Advance Warning

  And so it begins... The inevitable race toward Autumn. 

 

The triathlon has been held. The bicycle leg of the race labored past me as I was walking up a large hill. I know they had to be happy that they'd soon be coasting down toward the bay, once they made the turn at the top of the hill. It's the last race of the season out here on the peninsula.

Early fall color has started to show up here and there. I thought the green against the burgundy was pleasingly dramatic.

Late season mushrooms are appearing - in odd places. This looks like a puff ball on a poplar tree. I hadn't seen one grow on the side of a tree before, but I looked it up and it happens with this variety.

Then, not so much a harbinger of fall - but sort of fun, there was a cheerful little offering left on a shelf fungus I've been watching grow for a while.  It was an intrepid person who left it there, getting muddy, wet shoes at the edge of the marsh. 

I'm not sure I'm quite ready for the seasons to change yet (I rarely am), but each new day brings wonders of its own, so I'll be keeping my eyes open!
 

Rusty in Tooth and Claw

Apologies to Tennyson...

This was a strange and serendipitous photo with a little bit of a story.  My brother and I took a trip to Jay's Sporting Goods one day last week and stopped at the Little Manistee River along the way, so that he could show me where to gather rusty crayfish, should I want to make etouffee or simply have a crayfish boil. These crayfish are an invasive species and the Conservation Department has asked for help controlling the aggressive creatures that are displacing native species. There were hundreds of them in the area and they were fascinating to watch dart among the rocks.

I have to agree that they were, indeed, aggressive! The big one toward the upper right of the picture was stalking the smaller fellow trying to hide under the rock in front of it. It finally caught the little guy and carried it off triumphantly in its claws. There's another small one in the middle of the picture and a bunch of minnows off to the left.

So, where's the serendipity? The photo was completely blind luck, since the sun was shining so brightly I couldn't see anything but my reflection in the view finder. I thought I'd try anyway and got one decent picture out of the batch. 

I tend to cheer for the underdog (who lost the fight in this case), but watching the workings of nature is always interesting - even when I wince at the outcome.

There is no Blue...

 ...without yellow and without orange. ~~Vincent Van Gogh

Since I've been feeling blue without Baloo, I thought I would try channeling orange, which Frank Sinatra called "the happiest color".  The orange butterfly milkweed was a flower my mother loved. She kept trying to get it to grow in the yard, with only a small degree of success. It's growing wild along the roadside near the homestead these days and I can't help but think that she might have had a hand in getting it established in the area.

The next installment of orange is the small but ubiquitous American Copper butterfly.  It doesn't fly far off the ground (usually no more than two feet), but its a cheerful (and very active) little fellow, alighting for just a moment before flitting on to the next piece of grass or bit of moss.

Finally, I believe this bright beauty is the Great Spangled Fritillary. How can one help smiling at a winged marvel with such a magnificent name? 

The other possible contender was the Aphrodite Fritillary. They look very similar, but I think the markings on the underside of its wings make the identification of Great Spangled correct. Either way, it's quite lovely. I thought it was particularly interesting that the underside of the wing shows white spots where the upper side shows only black and orange - almost as magical as its name! Any lepidopterists out there can check my work and let me know if I got it right or not!

Velvet Aboveground

I know, I know! The title's a corny one - sometimes I just can't resist!  Well, okay, you have me there -- usually, I can't resist.

This handsome fellow stopped by to enjoy a bit of chicken scratch put out for the birds and his magnificent antlers in the velvet were something to behold.

I often see younger bucks with their fuzzy headgear, but getting to see one of the big boys is always a special treat - especially if I can sneak a picture or two to share!

Speaking of velvet, this amazing fungus is growing (and growing) in the yard at the family homestead. It has a very soft, plush feel to the cap and it has expanded to about the size of a dinner plate at this point. I was trying to identify it and am still uncertain about who it might be. It's a polypore of some kind and I think it looks most like the dyer's mushroom, from the pictures and descriptions in my books, but if there are any more experienced mycologist types out there who can help identify this mushroom, I'd appreciate the lesson and formal introduction! :)

Warm Blankets

We've been doing a cooperative conservation program with the Department of Natural Resources on part of our family property. One of the projects was to plant a couple acres of wildflowers for the benefit of pollinators, then mow them at the end of the season to spread the seed and see what came up for the next growing season, which my brother did quite beautifully as last year's part of the project.

This year, I was curious to see what had come up in the pollinator patch and there were some colorful delights. I should have walked over to see it earlier in the season, but the late summer was pretty lovely, too. There were lots of Black-eyed Susans liberally scattered across the field.

Blanket flower (a.k.a. gaillardia) and yarrow were also present in abundance.

I didn't walk through the whole field and there may be other wonders out there that made it through the winter and early spring drought, but the blanket flowers captured my attention and I thought it would be fun to share a few pictures. (The one above is a little out of focus, but it was so dramatic that I couldn't resist including it with its yarrow neighbor.)

