"Killdeer" piercing air
"Follow me" and "Stay away"
diligent parent

food web made more artful
glistening decorations
Argiope spider

As March Fades

As March fades, the promise of spring is heavy in the air. Hal Borland writes for us today about the comparative lack of insects yet. Blossoms such as those of the red maple are wind pollinated, giving them a headstart. But some sources note that the trout lily (the white is now in bloom in my area) is pollinated by bees, and even butterflies and skippers. Isn't it amazing that the pollination vectors of most plants aren't even known? What a great area for a naturalist to study!

Though I didn't see any insects pollinating the trout lilies when I saw them on Saturday, we did see a wood roach at Saturday's nature craft training. Unlike the house roach, the wood roach is attracted to light, so he is in no hurry to scurry out of our view.

To get started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_rubrum
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ACRU

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/wh_troutlily.htm
http://www.knps.org/wildflowers/trout.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_wood_cockroach
http://nature.sbc.edu/animals/woodroach.html

Ferns and Red Maples

When I visited Salato Wildlife Education Center in Frankfort, Kentucky the other day for our CIG networking gathering, I chafed for a chance to get outside. And when given the go-ahead my eyes started searching for green. Still a good bet for a few more days yet are evergreen plants. And the one that caught my eye first could almost be walked right over as it clung near to the earth; a Christmas fern laid low as commonly happens after the winter snowfalls. Even when the fiddleheads are still just a dream, the Christmas fern can be found. It's called out by the shape of its pinnae. I learned to call the shape 'like a sled', though most others would turn it the other way and imagine a stocking. Perhaps not surprisingly, it's a member of the Holly fern family.

For more info start here:

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=A710
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=POAC4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_fern

The Payne Hollow Journal has an entry for March 28, 1953 that mentions the prolific blooms of the red maples, but comments that the redbuds are yet to shine. I've observed the same this year. Though not native, I also noticed that the forsythia blossoms were beginning to open at the spring equinox.

Learn more about the trees here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_maple
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Redbud

motionless rabbit
staring aside with one eye
waiting on dinner

Bloodroot

In reading the Payne Hollow Journal by Harlan Hubbard, his entry for Mar. 27, 1957 mentions the 'piping of the titmouse' and bloodroot on the hillsides. Has anyone seen bloodroot yet? This is a flower whose latin name does seem to make some sense .... Sanguinaria canadensis. I'm reminded that corpses on CSI often have expired from exsanguination: bleeding out. Sanguine means blood-red. The color is in the sap of the plant (most commonly from the roots), not the flower. This is one of my favorites.

To learn more, start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodroot
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=M290
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SACA13

hickory leaves fall
yellow all consumed by brown
eating a Bosc pear

Looking for Inspiration

As many of you know, I look for inspiration for writing in my journal. One source I've found is the book "Hal Borland's Book of Days". It has a short essay for every day of the year. Today's essay is about spiders, and he particularly mentions orb-weaver spiders and his observation that their webs, though undoubtably beautiful, are not as geometrically perfect as some opine.

Here's a great link for learning about the orb-weaver spiders that can be found in Kentucky:
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/spiders/orbweavers/orb.htm

It has some great info there, such as: Did you know that an orb-weaver spider called the Arrowhead Spider (Verrucosa arenata) is common in Kentucky and is named for a white or yellow pattern on its abdomen? Also noted is that they "are notorious for building webs across forest trails at face-level."

I imagine that dream catchers are also inspired by the webs of orb-weaver spiders.

http://www.dream-catchers.org/

glimpse of setting moon
peeking out between the clouds
twilight of the dawn

frost tingles my toes
the clouds hang like icy smoke
from smoldering moon

scattered clouds are white
with the light of a full sun
bouncing off the moon

green and yellow swirl,
wind blows sunlight in my eyes
-- typical spring storm

marking day and night
the sun dances on a lake
full of pastel clouds

greening grass shivers
frost sparkles in the moonlight
the season struggles

whispering, yelling;
the rain against my window,
foretold by the wind.

well-groomed ant eater,
dressed for dinner, moustache combed;
flicker of yellow.

the moon shines through haze
the stars cannot penetrate
the eerie silence

perched on the bird bath,
song sparrow, why don't you sing?
-- love awaits the bold!

alone at twilight;
spring peepers looking at me
-- nosy neighborhood.

even juncos perch
to find breakfast this morning
in the fresh snowfall

bird feeders dangle
over freshly fallen snow;
breakfast is ready!

snow falls so slowly
taking so long to get here;
it may not stay long.

my paper is blank;
what a beautiful portrait
of snow I have made.

water without noise;
like a still pond, but flowing
-- snow is so quiet

snowflakes keeping time,
a symphony of nature;
I record the notes.

a turkey vulture
is motionless in the wind
-- a perfect balance

patches of green grass
announcing spring in the yard
look gray in the wind

longing for a view,
dreaming of sky above trees
-- a forest of moss

I hear the night come --
painted sky replaces sun;
neighborhood dogs bark

Watercolor Sky

What is a sunset but just a watercolor sky?
Not pencil-sketched shapes of clouds against the noonday blue;
Not cutout reflections pasted on a pond with glue;
Not an earthly mural painted with an oily hue,
But pigments thinned with sunshine, moistened with clouds so high,
Washes which upwards towards transparency accrue,
Tints changing on a whim with each moments new view,
Until too few rays are left for colors to imbue;
And the artist folds his palette and moves on; but why?

twinkling stars are deaf
to a rumbling passing train
-- again, night quiets