License and Registration Please

"Steve, come over here!" called Patty. So I went over there (I'm not stupid).

And saw this.

A Tufted Titmouse.

Inside my car. My locked car.

Longing to be up in those trees.

Fly away.

I fetched the keys and opened the doors. And out it flew.

Leaving me to clean up all the bird shit.

Chubby

It seems the Northern Water Snake has been enjoying the pond fish.

Note the bulge a third of the way down.

One less fish in the pond methinks.

Plant Extracts

We have a little alcove-shelf in our shower. And for the past couple of months I've been looking at this:

And for the life of me, I can't figure out why "contains 100% PURE plant extracts" is supposed to impress me. This is just such an incredibly vacuous statement, presented as if it is of utmost importance.

What percentage of the 800 mL is made up of these pure plant extracts? Is it "Zero. Zero is a percentage."*

Which plant extracts? Hopefully not cyanide from apple seeds. Or anything from poison ivy. 

And what exactly would a less than 100% plant extract be? Either it is a plant extract or it isn't, to it's 100% or 0%.

~~~~~~~~~~~

* From a Simpsons episode where Lisa goes on a class trip to the local newspaper, and the marketing rep tells the students the paper is made from a percentage of recycled paper, and Lisa asks what percentage. And this quote is the answer.

The Perils of Pond Maintenance

We have two ponds on our property, both installed by the prior owners. And both requiring ongoing maintenance.

One, our Fish Pond, is a clearly engineered affair, complete with a waterfall, the pump to keep it going, and filters to keep it clean. This one requires regular monthly, and sometimes more frequent,  filter cleanings, 

And yesterday when I went to clean the filters, I found this critter hanging out in the filter box. A Northerner Water Snake, no doubt dining on the resident fish.

Usually, these snakes are rather ornery, but I've found the ones in our ponds to be on the mild mannered side. And this one simply retreated to the bottom of the filter box as I removed and reinstalled the filter media.

Our Back Pond is a more natural looking pond. Just a hole in the ground with a liner. There is a bit of engineering in that the rain water from our garage is routed underground to the pond, making it in effect a large rain barrel.

After finishing with the Fish Pond I went to check on the Back Pond, and found this critter waiting. I guess we'll be enjoying each other's company the next time I work on this pond.

Let's Have Fun

Today I signed up to participate in the World Series of Birding.

Which is oddly named as it isn't a series. And happens only on the Atlantic Flyway of the US (it used to be just New Jersey, but with Covid it has expanded, still, not the world). 

And when I registered I was presented with this question to prove I was a human (as if a computer would want to go birding!):

Of course, every month is a correct answer, even May! Who proofreads these things?

Well it turns out that I guessed right, as I assumed the question they meant to ask was, "What month comes immediately after May?".

I'm smart that way.*

And then in the email confirming I had registered there was this line, in bold:

You have not yet paid your registration fee of $0.

Which was in fact correct and incorrect at the same time.

With the helpful instruction: 

"If you are unable to pay your registration fees online, please contact Rene' Buccinna ..."

So I'm not really sure what I am supposed to do ...

Oh wait, it says what to do latter in the email:

"... focus on getting as many species as possible and having FUN!"

I'm down for some fun!

📓  📚  📓  📚  📓

* Patty has been giving a test to the first graders, one student at a time, and as we both work form home I get to hear the questions over and over. It is multiple choice. One question is, "What is true of all squares?" and the answers to select are: (1) A Square is small. (2) A square has three corners. (3) A square has four sides of equal length. As I'm sure you have determined, answers 2 and 3 are both correct. But students are only given credit for a correct answer if they choose (3). 

Tiny Fungi

As you might have grokked from the Egg post, or from the Egg post, I notice things.*

Like tiny little fungus.

Eyelash Cup Fungi. If you look closely (bigafy!) you'll see the "eyelash" hairs around the edge of the mushroom cup. 

There is a similar species, the False Eyelash Cup, but it it is found on the ground, while the 'real' Eyelash Cup is found on rotting wood. 

I have several Fungi field guides. My most recent acquisition is the new Peterson Field Guide to Mushrooms, by McKnight, Rohrer, McKnight Ward, and McKnight. And all the guides note the edibility of the species listed. And for this species the edibility note is "Too small to be of interest."

And I concur. Very small, but the color gives it away.

Also small, and on the same rotting log, was this Trumpet Lichen. 

