EggTober progress continued, with zeal, as I worked my way through week two. See for yourself! Check out the bird eggs that randomly popped up from my list of nesting birds of New Mexico. As with Submission One, included are a few fascinating facts about the shape of bird eggs to go along with week two birds.
If you missed Submission One of my EggTober post and would like to catch up, click here.
Egg Shape
The typical oval-shaped bird egg isn’t coincidental. Evolution, influenced by factors such as bird genetics and environmental influences, produced a “smart egg;” a perfectly shaped package just right for survival ……..
October 9th and 10th
1. Structural Strength
The oval shape provides greater strength and resilience, reducing the likelihood of breakage during incubation. It withstands external pressure more effectively, minimizing deformation or fractures in the developing embryo.
October 11th and 12th
2. Optimal Space
The oval shape maximizes the volume available for the embryo, ensuring proper development and sufficient reserves of nutrients, including proteins.
October 13th and 14th
3. Temperature Distribution
The oval shape promotes the even distribution of heat. When a female bird incubates the egg, her body heat is utilized to maintain warmth. The egg’s oval shape aids in evenly disseminating her body heat, ensuring a consistent temperature for the embryo throughout the incubation process.
October 15th and 16th
4. Prevents Rolling
The blunt, flat end of the oval egg shape helps prevent rolling within the nest. This stability safeguards the eggs, preventing them from accidentally falling from the nest or assuming an improper position.
Summary
While most bird eggs exhibit an oval shape, slight variations in shape do occur among different species. These variations are influenced by the birds’ lifestyles and specific incubation requirements. Overall, the oval shape plays a vital role in the reproductive ecology and physiological adaptations of birds.
Hope you have enjoyed Submission Two of EggTober! If so, please leave me a comment. And as always, thanks for popping in!
p.s. Stay tuned for Submission Three, landing in your in-basket next week!
Having participated in the Inktober for years by creating a daily drawing or painting throughout the month of October, I’ve found the challenge fun, rewarding, and motivating. However, rarely sticking to “ink only” creations and/or following the official prompts, I’ve shamelessly adopted a variety of approaches shared by others, have different media, or made up my own prompts. For me, this has added an elevated level of complexity that’s so appealing and somewhat wild!
In the past, my “Inktober” art has been about themes, like using a new Zentangle pattern a day that has a name beginning with “Q” or “Z” or “M” ……. or picking different botanical patterns. I’ve played with mixed media, watercolor, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, graphite, and (yes) ink to create a flower a day, rocks, mushrooms, candy, modes of transportation, the alphabet, fonts, portraits of famous people, etc. I’ve found the challenge is a great way to loosen up and try subjects I’m not comfortable or familiar with, while not worry about silly mistakes.
So, each year I look forward to Inktober, and this year was no exception.
This year I went way “out on a limb” and switched it up a bit.
This year I’ve named my personal 31-day challenge EggTober! And in keeping true with my love of nature, nature journaling and curiosity, each morning I’ll be randomly pick from a list of birds that nest in my home state of New Mexico and will draw one or several of of their eggs. 🥚
Here’s my progress so far and a few fascinating facts about bird eggs. At the end of my post, you can read about my process and materials used.
Did you know that two pigments are responsible for most eggshell colors: biliverdins, which make blue-green hues; and, protoporphyrins, which make the background hues of rusty yellows, reds and browns.
Eggshells that have markings like spots, blotches, speckles, or lines, have more protoporphyrins. These markings help camouflage eggs, especially those laid by ground-nesting birds.
The largest known bird egg belonged to the extinct elephant bird. This flightless bird, which stood about 10 feet (3 meters) tall and lived in Madagascar until the 18th century, laid eggs about 11 inches (28 centimeters) long. That’s about the size of an American football!
Bird eggs can be oval, to round, to pear-shaped, depending on the species of bird laying the eggs and where. Many sea birds nesting on cliffs tend to lay more pear-shaped eggs which helps keep them from rolling off steep ledges. It’s said that pushing one of those eggs, because it’s so heavy at one end, will cause it to spin in a circle.
Eggshells are largely made of calcium carbonate, and if hatched without their final ‘spray-paint’ of color, will look pure white to the human eye. But some white eggshells contain ultraviolet colors visible to birds. (Wonder why?)
Process and Materials
Of course, given that it’s Autumn, and impossible to find any active bird nests housing unhatched eggs, I’ve formulated Plan B. For my references I’ll be relying on digital natural history museum egg collections, on-line bird identification resources, fascinating facts about bird eggs, several key references from my personal library, and other sources, to learn and satisfy my long held love of birds, their incredible eggs, and the egg-laying process.
