The Voracious Predatory Chipmunk

While We were at Bay Furnace Campground Near Pictured Rocks, and Keith was absent from the campsite, Mary watched a drama unfold. A chipmunk who had been nosing around the campsite all morning suddenly aroused the ire of a little chipping sparrow, who chipped madly and fluttered around sort of like a killdeer trying to lead a predator away from it's nest. The chipmunk paid no attention to it and began nosing around the area of open piney woods where the chipping sparrow was.

The sparrow then began attacking the chipmunk, pecking vigorously at its head. Then, Mary spotted a baby chipping sparrow fluttering about in the tall weeds and sparse tall grass. The chipmunk spotted it, too, and rushed after it and there was some furious scuffling where the baby was trying to flutter away, the chipmunk was trying to catch it, and the mother was pecking the chipmunk vigorously. Then, the chipmunk grabbed the baby by the throat and killed it and ran off about 20 feet and started eating it. Mary, who was trying to reposition herself to see better, accidentally scared off the chipmunk, who left the dead baby under a pine and never came back for it while we were still at camp. The mother chipping sparrow kept
searching and calling and searching and calling up until we left.

When we got back from our expeditions, hours later, we both checked, and the dead baby bird was gone from where the chipmunk left it. Since the chipmunk had already killed the bird, we hope he ate it.

This is not the first time that Mary has observed a chipmunk being predacious. She has also seen a chipmunk kill and eat a large water snake, big enough to have eaten it.

The Tortured Killdeer

Back when school was in session and it was cooler and quieter at the
marina, a killeer built its nest under a tree. Then one hot Saturday
when all the kiddies were out of school and picnics were in full
swing, someone occupied the cooker next to the bird's nest and the
people coming and going kept scaring the Mom off the nest. She'd run
back and try to get settled and get scared away again. I yelled at
one guy for scaring her. But we had to leave--I coudln't guard the
nest--I hope the nest, the eggs, the babies, the parents all survive.

wild mushrooms

Last year, we found morels at the Pinery.  This year, things were
farther along, and though we searched, we found none.  We did find
wild mushrooms though, and ate them.

In Every Yard

I think there is a robin's nest in EVERY YARD, at least one--I can't
beleive how many robis you see walking down the street.

Snowy Egret Painting

Finished this morning

3 quick sketches

magnolia, dead robin, pansies

garter

snake

Spring Wildflowers

Hurray! Spring is HERE! Woohoo! It's still early, but there are
lots of wildflowers out.

Chickweed, Vernoica, Dutchman's breeches, cut-leaved toothwort, more
Dutchman's breeches, hepatica, trout lily, spring beauty, trillium, in
bud.

Click the images to view them larger.

les petits fleurs

FLOWERS! The red and silver maples are in flower!  YAY!

flowers and buds

It's coming!!!  aconites, tulips, snowdrops, hellebore!  Woohoo!

Mystery of the dead birds

Along a trail I walk almost daily, dead birds keep appearing,
sometimes, different kinds of birds, sometimes Emglish sparrows or
starlings. They are always in the same place. I don't know why. Is
someone shooting them and leaving them there? Is there something
poisonous that they're getting into?

Okra

I never thought much about okra. I liked it in gumbo but never considered the plant, thought I'm educated as a botanist. A non-practicing botanist, however. I never thought about okra until on impulse, I decided to grow it. It's a lovely plant with large maple-like leaves and a tree-like form, but hibiscus-like flowers. A mallow, I said to myself, a hibiscus! I wanted to look it up, but I'm getting a little forgetful--I never remembered to do it! Finally, I did, and lo and behold, it's of course a mallow and one of its alternate generic names is Hibiscus! Wahoo.

Abelmoschus esculentus. Malvaceae. I'm not TOTALLY senile yet! How fun! It brought back memories of eating mallows and concocting soups and "poisons" as a child with hollyhock flowers and seeds. Sorry the bugs have gotten at this blossom. I use no sprays.

Intermeshing

in late summer, autumn intermeshes with spring. (See previous post).

First Fringed Gentian of the season

The very first. In a bog at Indian Springs. The phenology sites are
documenting the fall migration and the fall leaves are coloring up,
but some plants are still in their "springtime."

Dead bees

We found a number of dead bees attached to these bee balms. These are
two different one, and there were were more. I don't know why they
were dead or what killed them. Other years, I've found dead
grasshoppers attched to plants.

Cicada

It crawled up out of the ground onto Keith's car tire and emerged,
blowing its wings up. I took it off the tire and put it on the oak
tree.

Ripening Sunflower Seeds

The birds are picking them out, one by one.

Wordless Wednesday ('Possum)

I posted this to No Polar, but it occurred to me I should post it here.  This 'possum, in a tree, is trying to make itself invisible, but I see it anyway.  They really do a good job playing dead--you can poke them and poke them.  One time I poked on one too many times and it got up in disgust and walked off, but mostly they don't, and they sort of get bloated.  They get hit in the road a lot though--and if you look in their pouches, you may find babies--I've raised a number that way.  (I used to try not to post the same thing to more than one blog, but I have different readers on different blogs.  I have company coming and have to run off.

elms

When I was leaving to walk to Rolandale, there was a young man
digging up the soil around the base of the elm in front of the house.
I asked him what he was doing--he had machines, tanks, tubing, a
drill, and he said he was treating our American Elm against Dutch elm
disease. He said the city has hired him to do it every three years.
The also treat the ashes every year. I know this because I asked. I
was concerned about the ash on Rolandale. That's Detroit, though, not
GPF.

He's giving "our" elm 40 GALLONS of treatment.
I asked whether or not a treatment was likely to save our ash, and he
said it depended on how much had already died. If a lot of the top
has died, it is likely to be too far along to save. I'm going to study
it when I get there. I'd like it to live. However, it seems unlikely
that the city will pay for it, and if it's every year that it needs
treatment, if it's expensive and unlikely to help, we may have to cut
our losses and let it go.

I told that guy I went to Forestry school and I'm sure he looked at me askance.

The elms in this picture are growing at the Edsel and Eleanor
Ford House. Ours is probably as big or bigger.

Through the Trellis (ox-eye daisy)

Through the Trellis (ox-eye daisy), by Mary Stebbins Taitt. This did
not scan well, so I was attempting to fix it in photoshop and art
rage, but I've decided it probably isn't a good candidate for that. I
like it on paper (A4 size [8.5 x 11]), but no matter how I try to fix
it on-line, it doesn't look the same as it does on paper. It's a
water color background with an oil flower, which gives it texture and
depth, but that doesn't translate well to digital imaging.