palmtreepathos Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 a few links found while looking up recipes for "French-fried stinkhorn eggs"... :) Shows both emerging eggs and mature fungi...StinkhornsThe Amazing Fungi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 I must make a correction. The aster family (Asteraceae) is alive and well. What happened is the Aster genus was broken into other genuses, except for Old World species. More here... I said I would find the butterfly dependent groupings and I finally did. Primarily, its the Crescents and smaller Checkerspots who's caterpillers feed on various asters. crescent - BugGuide.Net checkerspot - BugGuide.Net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palmtreepathos Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 Three times this month I have seen sandhill cranes flying south here in cherokee county ga... I caught a pitifully small clip of them, This is where a killer videocam would be nice to zoom in on something... the trilling sound of the cranes even at this distance is so cool to hear but was drowned out by the road noise, I include a clip of their sounds, imagine a bunch of them doing it at one time...Maybe someone with better vision than myself could count them? :( There were 3 groups of a similar size over a few minutes time... UnCut Video - Now Playing "sandhill cranes-" Listen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted December 12, 2007 Report Share Posted December 12, 2007 Three times this month I have seen sandhill cranes flying south here in cherokee county ga... I caught a pitifully small clip of them, This is where a killer videocam would be nice to zoom in on something... the trilling sound of the cranes even at this distance is so cool to hear but was drowned out by the road noise, I include a clip of their sounds, imagine a bunch of them doing it at one time...Maybe someone with better vision than myself could count them? :( There were 3 groups of a similar size over a few minutes time... UnCut Video - Now Playing "sandhill cranes-" Listen The numbers I counted were 82, 81, 81, 80, 83 over several attempts. It seems you could say 80 birds without exaggeration for the film clip. I dont know their habits in that area but around here they start to "stage" in late september. They hang in a staging area until it gets very cold and begin to move south between begining of Nov and end of nov (weather dependent). Usually the exodus takes a couple weeks once they start moving out. If a snowstorm hits, they can (and have) all left within a few days. Their habits here during staging are to move out of their staging area between dawn and around 10am. Then they come back to their area from around 2-3 hours before dark for the night. You might want to spend some time in the area your seeing these guys before dark to see if they are coming back for a night stop, or if they are moving through. As you know you can hear these guys for a long time so even if you cant see them, you might get an idea of what they are up to and better position yourself during free time to get some closer pics. You also might want to search for a rare bird alert posting. Lots of times they will (at least around here) give information on viewing large numbers of birds moving through an area. Heres the georgia line: GOS Rare Bird Alerts BTW, there is a birding thread also that you might want to post your sightings in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palmtreepathos Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 Thx Cedars for the link and your thorough and thoughtful research that filled in the blanks on the crane watch.... I am amazed that I had never "noticed" these huge flocks before this year. Of course knowing what they are makes it an event, each time, worth seeing and sharing. The surveyors at the street were thinking I was nuts as I flew out of the woods toward the clearing where I might see and capture the video clip. They heard them but didn't have a clue what they were, so we chatted a while and they shared with me about seeing the blue herons down the road in the wetlands. They were out recording watershed changes on the "industrial corridor" map. Who's to say how it will impact us, but for now it seems someone is on guard! Hopefully the wetlands will keep the distance between industry and us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeztar Posted December 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 The surveyors at the street were thinking I was nuts as I flew out of the woods toward the clearing where I might see and capture the video clip. They heard them but didn't have a clue what they were, so we chatted a while and they shared with me about seeing the blue herons down the road in the wetlands. :thumbs_upIn my experience, surveyors are great people to talk to. You can most often glean some useful info from them and they, having encountered nearly everything, are almost always enthusiastic to learn about the things of Nature they are so fortunate to commonly see (as work that is). They were out recording watershed changes on the "industrial corridor" map. Well, maybe