Staying as true to real life as possible, approximate egg shapes will be colored with Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils. For consistency, basic information specific to each individual bird species’ typical egg (clutch size, length and width, background (ground) color(s) and marking color(s) and patterns) will be included. For future reference, I’ve handmade a small booklet that will hold two species’ eggs/page. At the end of October, I’ll then add a title page, table of contents, and a list of references.
And finally, for now, it’s entirely possible that my process and materials may be changed on a whim! So stay tuned as EggTober unfurls!
If you are an Inktober participant, or have never heard of this month-long creative event, please let me know!
Ohhhhhh, what a sweet month …… August. It almost got away from me without sharing a small collection of Littles1 that reflect the inevitable shifts in nature that occur during the month. It’s always hard to imagine summer winding down; where did the time go? But as surely as butter melts on freshly baked bread, undeniably, August forms a reliable bridge between summer and autumn. It’s a time of change and transition; abundance and harvest; transformation and a period of letting go.
So before I “let go” and before the snow flies (and it will), here’s a handful of little discoveries during the month of August:
-A female Wheel Bug gone slightly astray while searching for a protected place to overwinter the eggs she’s about to lay.
-A female Soldier Beetle doing her best to attract a mate by sending out pheromones while munching late season pollen from the disk flowers of a brilliant yellow Showy Goldeneye.
-An acorn that made it to maturity, ready to drop beneath a still green-leaved Gambel Oak soon to be decked out in radiant fall colors.
-Some hot red trumpet-shaped Scarlet Gilia flowers, still irresistible to hummingbirds until migration, will all be pollinated in time for seed set and mature.
-The snowy white fruit dangling from the draping branches of Roundleaf Snowberry shrubs are ripe and ready for plucking by hungry birds flying south for the winter.
-And plump purple-black Chokecherry berries that will become a juicy dietary supplement for black bears needing to bulk up for hibernation.
Enjoy!
And as always, thanks for dropping by!
1“Littles” is part of a blog series I began posting several years ago, beginning in January 2023. The concept was inspired by Fay (thanks again Fay!) who came up with the idea for her blog madebyfay.wordpress.com
On a warm Spring morning, wandering around a grove of American Sycamore, I became curious about these magnificent trees: where in the US are they native; why are some leaves larger than the palm of my hand and some half the size; what about those odd pingpong sized seedballs lying on the ground everywhere you look ….. why don’t they roll away in search of an ideal spot to pop open so the seeds can germinate …… when the seedballs are kicked, stepped on or crushed beneath a car tire, do the 1,000’s of seeds inside blow away to sprout ….. are the seeds (all or some of them) even viable ….. do the seedballs make a good ink or dye or maybe they’re edible or even medicinal……. what, if any wildlife species eat the seedballs or seeds; and ooooohhhhhhh, sycamore bark! Why does this tree’s bark flaunt a pastel palette of greens, yellows and pinks. These and many more questions came to mind that it seemed about time the American Sycamore became a subject for my nature journal, until ……………..
There! In the tree above my head, I spotted a most curious thing. Parting a few of that sycamore’s beautiful Spring green palmate-shaped leaves was a bundle of dead brown and beige leafy bits and sticks all haphazardly glued together. Wishing to get a closer look at that elongated ornament shaped “thing,” I found it was securely suspended from a branch. Trying to puzzle out this fascinating mystery while searching for my pen knife, a stiff breeze blew through the tree. It was then a I noticed hundreds of those 2-3” long bundles all over the tree; from the base to its crown!
Curiosity is the Essence of Nature Journaling
What continues to draw me to nature and nature journaling after so many years are the surprises in the familiar and in the unknown. I know well enough that new encounters in nature are infinite; you just have to open your eyes and look. Having learned by carefully observing what appears to be familiar, often leads to new discoveries. That’s when my curiosity kicks into high gear ….. when it’s time to engage in some serious poking around to figure something out; to learn what the “thing” is.
Curiosity, for me, is the very heart and soul of nature journaling. The ‘art’ of curiosity even precedes skill in observation. It’s what drives me out the door in the morning and fuels my exploration. Curiosity fills the mind with countless questions if for no other reason but to develop a deeper understanding of the natural world.
But I “wax philosophical.” Needless to say, my curious discovery on that warm and breezy Spring morning prompted an abrupt change of mind for my next blog post (this post). Anxious to learn about the “thing” suspended from a tree branch, probably minding its own business, I proceeded to cut it down (along with two more) and popped them in a bag along with a few sycamore leaves and seedballs.
