We had a bird death today in our yard. This is not a completely uncommon occurrence; occasionally feral cats will ambush a mourning dove or two. We try to scare the cats off when we can. However, today's bird death was due to our front window. We've had some bird strikes before, but the birds are usually just dazed and fly off again after recovering.
My husband heard it and went outside- he found it on one of our front porch camp chairs. It was apparent that the bird, a beautiful female cardinal, was not going to make it. I couldn't stay to watch it perish, so I went back inside.
Later on, I went out to see what about that window makes it a hazard to birds. It's extremely reflective today- I don't know that this is the case on sunny days, maybe just the rainy ones. I decided to make some bird silhouettes for the window to prevent the strikes. They were hard to see, so I looked up some other products. One is called CollidEscape, and it's a vinyl material with holes in it that you apply to the window. It provides privacy for you, reduces energy costs, and helps the birds 'see' the window. You can see out just fine.
I have run into a dilemma- the stuff blocks sunlight, and that window is where most of our houseplants reside. So do I buy some and save the (few) birds that hit the window, or just go with the silhouettes and hope that works enough?
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Monday, February 6, 2012
Pet Peeves
Last spring, my husband and I cleaned up a stretch of road near our house. We spent about 45 minutes picking up trash, but mostly recycling. The road side was clear for about 6 weeks. Then a bottle appeared. Then another. Then a takeout container. A half-full plastic bottle of Dr. Pepper. Now it looks like we'd never done anything there at all.
Am I the only one depressed by this?
I've been trying to stay positive. And for the most part, I've been excitedly learning about a new type of education that has great results for students and connects schools and the community with the environment. It's called place-based/community-based education, and it centers around breaking down walls in the community by having students apply what they're learning in school to real-world problems, such as a physics class using their knowledge to help re-build stairs on a local town trail. The idea of getting students out there and connecting people in the community to them is so exciting. It's changed the way I think about how I teach, and given me some interesting ideas I'd like to try out- once I get a classroom of my own.
Why is it that people litter? Or keep old junked cars in their yard? Or just leave crap laying around in piles, rusting and molding until kingdom come? Why don't people recycle? Is it really so hard to toss your empty bottles in one bin and paper in another and take those to the same place you haul your trash?
Why don't people care?
Am I the only one depressed by this?
I've been trying to stay positive. And for the most part, I've been excitedly learning about a new type of education that has great results for students and connects schools and the community with the environment. It's called place-based/community-based education, and it centers around breaking down walls in the community by having students apply what they're learning in school to real-world problems, such as a physics class using their knowledge to help re-build stairs on a local town trail. The idea of getting students out there and connecting people in the community to them is so exciting. It's changed the way I think about how I teach, and given me some interesting ideas I'd like to try out- once I get a classroom of my own.
Why is it that people litter? Or keep old junked cars in their yard? Or just leave crap laying around in piles, rusting and molding until kingdom come? Why don't people recycle? Is it really so hard to toss your empty bottles in one bin and paper in another and take those to the same place you haul your trash?
Why don't people care?
Friday, January 6, 2012
Nature Photojournal #3
Today's photojournal is about insects. Yes, they are creepy. But they do serve unique and important purposes in the world, even if we don't like them. They provide food for all manner of creatures and help decompose dead carcasses, trees, and other 'waste' that is generated by nature. I am all right with insects being outside, but if they are in my house- they are toast. I usually leave the arachnids alone because they help keep out the other unwanted insects.
Anyhow. Here are two interesting insects that you may not have seen before. Both of these were photographed in Georgia, at my house.
Florida Predatory Stink Bug: Euthyrhynchus floridanus
As you may have guessed, this little insect smells. When disturbed, they release a foul-smelling substance from pores in their thorax to deter predators from eating them. As their name also implies, they are themselves predatory, eating plant pests such as beetles and caterpillars.
Their range extends from Florida all the way up to Pennsylvania, and they have been reported as far west as Texas. Pretty neat little bug. This one is also called the Halloween Bug, for its black-and-orange/red appearance.
