We finally had some much needed rain last weekend. The Ashuelot River can use it; I’m guessing that it’s about a foot lower than it usually is at this time of year. The line of grasses above the far embankment shows how high it can get with the spring runoff, which is 10 feet or more above where it is now.
As I took photos of its far bank a beaver swam down the middle of the river with a bundle of sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) in its mouth. I didn’t know that beavers ate ferns but a little research shows that they do and they must be a delicacy, because this one swam quite a long way to get them. I watched him haul this bundle downriver until he was out of sight. Apparently there aren’t any sensitive ferns in his neighborhood.
A tiny yellow crab spider waited on Queen Anne’s lace for a meal and was very obvious. Crab spiders can change their color to match the color of the flower they’re on and I know they can be white because I’ve seen them in that color. Maybe this one had just left a black eyed Susan and was in the process of becoming white. I’ve read that it can take days for them to change.
I was looking at plants along the edge of a pond when I looked up and saw that I was just a few close feet from this great blue heron. I thought he’d fly off before I had a chance for a photo but he just walked slowly away through the pickerel weed. I was very surprised when I saw this photo to see that the pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata) was as tall as the heron; the plant is usually barely 2 feet tall.
In this photo I see more of what I would expect, which is a three foot bird standing taller than the pickerel weed. Apparently I was very focused on the heron and paid no attention to the plants, because I don’t remember them being taller than the bird. I wasn’t very observant that day, I guess, but it isn’t often I find myself so close to a great blue heron.
The heron kept shaking its head and the photo shows why; it was being plagued by flies. You can see one just where the bill meets the head. The photo also shows the bird’s forward pointing eyes. I’ve read that the eyesight of the great blue heron is about three times more detailed than a human. Their night vision is also better; they are able to see more at night than a human can see in daylight.
We had to dig down to about three feet at work recently and the soil was dry even at the bottom of the hole. The extreme dryness means that I’m seeing very few mushrooms and slime molds. The mushroom pictured had a half-eaten stem, most likely caused by a squirrel. I wasn’t able to identify it.
Though most slime molds grow in low light and high moisture scrambled egg slime mold (fuligo septica) isn’t a good indicator of moisture or light. I’ve seen it growing in full sunlight in dry conditions. This slime mold is usually bright, egg yolk yellow and I’m not sure if its lighter color was caused by dryness or age.
I’ve seen a few Indian pipes (Monotropa uniflora) pushing up through the forest litter but they seem to be quickly going by. Their white stems turn black when damaged but nearly every plant I saw had black on it. Each stem holds a single flower that will turn upward when it sets seed. Fresh stems hold a gel-like sap that is said to have been used by Native Americans to treat eye problems. The common name comes from the plant’s shape, which is said to resemble the pipes that Natives smoked.
A red winged blackbird flew to the top of a fir tree and told everyone I was coming.
Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) is flowering now. Its large greenish flower heads can be seen from a good distance but though they are quite big in a mass, each individual flower is tiny.
I think a group of 2 or 3 sumac flowers could hide behind a pea without any jostling. If they’re pollinated each flower will become a bright red, fuzzy berry. Native Americans used these berries to make a lemonade substitute and in some countries they’re ground and used as a lemon flavored spice. Many birds eat them but you can still find them on the plants well into winter.
Curly dock (Rumex crispus) seeds always remind me of tiny seed pearls. The plant is originally from Europe and is also called yellow dock. It’s a relative of rhubarb and its seeds look much like those found on rhubarb, though they’re somewhat smaller. Once the seeds mature they can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute, and the leaves are rich in beta-carotene and vitamins A and C, and can be eaten raw or cooked. The leaves were used by many as a vegetable during the depression when food was scarce. Curly dock’s common name comes from the wavy edges on the leaves.
Until this year I never noticed the beautiful color variations in curly dock’s seed heads. The above examples were found side by side on the same plant.
Timothy grass was unintentionally brought to North America by early settlers and was first found in New Hampshire in 1711 by John Hurd. A farmer named Timothy Hanson began to promote cultivation of it as a hay crop about 1720, and the grass has been called Timothy ever since. Timothy-grass (Phleum pratense) flowers from June until September and is noted for its resistance to cold and drought.
Timothy grass is an excellent hay crop for horses but what I like most about it is its flowers. Each flower head is filled with tiny florets, each with three purple stamens and 2 wispy white stigmas, but though I looked at several examples I couldn’t find a single one showing the purple stamens so I might have been too early. Quite often the heads look completely purple when they bloom. The example shown does show the tiny, feather like female stigmas.
We have a fine crop of acorns this year, and that means well fed animals.
Blueberries are also having a good year in spite of the dryness. The bears will be happy.