you mean surveyor in a different meaning now that I think about it. The traditional surveyor carries rods and tripods and records topographic data. But perhaps that is what they were shooting in the points for and they just explained the why, or they were delineating wetlands and might have been mistakenly called surveyors as described afore? Who's to say how it will impact us, but for now it seems someone is on guard! Hopefully the wetlands will keep the distance between industry and us! Amen!Fortunately (at least in my experience) the Savannah ACoE does a pretty good job of enforcing impact reduction of wetlands and streams for private companies (industry). Cherokee County is regulated by Justin Hammonds I believe. He seems like a reasonable person and we've had good experiences working with him. Watersheds are regulated by several agencies including EPA, GA DNR, and GA EPD. I'm not very familiar with watershed management in GA as I don't work with those agencies and watershed management is not a priority in GA like it is in other, more progressive states such as WA, CA, VT, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palmtreepathos Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 The traditional surveyor carries rods and tripods and records topographic data. But perhaps that is what they were shooting in the points for and they just explained the why... Yep that is how they appeared... and "walkies talkies" ...I think (that could spell trouble by itself :thumbs_up ) they are capturing the topographical picture of "today" 900 ft either side of 575, all the watershed information, etc. They were not just working on our wetlands, the industial corridor is quite large. He might have meant the "watershed" info as a "for instance", huh? Maybe part of what they were "shooting in the points for"? He may have been talking down to me, poor daft woman, seems to be the norm in this world, but he was your age and nice so no worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 I am amazed that I had never "noticed" these huge flocks before this year. Of course knowing what they are makes it an event, each time, worth seeing and sharing. Hopefully the wetlands will keep the distance between industry and us! The numbers of Sandhills in Minnesota and Wisconsin have increased alot in the last 20 years. Earlier this spring I was reading in a newsgroup about someone sighting one near albany New York and they were an experienced birder who had never seen one before. You are probably seeing something returning to an area that once was a flock of a few birds. So anyways its very possible the action is increasing in your area from the successes going on around the northern tier and canada for these birds, and its not so much that you have missed this going on, rather you were deprived of it because of the losses these birds went through long before you were born. I found out about the losses my own area endured back in the early 70s from an old farmer who told me stories of how the skies were darkened by the numbers of birds moving through and he told me of where the cranes staged back then. You are seeing the effects of the conservation efforts began with the clean water/clean air/endangered specie acts. Its not just the eagles who have benefited from these protections. Enjoy these guys, they are an impressive bird for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 Need some help ID'ing this wildflower. Wildflower group is gone kinda dead so forgive the double posting. This is a singular plant ~ 4 feet tall with multiple blooms each on its own stalk and very thin strap-like leaves, and growing in an unattended patch beneath some fruit trees in greater metropolitan Vancouver Washington in the good ol' US of A. The bloom looks similar to Bachelor's Button, but my plant in overall height seems too tall, pistils/stamens don't look similar, and the leaves too straplike for Bachelor's Button. :naughty: Only other thing I found similar in my books was Spotted Knapweed, but again the pistils/stamens don't match nor the leaves. The plant is over in an acquaintance's backyard and if it survives I will check again for more details and hopefully even collect seeds. This concludes another random act of flowerage. :smart: The smoking light is now on. :steering: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Need some help ID'ing this wildflower. Wildflower group is gone kinda dead so forgive the double posting. This is a singular plant ~ 4 feet tall with multiple blooms each on its own stalk and very thin strap-like leaves, and growing in an unattended patch beneath some fruit trees in greater metropolitan Vancouver Washington in the good ol' US of A. The bloom looks similar to Bachelor's Button, but my plant in overall height seems too tall, pistils/stamens don't look similar, and the leaves too straplike for Bachelor's Button. Only other thing I found similar in my books was Spotted Knapweed, but again the pistils/stamens don't match nor the leaves. The plant is over in an acquaintance's backyard and if it survives I will check again for more details and hopefully even collect seeds. This