Wheel Bug: Arilus cristatus
Ok, watch out! This next one is kind of freaky looking. My husband found it and brought it home so we could identify it (he's a biologist). Check out the gear-shaped body part!
This is one insect you DON'T want to handle! Much like the giant water bug and the water scorpion, this insect has a tubelike piercing mouth part. When it catches its prey, it injects them with enzymes which paralyze and dissolve the soft tissues so that the innards can be sucked out. Mmm. Bug milkshake.
Of course, these insects are camouflaged (as well a good predator should be) and their buzzing flight is often mistaken for grasshoppers flying away. So don't be too alarmed. I don't think they are going to invade your house any time soon.
Here is a more in-depth description of the Wheel Bug, as well as why it is considered a true bug instead of a beetle: http://www.hiltonpond.org/thisweek030901.html.
Well, I hope you enjoyed today's jaunt and it didn't give too many of you the creeps. Just remember: these insects have a job to do, and they are important!
Anyhow. Here are two interesting insects that you may not have seen before. Both of these were photographed in Georgia, at my house.
Florida Predatory Stink Bug: Euthyrhynchus floridanus
As you may have guessed, this little insect smells. When disturbed, they release a foul-smelling substance from pores in their thorax to deter predators from eating them. As their name also implies, they are themselves predatory, eating plant pests such as beetles and caterpillars.
Their range extends from Florida all the way up to Pennsylvania, and they have been reported as far west as Texas. Pretty neat little bug. This one is also called the Halloween Bug, for its black-and-orange/red appearance.
Wheel Bug: Arilus cristatus
Ok, watch out! This next one is kind of freaky looking. My husband found it and brought it home so we could identify it (he's a biologist). Check out the gear-shaped body part!
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| Found this great photo on: http://live-with-laughter.blogspot.com/2011/09/three-day-weekends.html |
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| This is the photo we took of it- not quite as menacing! |
Of course, these insects are camouflaged (as well a good predator should be) and their buzzing flight is often mistaken for grasshoppers flying away. So don't be too alarmed. I don't think they are going to invade your house any time soon.
Here is a more in-depth description of the Wheel Bug, as well as why it is considered a true bug instead of a beetle: http://www.hiltonpond.org/thisweek030901.html.
Well, I hope you enjoyed today's jaunt and it didn't give too many of you the creeps. Just remember: these insects have a job to do, and they are important!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Nature Photojournal #2
Today's post is about birds. I do classify myself as a bird watcher, although I tend more toward casual bird watching than the all-consuming passion that some others have. I don't spend oodles of cash on equipment. I was gifted a nice pair of binoculars last year (thank you, husband!) and my Sibley's field guide was also a gift. That's pretty much all you need if you want to bird watch. A scope is optional, but useful for looking at things that are too far to see in your binoculars.
I started my birdwatching when I was pretty young. My mom used to take us to the park to feed cracked corn to the Canada Geese. We spent a lot of time outside in the summer, and I would use my mom's old binoculars to check out the birds in the back yard. Cardinal, chickadee, blue jay...these are all pretty common. Later on in life, I met my husband, who is a passionate bird watcher. I learned about keeping lists. A lot of birdwatchers keep a 'life list'- essentially a list of all the different birds you've seen in your life, where, when, etc. This makes it a challenge to see as many new birds as possible. You can also keep a 'year list', which is a list of all the birds you've seen in 1 year. That makes each new year exciting (especially January 1!). There are also yard lists, where you catalog what birds you see in or from your yard.
These lists can also be cataloged online, which provides valuable information as to the health of different bird species. Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a good resource for beginning birders. The Audubon Society also has different events through the year, such as the Christmas Bird Count and the Bird-a-Thon, which help raise awareness of birds and their needs.
Anyhow, onto two birds I managed to get photos of. Birds are not easy to photograph, and I am envious of those photographers who can get great shots.
Brown Creeper
This small, camouflaged brown bird is not often seen because it is secretive and blends in well with the bark of the trees that it forages on. It is similar to a nuthatch in feeding habits, gleaning insects from tree bark. This bird species is widespread, occurring in most of North America. It can be more easily spotted in the winter when the trees are bare. Listen for its call, a high-pitched 'see-ee'.