The thing that I found so captivating about these flowers was the incredible number of variations on the theme of burgundy, orange and yellow. It seemed like each flower was a little different from all its fellows.

I don't know! Did the Wee Folk dance through the field wielding paints and brushes to decorate each petal? It sure seemed that way!

Poblanos!

I found some really nice poblano peppers and thought it would be fun to make some chiles rellenos to share with my brother and his wife while I was visiting. 

 

When I started to arrange everything on the plates, my sister-in-law said she thought I ought to take pictures, so I did.

I slid one plate down for a picture that would include the duck that my mother always filled with zinnias from the garden. It held pride of place on the dining table during the summer months and was a beautiful blaze of color. I'm glad the tradition has been renewed, now that we're planting zinnias again!

The peppers were roasted over an open flame, peeled and seeded, stuffed with sharp cheddar, and fried with an egg batter. I finally topped them off with freshly made pico de gallo. The sides are guacamole, home grown tomatoes and sour cream on a nest of shredded lettuce. 

Yum! I highly recommend this!

Gone Fishing

This will be another one of the Pond Life series. Remember, about a week ago, I said I'd had a good photo night at Pyatt Lake (which is really a sort of large, shallow marshy area with deeper sections)? That was the night I hatched the idea about putting extra carving block bits into customer packages - and if you missed that post, I still have some (https://stampeaz.blogspot.com/2022/08/an-odd-notion.html). Just let me know if you'd like to have a little extra included with your order. 

Anyway, back to my story.  As I approached the observation deck, I noticed a couple of sandhill cranes out hunting for fish or frogs out in the lake. 

I tiptoed partway onto the deck very stealthily and got a picture.

Then, I carefully edged my way out a little farther for a better view. They continued their fishing expedition undisturbed by my presence.

I'm not entirely sure what gave me away, but they got a bit agitated and started bugling and clacking their very distinctive call.

I didn't want to disturb their dinner hour, so I quietly backed away, as one of them did a marvelous rendition of the dance of the ruffled feathers. As soon as I was at what they considered a safe distance, they resumed their search for dining delicacies and I continued on my walk to the other observation deck about a half mile away.

When I got out to the second platform, I noticed this great blue heron perched on a dead tree in the middle of the lake, not too far from where I stood. It looked me over, but didn't seem too fussed about my presence.

After a while, a golden eagle swooped in and perched near where the cranes had been snacking and the uproar was something to hear! They both took off and flew from the threat and I managed to catch a picture of one as it rose above the undergrowth and then looped back toward me.

It settled in a tree right in front of me and just a little to the left of the heron, who observed the proceedings with interest.

It was fun to watch the crane gracefully fold its huge self into a neat, compact package to and wait for the danger to pass.

It stayed for a while, allowing me to enjoy its company, before flying into the twilight to join its mate, which had perched much farther away from where the eagle landed. (I could see the eagle, but couldn't get a good picture because it landed in a very well camouflaged area to watch for its own dining opportunities. It would have looked like a dark blob amongst the leaves.)

After the crane flew off, I watched the heron for a while longer, before heading down the trail for home. 

All in all, a very nice sunset walk. It could only have been made more perfect by the presence of a large black dog quietly watching by my side. But, you all know that's true!

Cheeky Fellow

When we were children, we would spend summer days training chipmunks to come and collect peanuts (still in the shell) from our hands. They would even climb up our legs to nose around and pick peanuts right from our pockets. It was fun to watch them try and jam just one more peanut into their cheeks, turning them one way and then another to try and squash it in - the big, double sized ones were particularly entertaining to see them struggle with. Sometimes they just had to give up and other times they'd scamper off with a large chunk of shell hanging out of their mouth. Greedy little beasties!

 

This clever little buddy was bold enough to climb into the seed can right next to my brother's chair, whereupon he decided it might be fun to reopen that particular chapter of our childhood adventures.

It didn't take long for that curious seed snatcher to nose around in the palm of his hand. 

From there, it was just a small hop into the proverbial lap of luxury. Before many days had passed, there were several regular visitors looking for handouts (yes, I did that on purpose - sorry).

 

Follow the Leader

Once young birds are fledged, it's fun to watch them following their parents around, learning about foraging and quivering with excitement as they anticipate each morsel of food that comes their way. 

This male pileated woodpecker (male because he has a red stripe from his beak to his neck, where the females have a black stripe) was looking for a likely spot, hoping to find some beetles, grubs or carpenter ants to eat, flying from tree to tree and listening for the sound of movement under the bark, or tapping to see whether there was a hollow sound or a flurry of activity to alert him to a meal-in-waiting.  Woodpeckers have very acute hearing and make good use of it to hunt for snacks.
 

  

Everywhere dad went, junior followed close behind, hoping for more delicious bugs and learning how the whole process works. I enjoyed seeing them making their way around each tree and moving on to the next likely spot. 

I have always loved pileated woodpeckers. They're one of the biggest woodpeckers out there and they look so very prehistoric. It's almost like seeing a (very) small pterodactyl flying through the forest.