The blue of blue bead lily berries (Clintonia borealis) is quite different from the blue of blueberries. The seeds in these berries can take two years to germinate and adult plants can take twelve years to finally show their yellow, lily like blossoms. This plant is also called “cow tongue” because of the shape of its leaves. Deer, chipmunks and many other animals and birds love the berries and I often have trouble finding them because they get eaten so fast. Native Americans used the plant medicinally to treat burns and infections, and bears are said to be attracted to its root.
The patterns left by leaf miners on this oak leaf reminded me of the artwork found on ancient Greek vases. Oak leaf miners are the larvae of tiny silvery moths which have bronze colored patches on their wings.
Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds. ~Regina Brett
Thanks for stopping in.
Beautiful photos, Allen. Especially love the beaver bringing back a tasty bunch of ferns, although it is hard to choose a favorite. The sumac in flower is also a treat. Mostly I see photos of them in their scarlet fall finery.
Grasses are very beautiful, and don’t always get the notice they should. Love the photos and story of the Timothy grass.
Thank you Lavinia. I think you might see mostly sumac berries because the flowers are so hard to get a photo of. I tried many times before getting this one.
I put grasses in posts whenever I can to let people know that they’re worth watching for. They can be really beautiful when they flower.
Beautiful quote, it just describes the essence of the summer so well. Great photos of the heron.
Thank you, I liked that quote too!
What a great collection here. I particularly like the fungi and the tiny details on the flowers. What a great close-up of the heron too!
Thank you Jane. I don’t get that close to herons very often!
Great pictures of the crab spider and the herons.
Thanks!
That leaf miner shot is wonderful. I also admire your macro of the sumac blossom. They are so tiny. My bees have been busy on the sumac, bringing in enormous clumps of yellow pollen.
Thanks very much. I love the patterns that leaf miners make in leaves and they seem to be everywhere this year.
Yes, sumac flowers are so small it’s taken me years to get a decent shot of one. That’s interesting about the bees, I don’t think I saw a single insect on this bush.
Wow! You really got up close and personal with that heron! Great shots all around. I had no idea there were so many uses for dock. Great post, Allen. Thank you.
Thank you Martha. Yes, I guess curly dock is edible but I’d want to do more research before I ate it.
I’m not sure where that heron came from but it seems used to people.
You do see the most wonderful things when you are out and about. You can guess that I particularly enjoyed the heron pictures.
Yes, I thought you might!
Glad to hear you have had some rain. It is still very dry here and the temperatures are keeping me indoors so I am enjoying your walks vicariously. Your close-ups are a wonder. Great pics today as always. Thank you!
You’re welcome and thank you Cathy. I’m glad you’re enjoying these posts!
I have been off-line for a time so I am visiting your posts last first. Your shots of the beaver and heron are wonderful – what luck to see both at such close quarters! I also was very interested in the Timothy Grass and those beautiful purple-blue berries of the blue bead lily.
Welcome back Clare. I hope your reasons were nothing serious.
That was lucky to see the heron and beaver. It’s rare for me to see a beaver in daylight.
I think our Timothy grass came from there, so you probably see plenty of it.
The color of the blue bead lily berries is really unusual-almost electric.
Thank-you Allen. Yes Timothy is everywhere which is why I’ve never really looked at it properly before. I’m am fine but was extremely busy for a while with hardly any time for blogging then we lost our phone-line and internet for a couple of days. We are now away from home with intermittent wifi. We are staying in the Schwarzwald in southern Germany – arrived yesterday. Beautiful scenery but the weather is a little wet and cool and the clouds are low. The food is great and the people are so nice too.
I lost my internet and phone the other day too. Annoying but not a crisis. I’m glad you’re having some fun now that your husband has retired. It sounds like a good opportunity for some blog photos. I hope the weather improves!
Thank-you Allen – yes the weather is due to get better tomorrow.
What a great collection of images you’ve shared with us. That beaver — I wonder if she shared her bounty with her kids? (See? I’m making up a story that it’s a she and that she has kids – how sexist of me) Do beavers mate for life and take care of the young kids?
Beautiful shots of the heron and the blackbird.
Thank you Cynthia. You could be right, it might be a she beaver, but I don’t know how to tell.
Yes, beavers mate for life and I think the young drink their mother’s milk, but I’m not sure. I do know that the young stay with the parents until they’re old enough to find their own pond. I hope there were enough ferns to go around!
Reblogged this on Dawn of Divine Rays and commented:
Thank you for the beautiful colors, textures and the variations of the animal kingdom, Allen .. and you’ve been blessed with lovely ‘visitors’ on your trail this time.
Mother Earth is still balancing her water surface area and at times there may be some kind of flooding in the low plain area. I feel that it’s about time, People relocate themselves to higher plains. West Virginia isn’t an isolated case because there will be more flooding incidents to arrive. If humans have any common sense at all, they will sell their properties and move out.