Later that same day …….
Upon completing my journal sketches of sycamore leaves and seedballs, and posting a few photos to iNaturalist for an initial ID, it was time to take a closer look at my discovery. Reaching into the bag for one of the “things” (wiping my hand free of spider webbing?), I placed it on my examination table surrounded by several hand lenses, a larger magnifying glass, a penknife, and 2 pairs of tweezers. Before beginning the dissection, I noticed about a dozen black pepper-sized bits moving about the “thing.” Thinking tiny spiders had come from the bag, I didn’t give them a second thought (should’ve been curious!).
This bagworm bag was the subject of my dissection. Notice the pepper-sized black dots next to the bag ….. those are wiggling 1st instar larva.
iNaturalist ID Pick :::::::::::::: BAGWORM MOTH ::::::::::::::: iNaturalist ID Pick
(awaiting genus/species ID)
A Bagworm Moth!
How cool is that!?!
The opened bag of a female Bagworm moth. She’s very dead, but her progeny are escaping as fast as they can.
Dissection resumes ……
After finding out the “thing” I’ve been pondering over is the Bag of a bagwormmoth, I learned the Bag was built during last Spring, Summer and Fall by either a male or female bagworm moth. If a male, the Bag would be empty; if a female, the Bag would contain her remains …. she would’ve died last fall after a male fertilized 500-1,000+ eggs she overwintered inside her body until Spring when newly-hatched larvae would emerge from the bottom of the Bag and begin the species’ life cycle all over again.
The Bag, that took about 10 minutes and all my dissection tools to open, contained the black and mushy remains of a female and 100’s of wiggling/dancing larvae! They were on the move; escaping from the now wide open Bag, and quickly covering my examination table like a pepper grinder out of control.
And my effort to open the Bag? This made sense after reading about the high tensile strength of the silk they produce. These thin strands of silk, 10x stronger than that produced by silkworms, is used in abundance to construct their Bags.
The coolest thing ever! Notice the either late 2nd or early 3rd instar larva, no longer naked, but swaddled in very chewed up leafy bits glued together with strong silk. This dude was hiking up a sycamore branch, continually chewing, wiggling, and gluing.
After disposing of all the naked 1st instar larvae waggling and dancing across my examination table, I placed the dissected Bag, the two whole Bags, and collected leaf material into a clear plastic ziplock to observe what would happen. Over 10 days, the number of larvae multiplied and the naked 1st instar caterpillars grew in size (at least to 2nd instar) while building their individual Bags from tiny bits of leaf litter! Their wiggling dance seemed to be the way their silk strands wrapped and secured leafy bits around their bodies. It’s been fun to watch all the activity.
Have you ever encountered one or more of the 1,350+ species of bagworm moths? What materials were their Bags made from? Please share your experience with these fascinating members of the butterfly/moth family of insects.
A fallen cone from Pinus edulis. Still a few seeds remain, tucked in the lowest scales. Typically there are 2 seeds per scale; 10-30 seeds are common per cone. Seed viability is uncertain until the inside kernel is exposed.
Pine Nuts Come From Where?
Many years ago, maybe about 45 of them, Roy and I, his sister and her husband, set off on a pine nut safari in the mountains of south central Colorado. They knew of a large stand of a specific pine tree, called Pinyon (Piñon**) heavy with cones and ready to harvest. This was my first encounter with the Colorado Pinyon Pine (Pinus edulis), and my first taste of the buttery rich tear-drop shaped seeds produced by these trees. I was hooked! After 4-5 hours collecting wide open seed stuffed cones from low hanging branches and off the ground, we had to stop. Our fingers were impossibly stuck together from the cones’ copious coating of resin, definitely stickier than Super Glue! Without a solvent to dissolve this adhesive pine tar, we were in danger of losing our fingerprints.
Having made a less-than-minor dent in the harvestable nuts, ample quantities of this energy rich bounty remained for foraging wildlife, such as migrating birds like pinyon jays, deer and squirrels.
For the past 45 years I truly believed pine nuts (which are, botanically speaking, not true nuts but the edible seeds of pinyon pines) only came from stands of Colorado Pinyon Pine. When the popularity of pesto skyrocketed, I thought “wow, you couldn’t pay me enough to harvest the amount of pine nuts necessary to make even one batch!” I honestly thought that was the reason the seeds were so expensive ….. harvesting is such a tedious and labor intensive job. Alas, we never returned to harvest pine nuts, and I never made pesto until years later.
