Wooly Bears

Yesterday, a wooly bear caterpillar was crawling very fast down our driveway.

It was too fast for me- by the time I went back with a camera, it was gone. I have not seen a wooly bear in years. They become the Isabella Tiger Moth, which is such a lyrical name.

There's a lot of fun folklore associated with the size of the bands, and whether the winter will be harsh. If I took it seriously, I would think this year is going to be harsh based on the size of the black bands on the one I saw.

NOAA has a page on the folklore:

 Wooly Bear

I hope to see another one and post a picture!

Cottonwoods and Milkweed

Today we went on a long walk to see signs of fall. It was a beautiful, sunny, and crisp fall day that eventually became overcast and cloudy. Our walk was a success, though, because we saw a beaver swimming, meadowlarks (I love meadowlarks!), a garter snake, milkweed pods and seeds spilling out, and fall color in the sumacs and cottonwoods. I love how this tree seems to be changing from the bottom up:

We stood under a cottonwood for a while, looking at the leaves. The yellow is not as intense as the yellow of aspen leaves, but the cottonwoods also make a rustling sound. It is a peaceful, awe-inspiring thing to listen to trees in the wind. It is good to stop once in a while, and listen.

Trees have always been a source of joy for me. I felt lost without them when we lived in the desert.

The showy milkweed seeds were spilling out everywhere. It looks very different from the last picture of them that I posted!

The fluffy seeds were caught on the grasses everywhere I looked. And the grasses were beautiful. The grama was a purplish color, and the foxtail was a lovely raw sienna. I am still learning the grasses here! There are so many unfamiliar ones.

The goldenrods are finished flowering, and beginning to dry. Asters, mostly white ones, were everywhere. And there is something tall with yellow flowers in the highway ditches, but I have not been able to find any yet on a side road to pull over and investigate.

There were ducks out on the water, but I was not close enough to identify them.

Sunrise

A couple of days ago, I was treated to this beautiful sunrise.

 It is warm again. Today's high is supposed to be 80 degrees, but it feels much warmer.

Summer's Close

We took a brief walk on a local trail to soak in the last of summer.

The only sounds were the insects: cicadas and grasshoppers. I didn't hear any birds.

I noted fat milkweed pods ripening. One had dried and split open, spilling fluffy seeds out. One was full of red and black milkweed bugs.

Some grasses were drying, and turning a beautiful shade of umber. And the Asters have appeared. These have always been harbingers of fall for me.

Sunflowers were still flowering, but I saw many seedheads.

Just a few more days until the official start of fall!!!

A chill in the air

How can it be the middle of September already? Somehow, August slipped by.

We have been very cool- the lows last week were not record-breaking, but low enough to cause my basil to break out in black, unhappy spots. The birds are now few and far between in the yard. Gone are the mixed-species flocks that fought over the small birdbath. It is very quiet now, except for the insistent calling of a blue jay.

And it is chilly. Layering a sweater or jacket is now a must. There is the smell of fall in the air: crispness and peat-scented humus. Fall has always been my favorite season.

The grass is still green, but some trees are showing a speck of color in the leaves. I am looking forward to the fall colors, especially in the maples.

Birds

Yesterday, I went outside to do a few sketches of the nuthatches. I ended up with seven pages of bird sketches in my sketchbook. It was a cool, but sunny day, and the birds were very active. I had to refill the birdbath twice, because it was in constant use.

Many of the sketches show preening behaviors. I love the way birds open out their wings to preen. The angles their wings and heads make, in relation to their legs, are just beautiful. This is something that seems to come out better in my sketches than in finished paintings. The behavior is so transient, and it is something you can recognize in a sketch, but it somehow, to me, seems too temporary a pose for a painting. Time spent sketching is never wasted time, though, because it all becomes visual knowledge that informs later paintings.  But I suspect I may end up doing a painting someday of the preening baby robins that visited yesterday. Five of them were jockeying for position at the birdbath.

Cool Weather

Fifty degrees? In July? How wonderful!

A cold front has pushed through, and brought unseasonably cool temperatures. I could get used to this, but I am sure it will not last. What a beautiful morning.

Barred Owls, Bunnies, and Mosquitoes...

The mosquitoes have been fierce. Southern girl that I am, I was convinced that there must be a pool of standing water somewhere. The local paper, though, ran a story last weekend that said this particular type hatches out of the ground after flooding rains. Interesting, but annoying.

There are little Eastern Cottontail rabbits everywhere. I have never seen so many before! My mom pointed out that there must be a lack of predators, and I think she is right. In Tennessee, we heard coyotes howling at night, saw hawks sitting on fences and trees by day, and had lots and lots of big snakes. Other than the year the rabbits tried to make a warren under one of my giant rosebushes, I saw very few of them. Here, they are everywhere.