Mushrooms and fungi are difficult to identify. Lichens are even harder (to me anyway, your milage may vary).

🍄  🥚  🍄  🥚  🍄

* Patty clued me into these eggs, showing me the first on a walk. So I was prepared to look for them on subsequent saunters.

Eggs

Somewhat larger.

These are along the road at our neighbor to the west's place. Where the Muscovy Ducks live. 

One egg, smack dab in the middle of the image above.

Three more.

I'ms sensing a pattern here. I wonder how many I'll see on tomorrow's walk.

🦆  🐓  🦆  🐓  🦆

Now, that same neighbor also has chickens, so I can't be sure what kind of eggs these are. Although Patty did see a duck on eggs further down the road. And whoever is responsible is not very attentive. And these eggs are gone the next day. Plenty of critters about to see to that.

Maybe I should grab some new time I see them, and see if I can't get them to hatch ...

Eggs

Tiny ones.

I spotted these on a tree while clearing the path for a new section of deer fence.

They are Wheel Bug eggs. The lot of them could be covered by a US Quarter Dollar.

Very cool. Just like Wheel Bugs.

Solar Halos?

This past Saturday while sitting on the deck taking a break from yard work, (installing a deer fence around the other half plus of our yard), I looked up (I know, right?). And I saw a ring around the sun. So I took some pictures. As I didn't think it was all that spectacular a display, I used my iPhone, and didn't bother to go get a 'real' camera. Too lazy and too dirty to go inside.

The bright outer ring is the plain old 22° Halo, seen on this blog on multiple occasions.

It is the ring closer to the Sun that has me wishing I had gone and gotten my 'real' camera. It is a 9° Halo? Is it an artifact of the iPhone optical system?

The display lasted for quite a while. I took this image more than two and a half hours after the first (I did some yard work in-between, I'm not that lazy!). And while the 22° Halo is still quite prominent, the inner ring is barely there if it is at all (there are camera artifacts though). This actually makes me more confident the 9° Halo is real.

Next time I'm gonna get up off my lazy *** and get a camera more suited to this subject.

Until then, keep looking up!

Baby Snake

While clearing the path for the additional deer fence I came upon a pile of roofing shingles, that had been there for quite some time. After finishing the fence path, I took my yard cart out to collect the shingles.

It took two trips, each with the card overfilled, One that saw the cart tip over, requiring it to be emptied and reloaded. Grrr ...

And as I was filling the cart for the initial trip I came upon this little snake.

A very docile Eastern Garter Snake. I was able to pick it up without any struggle on its part. So docile I was wondering if it was alive. It was, eventually opening its mouth in a threatening manner.

I was not scared.

My knife is about four inches long. This is a small snake.

I gently placed on a moss covered mound, and it continued to 'play dead'.

And it was still there when I returned for the second load of shingles. Perhaps it just needed to warm up, and eventually it made its way into the leaf litter. And I took the second and final load of shingles to the parking area. Where they joined the effort to combat the invading weeds.

The Siege Continues

When we last left the story of the Battle of the Septic Mound, reinforcements, in the form of Carex pensylvatica plugs, had just joined the fray.

The troops have survived the winter and appear to be thriving.

The Pennsylvania Sedge is in bloom, although with not the showiest of flowers.

The Wild Strawberry is more obviously in bloom.

And more reinforcements are on the way, as the Pinelands Preservation Alliance again had their Deer Food Sale, and I ordered another round of Carex pensylvatica plugs, fifty this time.

And I also put those roofing shingles to good use. A nice Piney border. 

Still Bloomin' ...

Those crazy mixed up Christmas Cacti are still at it.

While not the same plant as in the linked post, it is of the same lineage.

They just keep blooming and blooming and blooming.

Seven months of blooms, from October to April. I though it was over in March, so who knows how long this will go on. Now I want it to just keep going. Memorial Day Cactus anyone? 

Curve-toothed Geometer

Nope, not a curiously dentured mathematician. Rather a moth.

The Curve-toothed Geometer, Eutrapela clemataria, which doesn't have teeth nor know any geometry.

I've noted before that moth ID cam be difficult. Patty and I both figured it was some type of Geometer, but looking through our field guides I was not able to come to a definitive ID.

Below are two scans from the current best available Moth field guides, the Peterson Guides. The upper image is from the Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America, and the lower from the Field Guide to Moths of Southeastern North America, both by David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie.

