New short from the Texas Parks and Wildlife people:
The smoke may be gone but the Bastrop fires of Labor Day weekend are still a smoldering concern for biologists. They’re keeping tabs on the Houston Toad. And with only an estimated 2,000 left in Texas, this endangered species is facing its next challenge as the drought continues. More on Houston toads at http://www.houstonzoo.org/HoustonToad/
For background, see this earlier reel from TPWS on the fires at Bastrop State Park:
1 Comment | 
Disasters, Natural history, Nature, Texas, Wildlife, Zoology | Tagged: Bastrop Fire, Disasters, Houston Toad, Natural history, Nature, Science, Texas, Wildlife, Zoology | 
Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
“Nature red in tooth and claw,” the poet Tennyson said.
Darwin thought these critters a clear disproof of creationism — no god would make such creatures intentionally!
Mark reports at The Divine Afflatus:
Hornworm Hosts its Destruction
While admiring some ground cherries outside my front door, I noticed a number of leaves had been stripped off. Not grazed on by the deer that frequent the area, more like eaten by caterpillars. After a brief search I spotted a hornworm munching away. I didn’t bother killing the hornworm because, after all, the ground cherries are weeds growing amongst the black-eyed susans, and it’s less work for me if they take care of the weeds.
I looked again a few days later, and saw that the hornworm had sprouted numerous white appendages. These are the cocoons of pupating braconid wasps. Braconid wasps are parasitoids that inject their eggs beneath the skin of the host (hornworms are favored by the braconid wasp Contesia congregatus). After feeding on the convenient meal surrounding them, the wasp larvae emerge and spin their coccons, attached to the body of the unfortunate hornworm. In a few days, adult wasps emerge from their cocoons, leaving a dead caterpillar.
I later spotted a second hornworm, which suffered the same fate as the first.
Ewwwwwwww!
6 Comments | Creationism, Entomology, Evolution, Natural history, Nature, Science | Tagged: Braconid Wasp, Creationism, Entomology, Evolution, Hornworm, Natural history, Nature, Science, The Divine Afflatus | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Imagine for a moment that you are a wee little mousie, sitting on a tuft of grass nibbling on a seed. You think you feel a breath of a breeze from in back of you and you turn around to see this beautiful thing
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Beautiful, but terrible, too.
Owls fly silently. Their feathers have evolved to move without rustles, to let the wind slip through them without making a whish. Owls demonstrate evolution at its mightiest, and nature, as the poets note, “red in tooth and claw.”
Filmed at 1000 frames per second, according to Dogworks.com. According to Vurtrunner at YouTube, filmed with a
Photron Full HD High Speed Camera SA2.
I’d like to know more about this film. Trained owl? Wild owl enticed by what kind of bait? Longer movie about eagle owls? I’m not familiar with them. So many little mysteries on the internet.
_____________
Update: From YouTube’s account of SloMoHighSpeed:
New Photron SA-2 High Definition High Speed Camera. Shot of ‘Checkers’ the eagle owl, 1000fps 1920×1080 resolution. Shot by SlowMo (www.slowmo.co.uk). See the owl and other birds of prey at www.turbarywoods.co.uk.
From Wikipedia
The Eurasian Eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is a species of eagle owl resident in much of Europe and Asia. It is also one of the largest types of owls.
* * * * * *
The Eagle Owl is a large and powerful bird, smaller than the Golden Eagle but larger than the Snowy Owl. It is sometimes referred to as the world’s largest owl, but this is actually the Blakiston’s Fish Owl, which is slightly bigger on average.[2][3] The Eagle Owl has a wingspan of 138–200 cm (55–79 in) and measures 58–75 cm (23–30 in) long. Females weigh 1.75-4.5 kg (3.9-10 lbs) and males weigh 1.5-3.2 kg (3.3-7 lbs).[4][5][6] In comparison, the Barn Owl weighs about 500 grams (1.1 lbs).
Tip of the old scrub brush to Kathryn.
