaps because of late frosts the last two years.

Spending a day at Bernheim gave me a chance to do a little reconnoitering. I spied the precious catkins of the river birch. I'm reminded that even with so many trees in bloom right now, that so few are even noticed individually. And how pressed even someone who thinks of themselves as a naturalist is to identify a tree by its early bloom. Now is when a guide such as "Trees and Shrubs of Kentucky" by Wharton and Barbour really shines. Color photos of the blooms of many of the trees (and in some cases, photos of the fruits which will come later) precede the black and white photos of the trees that cause many to shun the book.

Some may have heard me yammer on about the color of bark on trees (bark is almost never "just brown"). Wharton and Barbour point out that the bark of young branches on the river birch is "pinkish tan". I must admit that I didn't notice that color, so I'll have to look closer on my next visit. The same book notes that the bark of the tulip tree is gray, though I see younger trees with a distinct pink or rosy cast. Though I don't have a copy, the Audubon guide to trees features a photo of each tree's bark. And I find it difficult to leave the visitor center gift shop without perusing "Tree Bark: A Color Guide".

smell of wild garlic
common blue violets fade
under the twilight

Raining On My Parade

Rain ... and more rain. That has to be the topic for today. I've been keeping a simple weather log just as a way of making myself more aware and also as a way to develop an understanding of how weather can be predicted. Or you can just note the current weather whenever you make an entry in your nature journal. (You do have a nature journal?!) As I write this, the humidity is 98% and the barometer is 29.94 and falling. I can report that this situation makes rain fairly likely. :-)

The forecast for today is rain with possible thunderstorms. I must admit that severe weather can scare me. I've seen the destruction of tornadoes and they can be humbling if not deadly. And lightning can be just as dangerous. But as scary as weather can be, what an interesting thing it can be to study.

Did you know that they've actually assigned genus and species names to clouds now? I'm fascinated by altocumulus mackerel sky (mackerel sky is the specific epithet). A cloud that looks like a fish? Yeah, sort of. It's named for how that cloud pattern resembles the pattern on the side of a mackerel. It can mean that a change in weather is on the way.

I also must admit that Allen and I have sat on the grass in front of the Education Center and just watched clouds together. (I see little lambs, Allen sees wood.) But my own favorite clouds are the ones that are bathed in the pastel colors of sunset. I've been taking many photos of the sunsets to study them and as a kind of phenology study. Though we've all seen beautiful sunsets before, I think there's a tendency to believe that most of them look pretty much the same. Check out my photos for proof that each sunset is as unique as a fingerprint.

At dinner time, with a break in the rain, I saw a flicker in my yard. No moustache means that it was probably a female. Having seen a male a week or so ago, I'm hopeful now that a pair may be setting up house in the area.

Following up on yesterday's thoughts: all that we know about social insects makes one wonder. Can insects think? Today's essay by Hal Borland (in his Book of Days) suggests that they can't, only depending on instinct. But some new evidence suggests that it might not be that simple. I saw an ant crawling on my kitchen counter this afternoon. I wonder if he thinks the food is good at my place.

To get started:

The Weather:
http://www.weather.com/?from=gn_logo_welcome
http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/index.php

Rain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/Rain.htm

Thunderstorms:
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/Rain.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/basics/thunderstorms.htm

Tornadoes:
http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/safety/tornadoguide.html

Lightning:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lightning/
http://science.howstuffworks.com/lightning.htm
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weather/weather.html

Clouds:
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/home.rxml
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/cloud.htm
http://www.cloudappreciationsociety.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altocumulus_mackerel_sky

Sunsets:
http://thingamabobs.blogspot.com/search/label/Sunset
http://www.soleildujour.com/sunset.html
http://www.nyip.com/ezine/outdoors/sunsets.htmlhttp://www.eternalsunset.net/
http://www.scifun.org/HOMEEXPTS/BlueSky.html

Northern Flicker:
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i4120id.html
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Flicker.html

Thinking Insects?:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_n8_v106/ai_20148001
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Entomology/courses/en570/papers_1998/walter.htm