Eastern Screech Owl
This one was a great find! My husband and I had hiked down to a quarry and were standing on a rock, checking out the scenery. We were just about to leave when a duck box caught my eye. Usually, these boxes are for nesting wood ducks (yes, some ducks nest in trees!). Something looked different about this one, so I checked it out using my binoculars and got a surprise when I saw a red-phase Eastern Screech Owl snoozing in it! We were so excited to see it in the wild. It was a good distance across the lake of the quarry, but I still managed to get a decent photo of it:
They are so cute! I was trained how to hold one on glove when I worked for an Audubon nature center- they weigh so little, you can hold them on one finger. In the wild, they hunt at night for small mammals like mice, and voles and also eat songbirds (and starlings). One of their calls is a descending whinny. This is a territory defense call. I can imitate it quite well- sometimes when we go out owling, we try to call in owls this way. I haven't had any luck so far.
Hope you enjoyed the post. Have a great start to 2012, and get outside!
I started my birdwatching when I was pretty young. My mom used to take us to the park to feed cracked corn to the Canada Geese. We spent a lot of time outside in the summer, and I would use my mom's old binoculars to check out the birds in the back yard. Cardinal, chickadee, blue jay...these are all pretty common. Later on in life, I met my husband, who is a passionate bird watcher. I learned about keeping lists. A lot of birdwatchers keep a 'life list'- essentially a list of all the different birds you've seen in your life, where, when, etc. This makes it a challenge to see as many new birds as possible. You can also keep a 'year list', which is a list of all the birds you've seen in 1 year. That makes each new year exciting (especially January 1!). There are also yard lists, where you catalog what birds you see in or from your yard.
These lists can also be cataloged online, which provides valuable information as to the health of different bird species. Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a good resource for beginning birders. The Audubon Society also has different events through the year, such as the Christmas Bird Count and the Bird-a-Thon, which help raise awareness of birds and their needs.
Anyhow, onto two birds I managed to get photos of. Birds are not easy to photograph, and I am envious of those photographers who can get great shots.
Brown Creeper
This small, camouflaged brown bird is not often seen because it is secretive and blends in well with the bark of the trees that it forages on. It is similar to a nuthatch in feeding habits, gleaning insects from tree bark. This bird species is widespread, occurring in most of North America. It can be more easily spotted in the winter when the trees are bare. Listen for its call, a high-pitched 'see-ee'.
 | |
| Photo credit: Jennifer DesRochers |
This one was a great find! My husband and I had hiked down to a quarry and were standing on a rock, checking out the scenery. We were just about to leave when a duck box caught my eye. Usually, these boxes are for nesting wood ducks (yes, some ducks nest in trees!). Something looked different about this one, so I checked it out using my binoculars and got a surprise when I saw a red-phase Eastern Screech Owl snoozing in it! We were so excited to see it in the wild. It was a good distance across the lake of the quarry, but I still managed to get a decent photo of it:
 | ||
| Photo credit: Jennifer DesRochers |
Hope you enjoyed the post. Have a great start to 2012, and get outside!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Nature photojournal #1
Part of being a naturalist is curiosity. When you look around the
forest, field, pond, etc, you don't just take in the view. You let your
eyes drift to interesting shapes, colors, animals, or plants. Then you
ask, "What is that?" or "Why is that?" Prior to the advent of cameras,
naturalists had to be fairly good at drawing the items they wanted to
catalog or identify. Some of these sketches have helped natural
historians try to figure out what animals and plants are native to a
specific area. Take a look at this one:
Beech trees are used for rough lumber, flooring, plywood, and railroad ties. Beech wood is also used to make tool handles, baskets, and veneer.
Resurrection Fern
I first learned about these neat ferns when I worked in Alabama. We were doing a learning hike, where I taught each student about a part of the forest and then they would teach the others (each one, teach one). At the end of the hike, I always liked to do a learning quiz. I asked them what they remembered. One student raised his hand and said, "I learned about the erection ferns!" I about died laughing.
