Musings

Crews with strong stomachs must have been busy yesterday removing the stinky feeshiness floating on Lake Clara Meer, because only a few belly-up bodies were in nooks and crannies this morning. The odor still hangs around, but is diminished.

This is a good thing for the entrepreneurs who have issued high-priced tickets for a Paul McCartney concert this coming weekend. Still, the setup crew began working this morning amidst a bit of eau d’poissons (or whatever the French is).

I studied the lake water for a bit, and there’s another algal infestation that I hadn’t noticed. I had been monitoring the bright green surface film kind, but there’s also a billowy dark green lifeforce below the surface that tints the water, although you can still see the bottom if the water’s up to almost a foot deep. Maybe that’s the culprit species. (And not the population factor I advanced yesterday, although that has to affect the situation, too, it seems to me.)

Humid, humid, humid.

Posted at 10:22 AM | 1 Comment »

This sign usually brings a smile to my face. Lake Clara Meer most often looks kinda gunky and unpleasant for swimming, although the fisherfolk seem to find it sufficiently appetizing to toss in their lines.

Now, however, the big story I read about is the fish die-off that the lollygaggers and other park visitors noted on Sunday. We didn’t walk there yesterday, so we missed it.

Not today.

Yup, the reports are correct. It’s a mess, but the windrows of belly-ups are localized. The smell, however, is not. The lake’s emitting a lovely odor reminiscent of a Third-World fish market lacking refrigeration and running water.

Sure enough, the DNR arrived in force to do whatever they do in such a situation. The die-off has been attributed to an algal bloom. We’ve been seeing worse algae that I saw today for over a month, although I’m certain low oxygen is a notable factor. What I’ve seen recently that’s new is a bunch of teeny fishies that I first saw on Saturday.

Frankly, I’m also surprised by the quantity of dead feesh, overpopulation seems an important factor here. But, I’m no lacustrine specialist.

The stunner in all this: most of the dead—and the lazy-swimming survivors—were panfish and carp and catfish (not that I know my feesh species); however, I did spot one eel—I assume an American Eel (Anguilla rostrata), those critters who do their spawning in the Atlantic.

Posted at 12:01 PM | Comments Off on News from Piedmont Park

For the second Sunday in a row, since the traffic is highly diminished in the early morning, we walked to the Carter Center. Today we explored more than last week, and saw the upper pond (aka the koi pond).

No herons.

On the grounds there’s a little rose garden with benches for contemplation or quiet conversation, which was freshly watered this morning.

Posted at 11:05 AM | Comments Off on Unreal rosy rose

We stepped out to do some errands this afternoon, and discovered we had a visitor on our walkway. He (I think) must not have liked our concrete, as he was gone when we returned.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Daytime luna moth

Down on the flats (there used to be a creek through here, but the flow is now piped underground) the dew carried the marks of an exercise circle*. Does looking at it make your knees hurt?

* If the work-out crew was gay, would this be an ephemeral fairy ring? NB: Fairy rings or circles are fungi that grow in an ever-increasing arc. Very strange. And nothing like this dew-track.

Posted at 10:22 PM | 2 Comments »

I discovered this blooming in a secluded niche over at Piedmont Park, and didn’t know really what it was, although the name “spider lily” came to mind….

Then, serendipity struck, and I came across a picture of a specimen that looked just like it, and found out (if my identification is correct) that this one indeed is probably Hymenocallis caroliniana, and is native to southeastern North America.

What a surprise!

Posted at 10:47 AM | Comments Off on Spiky and native!

There are a few of these pink clover blooms at the top of the steps at Piedmont Park that I’ve been using for an extra jolt of exercise (pant pant).

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Modest floral display

Discombobulated.

Now there’s a word.

And it perfectly describes my underlying energy levels today.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Yawn

Cypress knees are just plain strange. Handy for dragon flies, though….*

* Look atop the knee just to the left of the trunk and toward the background….

Posted at 8:26 PM | Comments Off on Coniferous buttresses?

For this morning’s walk route, we rechecked the larger pond at the Carter Center. We didn’t visit the smaller, upper pond, as we got distracted by the American chestnut plantings in the demonstration plot.

Posted at 7:31 PM | Comments Off on We saw no old chestnuts…