The result of my Pinus edulis cone and seed sketching exercise.
While studying a few dozen pine cones for my sketches, the seeds kept falling out and bouncing across my drawing table. This got me thinking about pine nuts and wondering how the Colorado Pinyon Pine could possibly fill the insatiable global demand! Of course by now I was well aware that this tree species is endemic in the southwest, but still ?…….
News to Me ….
Of the 126 different species of pine in the world, 29 are considered edible; 20 of which have seeds large enough to be marketed. The biggest producers and exporters are China, Russia, Mongolia, Turkey, and Pakistan, in that order. I found it interesting that China is also the largest importer of pine nuts, who’s marketing goal is to export 60% of the world’s demand.
What about the US? The pine nuts harvested from Colorado Pinyon Pine (Pinus edulis) is rated the best tasting in the world, with those produced by the One Leaf Pine (Pinus monophylla), harvested primarily from these California trees, comes in a close second. Yet, the US is a major importer of shelled pine nuts, primarily from China. But if China is the largest importer and the largest exporter of shelled pine nuts, then the pine nuts on the shelves of Trader Joe’s and Costco, labeled as imported from China, probably came from a variety of pinyon species from a combination of suppliers importing seeds to China?!
Being naturally curious about the Pinyon species that grow in various countries around the world, I included a list of 16 of the most commonly harvested trees the end of this post.
What’s the Real Reason Pine Nuts are so Expensive?
It’s said that “pine nuts are the most expensive seeds we would never buy!” (**** Check out this footnote for the 2024 costs/pound and my random calculations per serving and for a batch of pesto). Pine nuts are the second most expensive “nut” in the world, second only to the macadamia nut. Butwhy? While it’s true the seemingly exorbitant price of shelled pine nuts is directly influenced by labor costs, compounded by the annoying sticky factor, other challenges exist.
Harvesting Pine Cones
Cones are harvested by hand, directly gathering those that have fallen on the ground, and from tree branches (where the densest number congregate in the upper 1/4th of 30 foot tall trees). Another common harvesting technique is to whack the branches (which reportedly does not injure the trees [hmmmmm?]). But a faster method used in many countries is to cut off branches with cones, resulting in a number of detrimental effects to the trees (open entry points for insects and pathogens; stunted growth; stalled production; tree death).
A sampling of Pinus edulis cones with hard coated seeds removed, ready for cracking. There’s a single kernel between the two lower right cones.
Pine Nuts
Once the seeds are taken out of the cones, their hard shells (seed coats) must be removed without damaging the soft edible kernels inside, the “pine nuts.” (And not every seed is viable ….. more about that below.) The shelled pine nuts must now be handled quickly and properly due to their short shelf life. It only takes a few weeks or even days in warm and humid conditions for shelled pine nuts to lose flavor, turn rancid, and completely deteriorate. Until they can be marketed for export, pine nuts must be kept frozen. Ideally, shelled pine nuts should remain frozen during export/import and until consumer purchase and consumption.
There were the remains of the Pinus edulis seeds extracted from these cones; 30 tasty kernels were viable; 20 were either missing or dried up.
Tree Characteristics
Slow growing trees and inconsistent production are several more reasons pine nuts are so expensive. Pinyon pines are notoriously slow to grow, mature (10 years) and produce a harvestable crop of cones with viable seeds (75-100 years). But pinyon pines typically live an average 350 years, and have the potential to produce tons of harvestable seeds. However, all pinyons exhibit a common characteristic called “masting,” where they may produce a bumper (harvestable) crop only once in as many as every eleven years. Good years are not predictable either, as many factors influence growth and production, with local droughts and a changing climate having the biggest impact.
Gifford Pinchot (1909), U.S. Forest Service Chief said: “Seasons of especially abundant production occur, as a rule, at intervals of from five to seven years, although heavy crops are sometimes produced for two or three consecutive years, and heavy seed years are not the same throughout the range of the tree.”
A Pinus edulis tree showing the 2 needles/fascicle densely covering the branches, and a remaining cone ready to fall..
______________________________________________________________ A Few Footnotes
**Piñon or Pinyon?
The most common common name for Pinus edulis is “Colorado” Pinyon Pine, even though the species is widespread in New Mexico, Utah and Arizona as well as Colorado. The words pinyon and piñon are usually considered interchangeable. Use of the word “piñon” (Spanish for pine nut) is tied to the seed (i.e. piñon seed or pine nut seed) and the tree (i.e. piñon pine or pine nut pine) particularly used by Native Americans in the southwest US. Because references consulted during my research were not consistent in their use of common names for Pinus edulis, to avoid (my) confusion I’ve opted to call the piñon seed (pine nut seed) a “pine nut” and the pine trees with edible seeds “pinyons.”