We saw a very large garter snake when we first moved in, but I have not seen it again. And I saw a Great Horned Owl mobbed by smaller birds last month.

Last night, though, we heard a Barred Owl. The voice was a bit different than we are used to hearing in Tennessee. And there was no reply, that we could hear. I still remember the wild chorus we heard one night in the Smoky Mountains, with Barred Owls calling back and forth over our tent.

So, to update the checklist:

Barred Owl (voice only), and
Downy Woodpecker

I love the cooler weather we are having. What a relief. I wish it would discourage the mosquitoes, though!

Bird list, so far!

We have not been in Nebraska very long, but here are the species of birds I have seen or heard, so far:

Canada Goose (of course!!!)
Bobwhite (voice only)
Great Blue Heron
(Cooper's Hawk) (likely)
Killdeer
Mourning Dove (yes, Mom and Dad, they are here, too! My parents call them suburban pigeons.)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (voice only)
Great Horned Owl
Common Nighthawk (voice only)
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Robin
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
(a yellow warbler... id???)
Chipping Sparrow
(Vesper Sparrow... not certain)
Northern Cardinal
Dickcissel (voice only)
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's blackbird
House Finch
House Sparrow

Well, that's a good start!!! I am not going to attempt to identify that beautiful yellow warbler. And the ones I am just not sure about, like the Vesper Sparrow, and the Cooper's Hawk, I have placed in parenthesis.

 My family members have seen others, like a hummingbird and an oriole, and I was exasperated by the fact that by the time I ran to see them, they were gone. Why does this always seem to happen? 

Summer Serenade

I was washing dishes this evening, when I realized that I was hearing a very familiar sound in this unfamiliar place... cicadas! How appropriate for this evening, one of the shortest nights of the year.

Cicadas are such interesting insects. I remember being stunned to see the pretty colors on a live one when I was a kid, since previously I had only seen the split brown exoskeletons on the trees.

We had one type in Tennessee that sounded just like a chainsaw. That one was a periodical cicada that only makes an appearance above ground in a 13 or 17 year cycle. The cicada I am hearing tonight here in NE is the more common "dog day" cicada, but I believe periodical cicadas appear here, too.

June 23rd is now marked as Nebraska "cicada day" for me. It is very possible that they were out a while ago, and I did not notice them before tonight, but it will be interesting to see when I first notice them in future years.


The fireflies are out in full force, too.

Thunderstorms

Last night's storm was spectacular.

I've lived in areas that experience severe weather. Tornadoes, hail storms, and hurricanes are not pleasant to deal with. I remember one tornado in particular that skipped over our home, and touched down a few blocks over, while we crouched in a tiny closet. It made the freight train sound that you always hear people mention when they are interviewed afterward.

But I do like to see a powerful thunderstorm from the safety of my house. Last night, there was so much lightning that I could walk around without turning on a single light. The flashes played out through the windows over the ceiling and walls. I had a forestry professor in college who impressed on us the importance of lightning safety, so I know to stay away from the windows. I didn't need to get close.

I can't remember the last time I saw that much lightning. There was a tremendous amount of energy in that storm.


This morning, all is quiet. I found a nest on my porch, which had fallen from one of the trees in the high wind. I don't think it was in use, anyway. I have seen the baby robins following the parents closely over the past week.

Nebraska thunderstorms... very impressive.

Nature Notes in Nebraska

Exploring new places has always been a joy for me. I love to learn the names of new birds, see new plants, and experience different weather patterns.

Once again, I find myself in a new place, and I am enjoying this process. Nebraska is beautiful, even more so than I expected. Many of the trees, wildflowers, and birds are familiar: I have a better handle on things east of the Rockies. But there are still surprises every day. Last night, we saw fireflies-- I have not seen those since we lived in Tennessee.

I have always wanted the chance to explore a prairie environment. The actual prairie is something you have to seek out here because of development, but there are pockets of wildness in the many parks and recreational areas to explore.

We went to Beatrice, NE for the Homestead Days at Homestead National Monument. It was a very enjoyable day, and I was thrilled to hear a bobwhite and see a prairie dog town.

Before we moved here, all I knew of Nebraska was the College World Series, I-80, and how friendly the people in York were (we stopped there on a long road trip, years ago, fascinated by the water tower painted like a hot air balloon). There is so much more to this state than that. As we settle in, I will be able to explore more of the natural areas, and I hope to share some of the beauty here.