concludes another random act of flowerage. :shrug: The smoking light is now on. You mentioned spotted knapweed, which this is not. However, attending a bug festival in the beginning of June, one of the programs was about using various bugs to get rid of exotic/invasive plants and the knapweeds were mentioned. Also mentioned was a recent introduction of a particularly bad knapweed in the oregon/washington states areas. You might try to research asian and russian knapweeds to figure out if this is one of these bad boys. I just cannot remember they name they tossed out for the new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 You mentioned spotted knapweed [Turtle], which this is not. However, attending a bug festival in the beginning of June, one of the programs was about using various bugs to get rid of exotic/invasive plants and the knapweeds were mentioned. Also mentioned was a recent introduction of a particularly bad knapweed in the oregon/washington states areas. You might try to research asian and russian knapweeds to figure out if this is one of these bad boys. I just cannot remember they name they tossed out for the new one. roger. looking at other pictures of Love-in-a-mist i am satisfied that is what i photographed. i will look into the knapweeds for sure; danke schon. so many plants, so little time. :ip: :ip: ;) :eek: :hyper: i'm finding out pinning down the lupines is a toughy, with some 2 dozen species around they say. saw a piece on TV last week about the serendipitous find of an extremely rare lupine, Kincaid i believe, on a ranch down in Oregon. that's all i got. :shrug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 roger. looking at other pictures of Love-in-a-mist i am satisfied that is what i photographed. i will look into the knapweeds for sure; danke schon. so many plants, so little time. :ip: :ip: ;) :eek: :hyper: i'm finding out pinning down the lupines is a toughy, with some 2 dozen species around they say. saw a piece on TV last week about the serendipitous find of an extremely rare lupine, Kincaid i believe, on a ranch down in Oregon. that's all i got. :shrug: Ok. I googled it to find out more. Nigella damascena - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Looks good to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 lol i was off googling Kincaid's lupine. :shrug: looks like it may bee here (:hyper:) within my immediate area, or should be, as i'm at about the Northern limit. had to post on it though for you Cedars, as it is host to a rare butterfly. ;) Species Fact SheetKincaid's lupine Lupinus sulphureus ssp. kincaidii Conservation Measures Natural processes which functioned to maintain open grasslands have been altered to the point that intervention is needed to prevent further loss. Historically, large-scale fire played a role in maintaining grasslands in an open state. Today, grassland remnants are no longer maintained by fire due to suppression efforts. Where possible, controlled burning or careful mowing and hand clearing are used to manage grassland ecosystems. However, Kincaid's lupine is host to the endangered Fender's blue butterfly; thus, management actions have to be carefully planned in order to avoid harming the butterfly. Kincaid's lupine occupies sites throughout the Willamette Valley, a few sites in the Umpqua River Basin, and one site in southern Washington. ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 lol i was off googling Kincaid's lupine. :shrug: looks like it may bee here (:hyper:) within my immediate area, or should be, as i'm at about the Northern limit. had to post on it though for you Cedars, as it is host to a rare butterfly. ;) Species Fact SheetKincaid's lupine Lupinus sulphureus ssp. kincaidii Just a week or two ago, as I roamed the meadows with my Crex companion, we were discussing the lupine and its dominance along the roadways and resurgence in a clear cut area (cut was winter 07-08). My friend lives near the meadows and wanted to get a few seeds to put on her property. She spent some time researching how to get these guys to grow from seed. Holy cow what a complex project. Best practice: Buy some started plants. otherwise place a closed screened object over the seed pods and wait for them to open (explode). Catch the seeds in your screened object (exploding pods disperse seeds). Keep seeds in dry spot for a couple of months. Store seeds in fridge for a couple of months. Remove seeds and carefully nic/rough up each seed or it wont sprout. Plant seeds. You can soak the seeds for a day or place them in wet paper towel until they swell, then plant. Above advice comes with no warrantee. egads. This kinda explains why we find the majority of lupine in the meadows along the roads or in recent cut areas. The seeds have been plowed, road rashed and generally abused. You've been warned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeztar Posted July 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Good show. I'm completely unfamiliar with Nigella sp.. The photos seem to match fair enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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