**** The 2024 retail market cost (shelled raw or roasted seeds) averages $40/pound
1 pound of seeds = about 4 cups (depending on seed size)
1 cup of seeds weighs about 4 ounces (price $10§)
1 ounce or 1/4 cup of seeds = 1 serving (price $2.50)
1 serving = about 167 seeds (price 1.5 cents/seed)
167 seeds = 191 calories (pine nuts are extremely high in unsaturated, heart-healthy fats and carbohydrates)
1 cup of seeds = about 668 seeds = 764 calories
4 cups of seeds = about 2,672 seeds = 3,056 calories
Number Play
Of the 50 seeds I harvested, only 30 were viable (price 45 cents)
It took me about 45 minutes to crack open the 50 seeds (this doesn’t include the time it took to collect the resin-coated cones and remove the seeds)
It would take me 67 hours to fill a 1 pound bag with 2,672 viable shelled seeds!
At $40/pound, a pine nut cracker would be paid only $0.59/hour for their labor, a wage earned back in the 1950’s and 1960’s which didn’t even come close to supporting a family then, let alone today.
Assuming a pine nut cracker makes a minimum wage of $7/hour, it would cost $468 to fill a 1 pound bag. That’s 1,170% more than the 2024 retail cost of a pound of pine nuts!
Obviously, a professional pine nut cracker is far more efficient than I was, using some form of mechanization to crack the seed coats (requiring more research on my part).
A rock squirrel high in a Pinus edulis tree, keeping watch for red tailed hawks while searching for pine nuts.
§Pesto ……. most pesto recipes I found call for the addition of 1 cup of shelled pine nuts, or 668 seeds. At 1.5 cents/seed, you’d be adding $10 of pine nuts to make one batch of pesto. Enjoy slowly!
Living in the East Mountains of central New Mexico ensures daily appreciation of hundreds and hundreds of Piñon Pines (Pinusedulis). This iconic pine, the state tree of New Mexico, has been a source of nutrient rich seeds for wildlife and indigenous peoples for millennia. It was fun learning more about this tree and the many Pinyon species that grow around the world.
Roy had a doctor’s appointment one morning in late September, at an office right off busy I-25, near the ABQ airport. Instead of hanging out in the sterile waiting room, Luna and I spent our time exploring the areas surrounding the office, just to see if there was anything worth observing.
For 2 miles, we wandered about the not quite urban/suburban/industrial/residential neighborhood ….. me looking for a sketchbook entry; Luna sniffing out messages left just for her by visiting dogs, squirrels, or bunnies.
Interesting discoveries seemed lacking, until Luna caught whiff of something irresistible. Tugging hard on her end of the leash, she urged me to run with her as she zeroed in on the source of the smell.
By a parking lot light, on the pavement next to a cement curb was an explosion of feathers, but Luna kept leading me on to something better. There! Lying on the curb was a still wet and bloody bird foot barely connected to what remained of the thigh. All clues pointed to the very recent drama, where a raptor (possibly a red-tailed hawk) had swooped in and nabbed the hapless victim (a feral pigeon), killed and then ate his prey from the platform atop the parking lot light. The inedible remains fell to the ground as a group of 2 dozen “relieved-it-wasn’t-me” pigeon friends looked on.
Quickly solving most of this puzzle in the time it took to pry the pigeon foot from Luna’s mouth, gave me the idea of sketching not only the foot, but to look for other unlikely nature discoveries in this urban/suburban/industrial/residential neighborhood setting.
Mentally armed with a keener power of observation and purpose, we retraced our earlier route with excitement! Now it was obvious an abundance of interesting and beautiful plants were growing from every sidewalk crack and along crumbled pavement edges throughout the ‘hood. How had I missed seeing these beauties?
And that’s how my idea for this 2-page layout was born, along with a reminder that finding bits of nature doesn’t have to occur at a botanical garden, wildlife preserve or national park. Nature is everywhere. If you just slow down and really look, even in the most unlikely places like sidewalk cracks, there’s always something to discover. So Remember to Explore the Cracks too and let me know what you find!
Sometimes short adventures become the most memorable.
After pouring over our NM map, looking for new places to camp, based on a recommendation from good friends we decided to visit Charette Lakes. Located within the grasslands of NE New Mexico, this would be our kind of country. About time to check out the Shortgrass Prairie.