Pollination Nation

While admiring some absolutely magnificent thistles and thinking about goldfinches busily raising their young, now that the thistles will be starting to produce seeds to feed them, I decided to try and snap a few pictures of the beautiful, purple flowers glowing in the sunlight.

 

It seems like they come back from the same plant every year, but they are actually a biennial, growing a base of foliage their first year and blooming to reseed the area in the second year, sort of like parsley, and then they die off to make way for the next generation. They're considered invasive, partly because livestock doesn't like to eat anything quite that prickly, which gives these plants an advantage over things that are a little easier on the lips and tongue.

But the finches love them and wait to start raising their young until they're making seeds to feed hungry beaks and the pollinators are rather fond of them, too. This little bumble bee caught my eye as it worked on this bloom.

As I was watching, the bee was joined by what I believe I have identified correctly as a common roadside skipper butterfly. The big eyes on the skipper look so earnest, don't they? (You can click on the picture for a larger version.)

The pair of them worked the flower over quite thoroughly. You can see the full pollen baskets on the bumble bee. Those pollinator people know their business!

Berry Special

While clearing the little roads on the family land of branches that would whack my brother on the head as he drove past on the tractor or reach in the windows of the truck to grab us as we drove through, I stopped along the way to gather berries from a wild bramble that has grown up over the last few years.

There were ripening raspberries, both red and black varieties. Eating them fresh off the canes, still warm from the sun's rays was like snacking on tiny, sweet pies.

Thimbleberries also jockeyed for position in the sunlight, but they weren't quite as far along as the raspberries, so I only got a few of those.

I could tell that at least one bear (we have pictures of five wandering around from the trail cameras) had also been enjoying the fruit, so I kept my eyes open.

 

Speaking of creatures that enjoy eating the raspberries, Baloo was with me last year when I raided the berry patch. He loved the refreshing little morsels so much that he'd stick his whole face right into the thorns to pick the fruit off the canes with his teeth. I left the lower hanging fruit for him and picked the berries he couldn't reach for myself.  (I knew I had this picture somewhere and had to go find it...)

An Odd Notion...

I was walking around Pyatt Lake taking pictures and thinking about things, as I often do. (Good picture night tonight, by the way...) And I had an idea.

Over time, I have collected quite a pile of carving material odds and ends. There are pieces from very small to reasonably large with quite a few that would work well for people who like to do inchies, micro boxes, hitchhikers, or other small images. I will never, ever be able to work my way through all these pieces of material, given the rate that I am generating them as opposed to how often I carve that size. 

Therefore, if you want to take pot luck and ask for a fistful of miscellaneous bits and pieces to be added to your order (at no extra cost to either of us, since I'm shipping something already), or if you know a deserving soul who can't afford to buy any material, let me know. 

Some of these blocks are from many years ago and come from ideas, samples or tests that  I have put aside and will never revisit. For example, if you are someone who uses acetone and can clean off the surface of a block that has something dubious transferred to it already, there are pieces of Tan-Z Kut, PZ Kut, OZ Kut, MZ Kut (I think) and other materials that only I ever got to play with. There's no reason for me to continue to let this pile keep growing and I like the idea of getting it into the hands of people who will actually carve it into something interesting. 

What do you think?

Oh, Woe is Me!

The killdeer in the nearby park have successfully raised a little clutch of youngsters this year and, even though the babies are just about the same size as the parents at this point, mom and dad are still very protective.

One parent or the other will go into full tragic drama mode, pretending to be injured and helpless along the trail, hoping to lure potential predators into following them away from the little ones as they flutter farther and farther away from the family, staying just out of reach.

When they decide danger has been averted, they stand up, fly off and rejoin the family. It's always a great show - Sarah Bernhardt would approve. Bravo! Take a bow!

At the Risk of Being Repetitive...

I apologize if you are tired of fawn pictures for the year. I know I posted one not too long ago of twins crossing the road to meet up with their mom, but this was just too sweet and I thought it might be nice to share.

I really liked the mother and child juxtaposition in this picture and especially getting to see the fawn and its markings so well. Usually, they take cover behind mom. 

So, I hope you don't mind revisiting the Odocoileus virginianus too much (please don't ask me to pronounce that, especially the first part!). I'd promise not to post more of them for a while, but I never know what I'm going to see on my walks, so I can't reassure you on that score. 

Small Harlequin at Large

Traditionally, a harlequin is a clown or buffoon, usually attired in a mask and colorful tights.

 

Nature adorned this young tree hugging fellow with a mask and striped tail (in lieu of the tights) as his costume and, bundled with the outfit, clowning seems to come as a natural part of the package.

The antics of baby raccoons can be very entertaining - they're clever, persistent and can get into quite a lot of mischief. They're agile climbers and bold little thieves of bird food (or any other food that might be in reach of those deft little paws). Sometimes they even steal the feeder along with the seeds! They have been known to lounge in bird baths on warm evenings to cool off and perform their after dinner ablutions.

These youngsters also have an extraordinarily high cuteness quotient! There may have to be a carving of this guy in my future.