As their name suggests, these ferns can survive periods of drought by curling up and appearing dead. When it rains, however, the ferns uncurl and become green and lush again.
After doing a little research, I discovered that these ferns are air plants. What this means is that the ferns attach themselves to other plants (like trees or moss) and get their nutrients from the air and water that collect on the surface they are attached to. How cool!
You
can see the shape of the sori (the reproductive parts) on the top part
of the leaf. When you flip the leaf over (and use a magnifying glass),
you can see that they are indents. This is where the spores will form
and mature, to be carried by the wind to another suitable spot.
A little more research revealed that the plant synthesizes dehydrins (those scientists, how clever to name a protein after what it does- dehydrates!), which allows the cell walls of the fern to fold in such a manner as to be easy to unfold when water does arrive. These ferns can lose up to 76% of their water and still survive. Amazing! If we lost that much water, we'd certainly perish.
Well, that's all for today. I have more to share, and I'll try to keep this blog updated more frequently in the new year.
Until then, get out and enjoy nature!
It
may be difficult to see the details, due to its small size, but the
life-likeness is incredible. Every vein, root, and leaf on the plant is
drawn with precision. Some of the pictures give a sense of the objects
in 3D. This careful drawing leads to a study of the anatomy, biology,
and ecology of the plant or animal being drawn. It really forces you to
LOOK and truly see the item for what it is, and leads you to start to
wonder about more than just, "What is it?"
Of
course, modern advances have led us to the invention of the digital
camera, which allows for easy photographing of subjects, yet detaches
one from them at the same time. My goal is to get better at sketching
nature items, but in the meantime, I will be posting photos of the flora
and fauna I find in the areas around me.
Plants are easy to photograph; animals, not so much. So below are two plants and a little bit about their natural history.
American Beech
This
tree is fairly common east of the Mississippi, all the way from Canada
down to northern Florida. It is easy to spot in the winter because it
tends to keep some of its leaves. The leaves are oval-shaped and toothed
at the edges. The winter buds look like waxy cigars (that really is the
best way to describe it, though I do not advocate and indeed despise
smoking). The bark is, for the most part, smooth and sort of gray-white.
People often carve their initials into beech trees because of this
smooth surface.
When
I lived in New York, beeches were always quite small because of a
disease called Beech Bark Disease. It is spread by an insect called a
scale. Originally, the scales were thought to be the origin of the tree
deaths, but then researchers found that the scales were infested by a
fungi. This fungi, Nectria coccinea, is responsible for killing the trees. If you'd like to know more about the details of the infestation, this is a good web site: http://na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/beechbark/fidl-beech.htm.
Beech trees are used for rough lumber, flooring, plywood, and railroad ties. Beech wood is also used to make tool handles, baskets, and veneer.
Resurrection Fern
I first learned about these neat ferns when I worked in Alabama. We were doing a learning hike, where I taught each student about a part of the forest and then they would teach the others (each one, teach one). At the end of the hike, I always liked to do a learning quiz. I asked them what they remembered. One student raised his hand and said, "I learned about the erection ferns!" I about died laughing.
As their name suggests, these ferns can survive periods of drought by curling up and appearing dead. When it rains, however, the ferns uncurl and become green and lush again.
After doing a little research, I discovered that these ferns are air plants. What this means is that the ferns attach themselves to other plants (like trees or moss) and get their nutrients from the air and water that collect on the surface they are attached to. How cool!
A little more research revealed that the plant synthesizes dehydrins (those scientists, how clever to name a protein after what it does- dehydrates!), which allows the cell walls of the fern to fold in such a manner as to be easy to unfold when water does arrive. These ferns can lose up to 76% of their water and still survive. Amazing! If we lost that much water, we'd certainly perish.
Well, that's all for today. I have more to share, and I'll try to keep this blog updated more frequently in the new year.
Until then, get out and enjoy nature!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Being a Naturalist
When people ask me what I do, one of my responses is that I'm a naturalist. Sometimes I get funny looks- people often confuse 'naturalist' with 'nudist'! No, I do not wander around the woods nude. For those of you who do not know, a naturalist is:
"a person who studies or is an expert in natural history, especially a zoologist or botanist."
and natural history is referred to as: "the sciences, as botany, mineralogy, or zoology, dealing with the study of all objects in nature."
