Friday, 24 July 2009
Whatta day! Glad I saw this gal/guy, and so close!
Kinda counteracted the off-leash dogs in the on-leash park—three, count ’em, three, each with a different owner/tender. Note that the nice off-leash area is a twelve-minute walk away.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Cool overnights mean lovely, delightful mornings in the mid- to high-60s. So pleasant!
I caught the great blue heron (Ardea herodias) resting on the Lake Clara Meer island, the first time I’ve spotted him/her there.
Sunday, 19 July 2009
I suspect it’s a rental unit, but still I think I’d remove this tidbit of natural history from my window….
Friday, 17 July 2009
With the improvements to the BotGarden/Park, I guess they’ve adjusted the security patrol, too.
Monday, 6 July 2009
I can’t remember the last time we made an early morning run to Seney to take the driving tour. We saw geese, loons, ducks, swans—the usual—plus a muskrat and a small night-heron, but we’re not sure which one.
Friday, 29 May 2009
I’ve been hearing the sandhill cranes, and had one distant sighting, but so far just listened to them. Early this morning I got lucky, and saw a pair in flight! I wasn’t really set up for bird photos, but I did get one shot that was “less-blurry.”
Just to note, today seems to have been an early-morning day for more than just me; I noticed an intrepid fisherman out in the dawn —mist— in a rowboat over the rockbar. (Perch for breakfast? I wondered….)
UPDATE: The Fisherman snagged a yellow perch and a walleye, both smaller than the limit….
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
I kept hearing this guy (or his kin or fictive kin), and today I finally spotted him—strutting his stuff. I don’t think he was aware of me, but he sure looked like he was posing. (BTW, thanks to GG for his list of recent bird sightings….)
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Or maybe that’s true. Anyway, this is surely a white fish. And perhaps that’s all! (Yeah, I know I shouldn’t carp on this! hahaha)
Monday, 4 May 2009
We have had many, many of these little buggers, I assume because we’ve had so much rain. But there are probably other variables involved, too.
So, what is this leetle guy? Not a beetle!
I would call it a sowbug,* and not a pill bug, which also has this same general shape. I don’t think this one rolls up like a pill bug. But this may point up the problem with common names; what do I know? Googling a bit suggests both are isopods, members of the family that includes shrimp and crabs—and even these guys have gills and need water to “breathe.”
Of all things.
* But those who are not entomologically impaired seem to refer to all of them as woodlice.
Monday, 27 April 2009
In honor of today’s summer temps (high about 80°F, low about 60°F), I present a picture of the snow that accumulated on our patio furniture on 1 March, this year.
Recent birthdays: The Botanist is 92 and planting the garden. Another (terror-)pair is something over half that.
We’ve officially transitioned to summer here, based on the upstairs becoming “too hot” without AC—but only in the late afternoon/evening (so far).
I sat through upwards of two dozen papers at the SAAs last week, and only bought two books.
We joined the commemoration of the lively and well-lived life of JN Chamblee, sadly claimed by cancer earlier this month.
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On swine flu, the best I’ve read is here. Author David Kirby fingers confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, as one critical link in this outbreak, and notes:
“Classic” swine flu virus (not the novel, mutated form in the news) is considered endemic in southern Mexico, while the region around the capital is classified as an “eradication area”—meaning the disease is present, and efforts are underway to control it. For some reason, vaccination of pigs against swine flu is prohibited in this area, and growers rely instead on depopulation and restriction of animal movement when outbreaks occur.
But remember: most people are recovering, including all cases outside Mexico (so far). Repeat if necessary….
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Earlier today I figured out that the stimulus money that is flowing to the states through the National Park Service totals $700 million (a small percentage of the total American Recovery and Reinvestment Act monies), and lowly Georgia is getting, tada!, a mere 0.33 percent of that (at most)—or just under $2.5 million. If all states got an equal amount, Georgia would get $15 million. Yeah, I know there are many important projects out there; I felt the need to point out the pattern, however.