Planning to be gone 4-5 days, and as long as we were headed to Charette, why not also visit Clayton Lake State Park and Kiowa National Grasslands! The weather certainly looked good for a week, allowing easy access on backcountry 2-track dirt roads.
Felix at home just west of Lower Charette Lake
Charette Lakes
Arriving at Charette Lakes mid-day allowed plenty of time to set up camp with a view of the Lower (larger) lake, before heading off, on foot, to wander these lush grasslands. It seemed like Spring ….. so many wildflowers in bloom! Late afternoon saw a mass exodus of fisherpeople, and by 5:30 pm we pretty much had the entire area to ourselves! Hiking about some more, we encountered a small group of pronghorn, gazed skyward as hungry migratory ducks and Canada geese flew in to Upper Charette Lake, observed a number of beautiful kestrels, and enjoyed the antics of a coot flotilla on the lower lake.
The wind blew, the rains poured, but we managed several hikes across the short grass prairie surrounding Charette Lakes
By 6:00 pm we got caught in a downpour! Wait! This wasn’t supposed to happen! But the rain and gusty winds persisted until morning, as heavy gray clouds continued to roll by.
We found most of the migratory birds on and feeding at Upper Charette Lake. Mostly marshy and shallow, this small lake had more food for hungry birds than the larger and deeper Lower Charette a lake.
After rechecking the weather forecast, it seemed like this storm was headed north, well out of the area we planned to visit next ….. Clayton Lake State Park, in the extreme NE corner of NM, bordering TX.
We shook out our rain gear, toweled off the dog, packed up Felix and headed out, dropping down the basalt escarpment we ascended yesterday, thankful this section of steep decline was paved.
Clayton Lake State Park
Excited to see more of the grasslands and the famous Dinosaur Trackways, a historic landmark site managed by the State Park, we approached from Raton, NM, very close to the Colorado border. Traveling about 50+/- miles SE (leaving the rain behind), the surrounding shortgrass prairie was dotted with a number of resting volcanoes, including Capulin (managed by the National Park Service).
Our route from Charette Lakes to Clayton Lake State Park and Dinosaur Trackways passed through more shortgrass prairie habitat adjoining a cluster of Forest Service-managed grasslands (Kiowa in NM; Rita Blanca in TX; Cimarron in KS; Comanche in CO), remnants of the vast “sea” of grasslands that used to be.
Arriving at Clayton Lake SP about noon, we quickly parked Felix, then walked the 1/4 mile to the Dino Trackways! Very, very cool. It’s hard to imagine that 100 million years ago this area of NM/TX was a beach along the western side of a great inland sea! Paleontologists believe the dinosaur tracks were made by both plant and meat eaters that migrated north and south along this sandy beach. The tracks showed the plant eaters likely moved about in herds as they foraged for food. There were also foot long tube worm tunnels and some pretty interesting mud cracks preserved in today’s hard sandstone.
At Clayton Lake State Park we learned about the 100 million years old dinosaur tracks uncovered during the construction of the Clayton Lake emergency spillway, found some wind-stunted and deformed plants lining the the earthen dam, discovered a new grasshopper and beetle, and enjoyed watching terns perform aerobatic stunts over the lake.
Dinner time and it began raining (what!), varying from drizzle to deluge, we started to have second thoughts about tomorrow’s access into Mills Canyon on the Kiowa National Grasslands. But the radar showed this area wasn’t getting rain, and we felt it was worth a try (as long as we were so close!).
One of many cows that graze the grasslands on allotments that often span private, State and Federal lands.
Clayton Lake to Mills Canyon (Kiowa NG)
Early morning sunrise was gorgeous, then from who-knows-where, storm clouds rumbled in, and kept coming nearly the entire way to the Kiowa. But nearing our arrival, the clouds cleared out and things looked promising; so much so that we agreed to try our luck.
Long abandoned and “melting” into the soil, the shortgrass prairie saw its share of homesteaders back in the middle to late 1800s.
The Grasslands boundary was six miles off the pavement, on dirt and gravel ranch roads. Once on the Grasslands 2-track access to the campground our luck nearly ran out. Down down down the road went, saturated with the last several days of pouring rain. But we didn’t really know this, and began the descent. It wasn’t 200 slippery yards later, Roy’s executive decision to reverse course probably saved us being stranded somewhere for days! As he began backing Felix up the sloppy slick road, conditions somehow felt worse. Felix had a mind of his own and began weaving all over the place, half the time getting stuck in the ruts we made during our descent.
What looks like a lonely landscape is actually lush and thriving grasslands thanks, in part, to an abundance of rain this year. And Wow! Did it ever rain!