Note the different field marks, noted by the little arrows, in the two guides for this moth. 

These are the experts and these are the best field guides. And they can't decide what are the key identification points. So what chance does a novice like me have? 

Fortunately, I have friends that are way better at moth identification than me. So thanks to Ann-Marie Woods for ID help on this critter.

🦋  🦋  🦋  🦋  🦋

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

It's Turtles all the Way Down

When we moved here to Piney Place there was an Eastern Painted Turtle which lived in our back pond, the one we call Hamster. And then last year there was A New Turtle in Town. And then earlier this year there were even Newer Turtles (and these baby turtles are small, about the size of a quarter).

And this past Sunday I was out by the back pond and I saw some turtles.

Often it is only the turtle head just breaking the surface of the water. And while sitting out at the back pond I spotted not one, not two, but three Eastern Painted Turtles poking above the surface. Each the size of Hamster. 

 Here is a close up, a bit easier to spot all three.

I think this is Hamster, as it has no issues with people being around. 

Above are the other two, each about the size of the lily pad leaves. And both a bit more timid.

And then, at the far edge of the pond, I spotted Snappy poking its head out. Nice to see it was still there.

So if the three baby turtles are still in there somewhere, that is a total of seven turtles. 

I wonder what the carrying capacity of the pond is?

Squirrelly!

This isn't good ...

Despite multiple squirrel baffles one squirrel has figured out how to get to the feeders.

Or maybe this one is just an Olympic class jumper. 

But the gauntlet has been thrown.

To be continued ...

Yard Critter of the Week

Muscovy Ducks.

Our same neighbor that has Horses also has these Ducks. And Chickens too (although I'm not sure where that Rooster came from).

And occasionally, when the side woods is flooded, those ducks pay our yard a visit. As they did this morning.

A side woods that was once a blueberry farm. You can get a sense of how long ago by the size of the trees now growing there.

These ducks can often be found sitting on the side of the road, next to the drainage ditch spanning our, and our neighbor's, properties.

Wild birds reach the the northern limit of their range at the Texas - Mexico border, a range which extends south into Argentina and Uruguay. Established feral populations exist in Florida (which Patty and I have seen). And domestic birds like these can be found on farms throughout the US.

🦆  🦆  🦆  🦆  🦆

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

Vaccinated

One big event of the year down, I'm vaccinated. I got my second shot today, as can be seen by the sticker above the big bug on my shirt.

And that big bug is the star of another big event this year, the emergence of Cicada Brood X, most likely in mid to late May. But some could be emerging even now. 

Like Magnus and the Toad, they spend time underground. Unlike those two they spend seventeen years underground. And they all emerge together. A couple billion or so.

That's a lot of bugs. Pretty cool huh?

💉  🦠  💉  🦠  💉

And if you haven't already, get vaccinated as soon as you can. It is good for you. It is good for me. It is good for everybody.

Another Sign of Spring

This one spotted by Patty out in our 'formal' gardens. A Fowler's Toad.

Like Magnus, this species spends the winter, as well as hot dry spells, underground. 

It is nice to see them back up and about in the yard.

Road Snake

On my way back from getting my second Covid vaccine shot I spotted this snake, a Northern Water Snake, sunning in the road, just a short distance from my place. I quick turned around and went back to see if it was alive, as it didn't move as I drove by, and if so to help it off the road.

I grabbed a stick from the side of the road and as I approached the snake did not move.

So I poked it. And I realized I should have grabbed a longer stick. It struck, luckily at the stick. But I kept poking, in the direction toward a stream. And eventually it tired of me and slithered off into the water. 

But one less road kill critter. And that's a good thing.

Dug In

Magnus that is. 

I was doing a bit of maintenance in the turtle enclosure when I spotted the shell. It is not only to hibernate. If it is too hot. Or too cold. Or just when calling it a day. 

Quite a bit of digging going on.

Zombie Tree

The saga of the Willow Tree continues.

First it fell down. Then some parts went back up. Then the main trunk went back up.

And now it has come back to life.

And it is growing.

It is the only growth I've seen on the main trunk, and it is on that tiny nub of branch on the right side.

It makes a little sense that the main trunk, which all along still had roots in the ground, would have some sign of life. But the image above, it is of the stump behind the main trunk. 

Resilient. And a bit crazy. We'll see if it lasts.