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Category: Naturalist
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Restoration
There are things in this world we must do. For me, that is a walk in the woods. I slowly go to pieces if I can’t get out there, preferably alone, and just… walk. I can feel the weight slipping off me, falling behind, and when I come out again I’m ready to face whatever…
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Acaciella
This pretty flower is one of those examples of ‘can’t leave well enough alone,’ as you will find it variously listed as Acacia angustissima, or Acaciella angustissima. At least they’ve agreed on the narrow leaves! Which some of the common names agree on, as well, since it’s sometimes called Fern Acacia, also Prairie Acacia. That…
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Brazos River Hike
After a really long hiatus, I finally made it back out on a trail. It was a great hike, too. Worth the effort – and this one took some special preparation for me! I hiked for an hour, and according to my car (parked in shade) thermometer, it was 102 fondly Fahrenheit out there. The…
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Erodium
Now that I’ve settled into the new digs – mostly. Still transporting books down from storage, but honestly I’ve decided this is a Good Thing. Not only does it give me an excuse to venture up to see friends once a week or so, and social interaction is important with my spouse several states away…
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The Dayton Prairie
Only remnants remain, mostly re-created in the local parks. As fall ushers in the end of the year, things are still blooming, still storing nutrients against the bleak winter. This was a perfect day to go walk through the tall grasses and feel the caress of the ceaseless wind. I took the First Reader…
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Aslcepias
Milkweed, and it’s cousin Butterfly Weed, are some of my favorites. Not only are they host to the Monarch butterfly in infant stage, they have wonderfully shaped flowers. The Common Milkweed has a divine scent: the one time I have seriously attempted distillation I was seeking to capture the volatile oils that make their…
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Bee on Golden Alexanders
A solitary bee on Zizia aurea, commonly known as Golden Alexanders. Photographed May 10 2020 in Montgomery County, Ohio. Many native pollinators, like this busy fellow, are solitary bees. Unlike the eusocial honeybee with it’s vast hive of individuals that work together in complex social patterns, solitary bees are all on their own. However,…
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Out for a Walk
Spring has sprung in my neck of the woods, and I have been stealing time to go for a walk on the way home from work every day. Well, every day I can justify it – some days, it’s hurry home to take care of something time-sensitive. I can usually manage 30 minutes, which…
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Marvelous Mosses
I went for a hike yesterday. Just a little one. I felt guilty for taking the time to do it. So there’s a metropark near my work. The Dayton area, which I call home, has something like 14 parks and conservancy areas in it. Next summer I’d like to hit all of them, but…
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Doin’ the Horizontal Mambo
Passing on one’s genetic material is perhaps the driving force behind life as we know it. It is as close to immortal as any of us, unicellular or multicellular, can get. Viewing biology in these terms, it should not have surprised us to discover that organisms have loads of other ways to pass themselves into…
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Agapostemon Splendens
A colorful example of the large bee family Halictidae, the little sweat bee Agapostemon splendens earns her species ‘splendid’ with this jewel-like emerald thorax and tidy black and yellow striping. All the photos show her on New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae) but you will find her on many other flowers as well. At this time…