Finally after 30 minutes of careful maneuvering, Roy managed to coax the RV back to the Grasslands boundary. Our relief to be back on somewhat solid ground overshadowed our disappointment in not being able to visit this dramatic canyon area. But we were safe even though both the truck and Felix were coated above the axles with 6-8 inches of mucky sticky clay.
So, with this area and any other likely destinations soaking wet, and only being 3 hours from home, we agreed to end this crazy camping trip, promising ourselves to return another day. Turns out the decision was wise, as we drove through one downpour after another on the way home! (The rain was so hard at times, visibility was zip! But the good news was it rained so hard that most of that mucky sticky clay got washed away.)
The End…..
And that was the ending to a short, yet memorable trip. Of course by the time we got home, the clouds had cleared totally, and we haven’t had a drop of rain since! Go figure!
A pronghorn wary of our presence, passing with a herd between Upper and Lower Charette Lakes.
Of the dozen or so celebrations taking place annually on April 17th, you might think that combing both National Bat Appreciation Day and National Haiku Poetry Day in one blog post makes no sense at all. But if you’ve ever spent even a bit of time witnessing a bat ‘out flight’ at dusk, you’d agree with me that their near-silent hunting maneuvers are sheer poetry!
National Bat Appreciation Day
A holiday celebrated each year to promote awareness about bats and their importance in maintaining healthy ecosystems.
National Haiku Poetry Day
An annual celebration to honor and promote the cultural significance of Haiku, a Japanese form of poetry.
Dedication
This post is dedicated to my good friend, Holly Silva, who finds bats fascinating. She suggested for my first celebratory day in April, I tackle bats. (Not literally of course!) Like Holly, I’ve always been in awe of bats, having seen many ‘out-flights’ of the tiny insectivorous myotis bat and little brow bat. And then there’s fruit bats! Oh my …… so hard to resist sharing my story of an amazing fruit bat ‘out flight’ Roy & I witnessed in the Australian Outback, Bats in OZ!
Bats in OZ
Talk about right place/right time scenario! We had finally arrived at a well known hot springs south of Katherine after a long, hot, dry day through central Australia. Mataranka, a beautiful series of natural pools surrounded by hundreds of eucalyptus (gum) trees. It was late in the day and we were luxuriating in the hot water, when we noticed everyone there before us was leaving. It was a mass exodus; suddenly we had the springs to ourselves. Five minutes later that we noticed the water rippling around us. We figured a freak storm had appeared out of nowhere to offload huge raindrops in just this spot. Then the “rain” became more intense, the noise became cacophonous, and day turned into night.
When we first arrived at Mataranka, our focus was on the inviting pools of water nicely shaded by the gum trees. We never looked up into any of those tall, branchy trees … we were happy to have the shade. Now, soaking in the hot water while getting pelted by “rain,” we wondered if we should haul ourselves out, recalling that the locals must’ve known this storm was about to happen (as it did every night); maybe it wasn’t safe for some reason? So wondering how big the storm cloud was we glanced up at the sky through the tree branches. That’s when shock and awe grabbed us! Hundreds and hundreds of tree branches which must’ve been straining under a great weight minutes ago were sighing relief as thousands of fruit bats (aka flying foxes) dropped from their roosts to take flight. Wing membranes spread wide, their sheer numbers blocked out the fading sun. We were speechless! Gaping in awe at the spectacle, our mouths quickly snapped shut …… you see, that “downpour” wasn’t rain at all! All of those big, beautiful bats were pooping out guano as fast as they could! Another ah-ha moment struck us (along with copious quantities of guano) as we made a hasty retreat out of the water, grabbing our clothes and sun hats, and laughing uproariously while beating feat back to the safety and cover of the rental car!
As fast as the “storm” of bats appeared, they were gone, flying off to feed for the night on a Downunder spring bounty of fruits only they knew about. Stuffed by sunrise they would return to the Mataranka community roost to rest and digest before once again taking flight while pooping on the heads of foolish tourists tomorrow at dusk!
The Post
For this post, while exploring bats’ importance in the ecosystem, to science, and while recalling all of those Australian flying foxes I was curious about why and how bats hang upside down, the types of bats and their diets, and what adaptations Vampire bats have causing them to crave a diet of blood. Much of this rabbit-trailing led to myths and misconceptions about bats, then back to New Mexico’s most famous ‘out flight’ of the American Free-tailed Bat every spring, summer and fall evening from Carlsbad Caverns. While learning, several Haiku poems materialized reflecting bat behavior.