1 Comment | Bird Watching, Evolution, Natural history, Nature, Ornithology, Science, Wildlife | Tagged: Birds, Cool Stuff, Eagle Owl, Evolution, Nature, Ornithology, Science, Wildlife | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Just over two years ago I noted the pending, rolling disaster of the introduction of Caribbean Crazy Ants, or Rasberry Crazy Ants, to the American South.
Associated Press is catching up.
Now, will you listen to me when I tell you not to vote for Rick Perry? Will you listen when I tell you we need to control CO² emissions?
2 Comments | Biology, Entomology, Environment, Environmental protection, Nature, Science | Tagged: Biology, Crazy Ants, Entomology, Environmental protection, Exotic Species, Nature, Rasberry Ants, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Talk in class turned to Ben Franklin’s kite experiment. “Don’t try this at home,” I said.
Do students ever listen?
Here’s an amateur video showing why standing under a tree in a lightning storm could be a bad idea. Can students extrapolate this to flying a kite in a storm?
Surely there is better video of such events somewhere . . . can you tell us where?
Found it at Wimp.com, with a tip of the old scrub brush to Thom Holland, Scouter with the 626 units at Penasquitos Lutheran Church, San Diego, California.
1 Comment | Boy Scouts of America, Nature, Science | Tagged: Boy Scouts of America, Lightning, Nature, Safety, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Among other things one might observe from this film, one might note that Yosemite National Park’s beauty is so great that it looks good from almost any angle, even with tourists plastered all over it.
This was released between Yosemite Nature Notes #14 and #15, and I find no other description. This remains a wonderful series showing off the geography and natural phenomena of Yosemite. I wish there were similar programs for Yellowstone, Glacier, Denali, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Big Bend, Great Smoky Mountains, and for the Adirondack State Park in New York, among many others.
2 Comments | Geography - Physical, Government, National Parks, Natural history, Nature, photography, Yosemite | Tagged: geography, Government, National Parks, Natural history, Nature, Nature Notes, photography, Yosemite National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Dragon flies are not my area of expertise: Can anyone identify this beauty?
Red dragonfly in Colorado Bend State Park, Texas - photo by Ed Darrell
_____________
Kate wrote in to say it’s probably Libella saturata. From other photos I’ve found, that seems a good, accurate identification. Citizens of Arizona have been urged to help identify dragon flies, odonates, in their state, and this site explains how to do it with a camera and a notepad — with a fine picture of a Libella saturata for illustration. And, as a reward to Kate and yourself, you may want to hop over to her blog, The Radula, and see what she’s got to look at.
4 Comments | Entomology, Natural history, Nature, photography | Tagged: Colorado Bend State Park Texas, Dragon fly, Entomology, Natural history, Nature, photography | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Great time-lapse video of the tides at Hopewell Rocks, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick.
Teachers, can you get a decent geography warm-up with this video? Every high school kid should know about the Bay of Fundy, one of nature’s greater phenomena.
More:
Another time-lapse video of the tides at Fundy, taken at Halls Harbour, a different perspective:
Leave a Comment » | Canada, Erosion, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, Natural history, Nature, Science | Tagged: Bay of Fundy, Canada, Erosion, geography, Hopewell Rocks, Nature, New Brunswick, Science, Tides | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
On a pedestal? Kathryn's potted bat-faced cuphea stands out when the mid-morning sun bathes it, but the yard in back still hovers in the shade of the live oak. Horticultural design by Kathryn Knowles; photo by Ed Darrell
Kathryn’s bat faced cuphea (Cuphea llavea) has graced our garden for several years with this particular plant, or its seedlings. It attracts butterflies and hummingbirds with regularity.
It gets its name because each blossom resembles the face of a tiny bat.
Each blossom of bat faced cuphea resembles the face of a bat.