If the river is at a higher plain, the water level will be adjusted accordingly by Mother Earth .. so .. there’s no ‘fear’ that it might dry up. My favorite animal for this post is the beaver because it’s enjoying its fine collection of ‘delicacy’ and much like most of us, we enjoy a good meal. I like the one when the black bird seems to be announcing your arrival .. they might have probably given you the name as a ‘Nature Keeper’ for that area .. and every one of them wants to be around to get their photos taken … lol …. Have a lovely Wednesday, Allen. Namaste
Thanks very much. I don’t have to worry too much about flooding here but I know there are many who do. I don’t know why they just go back and re-build in the same place but they do.
I’ve never seen this river go dry in my lifetime and I doubt that it ever will.
Beavers usually dive under water when they see a person but this one didn’t. I think he didn’t want to lose his / her snack.
I hope you’re right about all the birds and animals wanting their pictures taken. I’d love that!
Have a great week!
I’m completely blown away by the photo of the sumac flower! I’ve tried to shoot the individual flowers of sumac for years, and always failed miserably.
The beaver and heron were great catches as well. Seeing the fly on the heron, along with your description of it shaking its head to rid itself of flies reminds me that as much as I love the outdoors, I’m glad that I can go indoors to escape biting insects and the other things in nature that aren’t so nice. I always feel bad for animals that have to deal with the downsides of nature every minute of their life, they have no place to escape to.
Did I mention that I was blown away by what you can do with your new camera? The crab spider is another fantastic photo as well.
Thanks Jerry! The Olympus is the only camera that I’ve had that will do a sumac flower. Even the Lumix couldn’t get a good shot of them. The Olympus has something called “super macro” and it is.
I know what you mean about biting insects-I’m outside all day every day. The poor heron looked like it was getting bitten pretty badly and I was surprised to see only one fly in that shot because they were swarming it. I wondered why it didn’t put its head in the water for a bit, but I suppose the flies would have still been there. It’s a bad year for deer flies here!
I’m no mycologist but I think your mushroom is Amanita Flavoconia different from Amanita Muscaris which is a hallucinogen used in shamanic work. Don’t want to snack on that one!!!!!!!. Amanita Flavoconia is I think a fairly common mushroom.
The leaf miners oak leaf was worthy of a screen saver! Beautiful photography and how cool to see what you see!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks very much. I thought that mushroom might be one of the amanitas but I couldn’t find an example exactly like it so I wasn’t sure. I appreciate the help!
I do these “Things I’ve Seen” posts every now and then, using photos that didn’t fit into other posts.
Everything about this post is beautiful and informative, Allen!
Thank you Paula, I’m glad you think so.
Love your quote! Don’t we all need permission to be lazy now and then?! As nearly everyone has said, great pictures of the heron and beaver. I love to use sumac seasoning on my veggies.
I’m quite lazy even without permission Laura. The beaver and heron were both surprises and the only difference this time was I had a camera with me. Usually I don’t have one when nature surprises me. I’ve never tried sumac but I’ve heard it’s good.
Wondrous variety. I especially like the beaver and heron, though there were plenty of runner-ups. 🙂
Thank you Ben. Both the beaver and heron were surprises. Usually when things like that happen I don’t have a camera with me.
I sometimes see a heron by the river that runs near our house. Nut no beavers ever of course. 😉
I’ve heard that some folks would like to reintroduce beavers to the U.K. though. I’ve never really known what to think about that but I do know that they’d help the ecosystem.
Something is stirring …
http://www.scottishbeavers.org.uk/visit-knapdale/
http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/devon-beaver-project
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wild-beaver-spotted-in-england-for-first-time-in-800-years-8717543.html
Thanks Ben. It seems like people are sneaking in beavers whether you want them there or not. I think they’d do a lot of good but of course they’d also cut trees down.
It’s been very dry here also. Great shots of the beaver and heron!
Thanks! I’m sorry to hear you’re short of rain too. South eastern parts of this state are in said to be in severe drought now.
The beaver was an especially nice catch, Allen. I almost never see one in the daylight. Judging from your shots, it looks like you were really, really close to that beautiful blue heron. I was intrigued by your shots of the timothy grass. I had no idea it had such beautiful little flowers.
Thank you Mike. It was evening when I saw the beaver but still plenty light enough for it to see me and it did, but it just kept on swimming. It would’ve had to sacrifice its bundle of ferns to dive.
Yes, I was just a few feet from the heron and I think we were both surprised that I got so close without even realizing I was doing so. I never did find the plants I was looking for.
Timothy grass flowers are very small. I can’t even see them without some form of magnification, but it’s worth the effort.
Loved the post especially the photographs of the heron, how lucky you were.
Thank you Susan. Yes, stumbling onto the heron was a happy accident.