Nighttime brings darkness A near silent “whoosh” above Bats! Winged wonders hunt
It would’ve been easy and fun to fill up the rest of my journal with bat facts and more Haiku, but because the celebratory date of both National Bat Appreciation Day and National Haiku Poetry Day has now come and gone, I had to stop. Maybe you’ll want to answer a bunch of your own questions about bats? Maybe you’ll want to write your own Haiku about bats in honor of this style of poetry?
Mosquitoes beware! Cauldron of bats overhead …. Echolocation!
Share your bat stories and Haiku, and let me know if this inspires you to dig deeper into the fascinating world of bats!
It’s been a few days now, and the scene continues to replay over and over in my mind’s eye. Somehow my sketch of these two birds …. one the victor, the other the victim ….. came easily and quickly, much like the time it took for the event to unfold.
Returning to our house after photographing snow scenes created by an overnight winter storm, I paused at the door, turning to admire the beautiful white landscape. Faster than an eye blink and just as quiet, a sharp-shinned hawk soared by at top speed, obviously intent on capturing one of our feeder birds!
I’ve seen this small hawk fly by a few times over the past several weeks, but the smaller juncos, finches and titmice always managed to duck for cover in the nick of time, foiling the “sharpy’s” chances of a meal. But the hawk, perhaps better skilled in his timing and approach after some practice runs, wasn’t about to miss on this day.
The spotted towhee must’ve been so focused on scratching for buried seeds that all obvious warning calls eluded him. Out in the open eating seed under one of our feeders, the towhee must’ve been too hard to resist for the sharp-shinned hawk, and fell victim to the expert predator.
Having camera already in hand, I was able to take a half dozen photos after the sharpy snatched the towhee with his long piercing talons, pinning him securely to our brick patio. As sad as it was to watch the towhee struggle against the hawk’s sure grip, it was all over for the towhee in 30-45 seconds. Then as fast as the sharp-shinned hawk had attacked, he regripped the lifeless towhee, lifting him effortlessly and flew away into the trees.
The circle of life.
“You can’t imagine anything like nature as we know it without predators.”
-Dale Jamieson
“Every living creature, big or small, plays such an important role in our ecosystem.”
-Mufasa’s memorable speech to Simba (from The Lion King)
Did you know?! Today, and every year January 5th rolls around, is National Bird Day! Whoo! Hoo! Or should I say “Tweet!” Have you hugged a bird today?
“National Bird Day, celebrated on January 5th, is a day dedicated to the conservation, preservation, and appreciation of birds. It aims to raise awareness about the importance of birds and their habitats, and encourage people to take action to protect them.”
Back Story
(or Why this seemingly random information nugget has popped into this blog post, and what happened to those fascinating Full Moon stories?)
Since my Full Moon project came to a close in November, I’ve been pondering over my list of ideas that might become a fun project. With elbows propped on my drawing table and chin cupped between the palms of my hands, my eyes and mind began slowly drifting outside to a winter scene where patches and drifts of snow had collected from our last storm. Readjusting my focus to the bird feeder right outside my studio window, I watched as 15-20 dark-eyed juncos engaged in minor skirmishes, competing for seed. Birds on the feeder and the ground ravenously plucked and scratched for tasty morsels before they were stolen by another hungry junco.
That’s when it hit me …… the constant activity at the feeder, every day, brought to mind the number of holidays, events and sometimes solemn to whacky occasions we the people have designated to commemorate and celebrate. The published lists (official? who knows) are long, cover every day of the year, and often include a dozen (more or less) International, National, State and Local happenings/day!
The topics are boundless; some familiar (Valentine’s Day), some hilarious (National Pass Gas Day), some educational (Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day); some raise awareness about a cause (National Save the Eagles Day), while some satisfy your appetite (National Curried Chicken Day) ….. your thirst (National Green Juice Day) …. your sense of play (National Fruitcake Toss Day) … your sense of self (Measure Your Feet Day).
Apparently, if you can think it, there’s a “Day.”
So here goes ….. I’ll be tackling a “Day” a month during 2024, that is likely to make a good fit for my Nature Journal. Then Flambé, not to be left behind dog paddling in a sea of flounder, has agreed to play too. Kat will pick a “Day” each month where the event is more light-hearted, laughable, fantastical.
And there you have it! Scattered among my regular nature journal pages and Flambés Misadventures will be our interpretations of a few dozen of the hundreds of notable events we think are worthy of recognizing this and in future years!
Enjoy! What’s your favorite (backyard) bird? Oh and please share how you celebrated National Bird Day!
a curious nature 