Leave a Comment » | Gardening, Natural history, Nature | Tagged: Bat faced cuphea, Cuphea llavea, Gardening, Horticulture, Natural history, Nature | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Dick Feynman taught in Rio de Janeiro for a while. He was frustrated at the way Brazilian students of that day learned physics by rote, instead of in labs. In a lecture he looked out from the classroom to the sun dancing on the waves of the Atlantic, and he realized it was a beautiful, brilliant demonstration of light refraction, the topic of the day. Sadly, the students didn’t understand that the beauty before them was a physics problem. (Was that story in Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman, or What Do You Care What Others Think?)
Here, a marriage of physics, moonlight, spring runoff over a cliff, and modern photography, in Yosemite. If you don’t gasp, call your physician and find a new sensei:
(Programs and maintenance of this park are threatened by Republican budget writers, BTW.)
Leave a Comment » | Art, National Parks, Natural history, Nature, Outdoor Recreation, photography, Physics, Travel, Video and film, Yosemite | Tagged: Art, Moonbows, Natural history, Nature, Outdoor Recreation, photography, Physics, Travel, Video and film, Yosemite National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
It’s slower population growth than in the past, but earlier, too.
In earlier years we’ve had cicada killer wasps — cicada hawks, in some parlance — as early as July 7. Rains fell all spring in 2010, which discouraged the emergence of cicadas and their predators. First certified sighting in our backyard did not occur until July 18.
Cicada Killer, with cicada - photo by Ronald F. Billings, Texas Forest Service, Bugwood.org, via University of Delaware Cooperative Extension
We had modified a planter, and that may have killed some of the larvae. Generally 2010 was a slow year for the large wasps. My guess is that they were less active locally because the ground remained wet through July and into August. I still get e-mails asking about how to get rid of them, and I still recommend watering the spots you want them to leave. The females sting and paralyze a cicada, then plant that cicada in a tunnel underground with one wasp egg. The young wasp hatches and feeds on the cicada, emerging usually the next summer to carry on the cycle (in a long summer, there may be a couple of hatchings, I imagine). Females do not like to tunnel in wet ground, partly because it collapses on them, and I suspect wet ground is conducive to fungi and other pests that kill the eggs or hatchlings. Our wet weather kept them away last year.
I waited to say anything this year because I wanted more, but we saw the first cicada killer wasps this year on June 27, 2011, the earliest date we recorded here. I had hoped to get a good photo, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Down at Colorado Bend State Park, the cicada killers greeted our arrival, much to the panic of the little kids in the campsite next door. They were happy to learn the wasps don’t aim to sting them, and the kids actually watched them at work. One of the wasps reminded me of just how much they like dry ground — she kept tunneling into the fire pit, unused now because of the fire bans that cover 252 of Texas’s 254 counties. Covering the holes, putting objects over the holes, nothing could dissuade her from using that site. I hope for the sake of the larvae that they hatch soon, and get out, before someone builds a fire in the pit. Some of the cicadas in that area hit 110 decibels at least, and they badly need the discipline of a force of cicada killers, if you ask me.
Prowling the yard this morning I found two more emergence holes. The wasps leave a smaller hole than the cicadas, so I’m pretty sure they are back in force.
Nature, red in tooth and claw, the poets say. Or in this case, moist in sting.
It’s summer. By the weather, it’s late summer. Hello, cicada killers, Sphecius speciosa.
Earlier at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:
More:
1 Comment | Entomology, Gardening, Natural history, Nature | Tagged: Cicada Hawks, Cicada Killers, Entomology, Gardening, Natural history, Nature, Summer | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
It took me a couple of tries to figure it out — last week when I told people Kathryn and I were off to Colorado Bend State Park to spend time on the river, several people commented about how much cooler it would be there.
What? West of Killeen about an hour, ten miles of dusty road outside of Bend, Texas (population 1,637), Colorado Bend is not cooler than Dallas. It was over 100° F every day we were there, stayed well above 90° most of the nights.
Kathryn studied wildflowers at a spring at the side of the Colorado River during a break from kayaking; this spring's flow was reduced, but still moist enough to create a near-oasis.
