Fall Videos

Recently Larry Whiteley sent me pictures of a bear sitting in a deer tree stand.  Deer stand sounds like it would be for deer which lack the ability to climb.  The bear apparently did not recognize that the stand was reserved for hunters and it obviously didn't have a deer permit.  I mentioned the pictures to Jay Barber and he told me about a video he had seen of a bear climbing up onto a tree stand- with the hunter in it!  Here is the youtube.com video.

On a more relaxing note, this video was sent to me by Gala Solari.  It shows a murmuration of starlings in Ireland, a shape shifting flight of thousands of birds seemingly flying patterns for the sheer joy of being able to do so.  No one knows why they do this spectacular acrobatic display at the onset of winter, let alone how they avoid collisions. 

Murmurations like this are seen annually in Europe.  Starlings are native there and their numbers have actually been dropping off lately in Great Britain.  We on the other hand have them in large numbers without the joy of the murmurations.  The closest we come to this sight are sunset flights of migrating birds such as purple martins and chimney swifts and winter gatherings of red-winged blackbirds.

Enjoy.  Video details are at huffingtonpost.com.

Frost Flowers- 2011

Ice Ribbon

Once again the frost flowers of autumn are amazing.  Every year around this time the first freezing temperatures create ice in the thin stems of the frost weed a.k.a. white crown beard (Verbesina virginica).  The ice is squeezed out through long splits in the stems, creating thin ribbons.  Some years these are delicate thick ribbons at the base of the plant.  Another year they may produce a series of "petals" radiating all around the stem like icy pinwheels. 


This year's "blooms" are the tallest we have seen.  The first hard frost on Saturday morning produced icy ribbons two feet up the stem, a striking sight of glistening white where there had been only dull gray stems before.  We walked along the driveway, photographing them as the sun's beams first let them glow.  After their brief moment of glory, like Icarus having flown too close to the sun, their icy "wings" melt like his wax and the drops fall to the ground.

Single stem split in fourths

The next frosty morning produced an encore, with ribbons now extending three feet up the stems.  This time the stems were split wide open leaving thin columns to support the dead heads for a few more days.

During the growing season, the crown beard and its fellow frost weed, yellow ironweed (Verbesina alternafolia) are unremarkable looking with tall winged stems, large leaves and small flower heads, rather like plain sisters of a sunflower.  They grow on roadsides and fence lines in the neglected soils.  I avoid mowing these strips, knowing that their brief moment in the sun will be worth the wait.

Past Posts are from  November 2010 and December 2009.
More detailed science is available these sites:
- biosci.utexas.edu 
- http://my.ilstu.edu, /~jrcarter/ice/diurnal/
-  http://my.ilstu.edu/~jrcarter/ice/diurnal/wood/ 

Juvenile Copperhead

Juvenile copperhead- click to enlarge

Fall is the season that snakes are on the move, seeking places to den up for the winter.  This juvenile copperhead picked the wrong gravel drive to warm up on and was crunched by an ATV.

The copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix, is in the same genus as the cottonmouth, a.k.a. "water moccasin".  They are gray to pinkish tan in color with dark brown bands, narrow on top and wider on the sides.  These are best viewed from the side where they resemble Hershey Kisses. 
Juvenile copperheads have a bright yellow tail which they are said to use as a lure to attract lizards and frogs.

Underside view

I was taught to look for the hourglass shape, but to see this you have to be looking straight down at the snake which is way too close.  Our venomous snakes have a triangular shaped head and vertical slit like pupils.  This head shape can be deceptive as hog-nosed snakes when threatened will flatten their head and resemble a cobra or adder.

virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com

Another identifying characteristic of all venomous snakes in Missouri is the underside of the tail.  Missouri's venomous snakes have a single row of scales beyond the anal plate while harmless snakes have two parallel rows of scales.  Be absolutely sure the snake is harmless or dead before you test this fact.


See  snakesandfrogs.com for additional pictures.

Beauty of Pollinators

We just wrote about the tiny pollinators nectaring on the dainty asters of fall.  Ted Smith sent me this link to a TED film of the Beauty of Pollinators.  It is not only a beautiful video of flowers and their animal benefactors but also a reminder of how diverse pollinators are.

To be further inspired you can listen to videographer Louie Schwartzberg describe his motivation in creating it.  This will need to tide us over until spring, so enjoy it now.

Halloween Butterflies

White and lavender asters- 1/4" blossoms

Two days ago the thermometer hit 28 degrees and tiny wisps of frost flowers could be found at the base of a few white crownbeard (Verbesina virginica).   Now it is back to 72 on the sunlit glade and tiny butterflies are out for their last fling.

The tiny asters are being swarmed by equally tiny butterflies, a mix of dainty sulfurs, silvery checkerspots, gray hairstreaks, and common checkered skippers.  The silvery checkerspots are usually gone by now but have apparently extended their time into the fall because of the unseasonably warm weather.

The asters also welcome the attention of small flies and wasps.  The black wasps were a quarter inch long and very hungry, ignoring the camera just inches away.  They crawled all over the flower head in their search for nectar, in the process spreading some of the seasons last pollen.

Silvery checkerspot

Common checkered skipper

The season favors these midgets of the butterfly world.  The only flowers standing along the lane are the tall asters with their tiny quarter inch flower heads, a mix of white heath aster (Symphyotrichum pilosus) and smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve).

Although we were still seeing an occasional great spangled fritillary and anglewing several days ago, they are far too large to land on the aster's head, so the last burst of nectar is reserved for the wee ones.

Discover Nature Schools

We just spent an invigorating morning at Valley Water Mill Park with the fifth grade class from York Elementary, leading a Discover Nature Schools field trip.  Leading may be misleading as much of the time was spent trying to catch up to the lead student.  The excitement of discovering nature can be uncontainable.

Mort- a garter snake makes new friends

Mort Shurtz and Matt Boehner led another group and had the find of the day, a garter snake which will probably be psychologically scarred for life by the experience of being petted by so many kids.  Other highlights included centipedes, beaver holes, fungi and lots of bugs.

Discover Nature Schools  is a curriculum designed by the Missouri Department of Conservation to bring the understanding of nature and its ecosystems to students from 3rd grade to high school.  Our emphasis with 5th graders includes specialized structures (thorns, stingers, wings etc.) and discovering the relationships of plants and animals in an ecosystem.  Teachers educate the students in the class room and our role is to reinforce this with hands on experience.

One of the neat things about these field trips is how much it forces us to think about the associations.  Nothing like the third in a string of "whys" to get you to thinking, especially when you are expected to know the answers!

For more information, see Francis Skalicky's Springfield News-Leader article.

Tracking Bears

Click to enlarge

You may recall that the Missouri Department of Conservation was trapping and radio collaring bears to study their range.  Since then MDC, in cooperation with Mississippi State, has been collecting hair samples across the southern part of the state for DNA analysis to get a better idea of the number of bears.

We recently had a collared bear visit Bull Creek.  It was seen by several neighbors and a few days earlier it visited our feral hog trap, fortunately not tripping the door shut.

There is now a web site where you can track the path of individual collared bears.  Check out the site ,http://www.fwrc.msstate.edu/carnivore/mo_bear/track.asp. The nearest collared bear was wandering around Christian and Taney County in Bull Creek Country.  Click on Bear 1117 at the bottom right and scroll down to the map. It may have visited near you.