Am I an expert? I don't claim to be, although I have a lot of experience in many different habitats in different parts of the world. Here are the places I'm most familiar with:
1. Northeastern Ohio- I grew up here, so I know something about the basic fauna and a few flora.
2. Massachusetts/New Hampshire/Maine coast- Particularly the coast of Massachusetts, a bit about glaciers and geology, and mostly about birds.
3. New York/Catskill region- learned about beech/hemlock forests and the costs of preservation.
4. Connecticut/Long Island Sound/salt marsh- had a great time learning duck identification with a salt marsh in my backyard.
5. Georgia/Tennessee- where I currently reside. Still trying to learn about the native flora and fauna.
So I'm not formally trained. I never took a natural history course in college. But I think I have enough experience to at least categorize myself as a naturalist. I can catalog many objects in nature or narrow down their category enough to identify them in a field guide.
I am lucky enough (I think) to be going back to college to earn a Master's degree. Although I decided to major in Education, I will be able to take undergraduate Biology courses to earn my degree. So I am excited to take Zoology in the spring, and hopefully Botany soon afterward. This will help deepen my knowledge base- I feel like I have a lot of breadth, but not a lot of scientific depth.
I'll write more about being a naturalist in the future. It's a lot of fun, and one of the roles I never tire of taking on. Until then...
"a person who studies or is an expert in natural history, especially a zoologist or botanist."
and natural history is referred to as: "the sciences, as botany, mineralogy, or zoology, dealing with the study of all objects in nature."
Am I an expert? I don't claim to be, although I have a lot of experience in many different habitats in different parts of the world. Here are the places I'm most familiar with:
1. Northeastern Ohio- I grew up here, so I know something about the basic fauna and a few flora.
2. Massachusetts/New Hampshire/Maine coast- Particularly the coast of Massachusetts, a bit about glaciers and geology, and mostly about birds.
3. New York/Catskill region- learned about beech/hemlock forests and the costs of preservation.
4. Connecticut/Long Island Sound/salt marsh- had a great time learning duck identification with a salt marsh in my backyard.
5. Georgia/Tennessee- where I currently reside. Still trying to learn about the native flora and fauna.
So I'm not formally trained. I never took a natural history course in college. But I think I have enough experience to at least categorize myself as a naturalist. I can catalog many objects in nature or narrow down their category enough to identify them in a field guide.
I am lucky enough (I think) to be going back to college to earn a Master's degree. Although I decided to major in Education, I will be able to take undergraduate Biology courses to earn my degree. So I am excited to take Zoology in the spring, and hopefully Botany soon afterward. This will help deepen my knowledge base- I feel like I have a lot of breadth, but not a lot of scientific depth.
I'll write more about being a naturalist in the future. It's a lot of fun, and one of the roles I never tire of taking on. Until then...
Friday, May 6, 2011
Earth Day cleanup
One of my biggest pet peeves is LITTER. I often wonder why people do it. So here are some reasons I think people litter:
Anyhow, my husband and I decided for Earth Day to go and clean up a roadside near our house. We drive by it every day, and it really bothered me to see all the plastic bottles and other debris. So we spend about 40 minutes picking up- he collected trash, I collected recyclables.
We collected 1 trash bag of each. There was less trash than recycling, but about 90% of what we collected was plastic bottles.
It's really not that hard...put your trash in the trash, put your recycling in the recycling bin!!
- Stuff falls off their truck on the way to the landfill
- They have no room in their car trash bag
- They are LAZY
- They don't care
Anyhow, my husband and I decided for Earth Day to go and clean up a roadside near our house. We drive by it every day, and it really bothered me to see all the plastic bottles and other debris. So we spend about 40 minutes picking up- he collected trash, I collected recyclables.
We collected 1 trash bag of each. There was less trash than recycling, but about 90% of what we collected was plastic bottles.
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| All this for 40 minutes worth of picking up. |
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| It's sickening, isn't it? |
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