Our well-wishers were geographically confused. They thought we were headed to the Colorado River in Colorado, not the Colorado River in Texas, which is not the same river at all. I didn’t bother to check the temperatures in Colorado, but one might be assured that it was cooler along the Colorado River in Colorado than it was along the Colorado River in Texas.
It was a return trip. We stumbled into the park 16 years ago with the kids, for just an afternoon visit. The dipping pools in the canyon fed by Spicewood Springs captivated us. It took a while to get back, and then the kids were off doing their own thing.
So, just a quick weekend of hiking/camping/kayaking/soaking/stargazing/bird watching/botanical and geological study. Park officials closed the bat caves to human traffic in hope of keeping White Nose Syndrome from the bats; we didn’t bother to sign up for the crawling cave tour through another.
The author, still working to master that Go-Pro camera on the hat -- some spectacular shots, but I don't have the movie software to use it all; you know it's hot when SPF 75 sunscreen is not enough.
What did we see? Drought has a firm grip on Texas, especially in the Hill Country, especially outside of Dallas. The Colorado River is mostly spring fed; many of the springs are dry. No water significant water flowed through the park while we were there — kayak put-ins have been reduced to the downriver-most ramp, and the bottom of the boat launch ramp is three feet above water. Gorman Falls attracts visitors and scientists, but the springs feeding it are about spent this year — just a few trickles came over the cliff usually completely inundated with mineral-laden waters.
Drought produces odd things. The forest canopy around the park — and through most of the Hill Country we saw — is splattered with the gray wood of dead trees, many of which at least leafed out earlier this spring. The loss to forests is astonishing. Deer don’t breed well in droughts; deer around the campsites boldly challenge campers for access to grasses they’d ignore in other seasons. One ranger said he hadn’t seen more than about three fawns from this past spring, a 75% to 90% reduction in deer young (Eastern White Tail, the little guys). Raccoons are aggressively seeking food from humans, tearing into tents and challenging campers for food they can smell (lock your food in the car!). Colorado Bend is famous for songbirds, including the endangered Golden Cheeked Warbler, and the elusive, spectacular painted bunting. But the most commonly-sighted birds this year are turkey vultures, dining on the young that didn’t make it healthy into the summer and won’t survive until fall.
Warming denialists’ claims of “not so bad a drought” ring out as dangerous, wild delusion. (By actual measurement, Texas average rainfall the past nine months was 8.5 inches, the driest ever recorded in Texas, shattering the old record drought of 1917).
Great trip. Kathryn’s menu planning was spectacular. The old Coleman stove — a quarter century old, now, with fuel almost that old — performed like a champ even without the maintenance it needs (later this week). Other than the hot nights, it was stellar.
Stellar. Yeah. Stars were grand. It was New Moon, a happy accident. A topic for another post, later. Think, “Iridium.”
So posting was slow over the weekend. How far out in the Hill Country were we? Neither one of us could get a bar on our phones. We were so far out the Verizon Wireless guy was using smoke signals.
Thoreau was right, you know.
7 Comments | Biology, Botany, Geography - Physical, Hiking, Natural history, Nature, Outdoor Recreation, Public Lands, Science, Texas, Travel, Wildflowers, Wildlife | Tagged: Astronomy, Botany, Camping, Colorado Bend State Park, geography, geology, Kayaking, Natural history, Outdoor Recreation, Public Lands, Rivers, Science, Texas, Travel, Wildflowers, Wildlife, Zoology | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Lions Park in Duncanville, Texas, to be more precise. The dragon fly appears to me to be Neurothemis tullia, a Pied Paddy Skimmer, though I believe that is considered an Asian species. [But see note at the end of the post.]
Closely related? An exotic introduced to Texas? Here we had cotton fields, not rice paddies. The wings look like those of a Pied Paddy Skimmer, but most of the photos I’ve found show a black body, and this one is definitely gray. Hmmmm.
Dragon fly, Pied Paddy Skimmer, Neurothemis tullia - photo by Ed Darrell; copyright 2011, use permitted with attribution
Dragon flies look mean. As a very young child I was terrified of them, growing up on the banks of the Snake River in Idaho. My mother, a farm-raised girl, took me out for a walk among the diving, softly-humming aerobats, and explained they had no stingers, they ate other insects, and they seemed to like humans, if we’d watch them. As we watched, she held out her hand and a dragon fly landed, as if to say, “Hello! Listen to your mother. She knows us.”
Dragon fly takes a higher vantage point. Is this species exotic in Texas?
Up Payson Canyon, in Utah, at Scout Lake I passed many early morning hours, and many noon siestas, in the reeds watching the dragon flies. When we were in our canoes or rowboats they’d fly at us like rockets, appearing to think they were torpedo planes, then fly up, or right or left, at the last possible second, to avoid colliding with our craft. Through July they’d fly tandem, mating. This intrigued Scouts, and delighted them beyond measure when the nature merit badge counselor explained they were having sex. Red ones, blue ones, yellow, brown and black ones. Big ones, little ones.
Shortly after we moved to Texas, we discovered that a swarm of dragon flies probably meant a local colony of fire ants was casting off females, to mate and start a new mound of exotic, stinging terror. The dragon flies would catch and eat the queens-to-be. I had to use a broom to shoo off a neighbor with a can of insecticide, trying to kill the dragon flies in their work to keep us safe and happy. “But they look so mean,” she explained.
Judge no book by its cover (except Jaws); judge no insect by its eye apparel, or human eye appeal.
Pied Paddy Skimmer rests from hunting
_____________
Update: In comments below, Roused Bear wonders if this isn’t the Widow Skimmer, which is native to Texas. That would make a lot more sense, wouldn’t it? What do you think, Dear Reader: Widow Skimmer, Libellula luctuosa?
6 Comments | Entomology, Environment, Natural history, Nature, photography, Science, Texas | Tagged: Dragon Flies, environment, Libellula luctuosa, Natural history, Nature, Neurothemis tullia, photography, Science, Widow Skimmer | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Old Sol spoke out this week: Huge solar flare on June 7.
For scientists, it was a cool deal — especially since the flair was on the side of the Sun facing us, and there were cameras of various types trained on the action.
But just watch: The internet will light up with concerns about 2012, and those who deny warming occurs or that humans cause it, will find some reason to claim the solar flare shows that Al Gore is fat and Rachel Carson is a mass murderer, plus Darwin was the inspiration for Adolf Hitler.
If the Sun knew it would get such a reception, would it bother?
Take a look:
Still shot of the June 7, 2011 solar flare -- NASA/SDO via PopSci
Here’s a pixillated video of the event in UV at 304 Angstroms — it runs under 30 seconds, but the time covered is about two-and-a-half hours; from SOHO – SDO via TheSunToday.org:
Another view, again UV, but at 171 Angstroms:
Tip of the old scrub brush to PopSci.
Resources:
2 Comments | Astronomy, NASA, Natural history, Nature, Science, Space exploration | Tagged: Astronomy, NASA, Natural Science, Science, Solar Flare, Space exploration, Sun | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
This is a little embarrassing.
National Trails Day logo from the American Hiking Society; click to go to AHS site
I missed National Trails Day this year.
Heck, I’ve missed it every year since its inception in 1993.
As usual, I’ll have to hit the trails later in the summer — hello, Colorado Bend State Park. You can make it up, too. National Trails Day is a celebration that can be done any time you find to do it, really, any place you find to celebrate it.
So, hey, buddy: Take a hike!
And have fun doing it.
Information and resources for National Trails Day:
Leave a Comment » | Hiking, History, Natural resources, Nature, Outdoor Recreation, Parks, Public Lands, Recreation | Tagged: American Hiking Society, Hiking, History, National Trails Day, Natural resources, Nature, Outdoor Recreation, Parks, PCAO, President's Commission on Americans Outdoors, Public Lands | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
You are currently browsing the archives for the Nature category.
Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 