Show Me Joe's Blog

May 13 -- another academic year ends

Joe Coelho — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:39:11 GMT

It's a bit sad that my Plant Field Biology class is over with. We did end on a high point, however. My new friend, Jan Kitzing, guided us at Deer Ridge Conservation Area. I've been there many times (used to hunt ducks there). But Jan and her husband Mark have been going there for years. Plus, she's a complete wildflower freak. She led us to some rather precious species, such as Green Dragon, Southern Blue Flag and Yellow Lady-slipper Orchid. I had never seen the orchid before. The students added quite a few species to their virtual plant collections. At the same time, the place was absolutely swarming with butterflies. There has been a huge influx of Red Admirals in this area, but we also saw lots of swallowtails, various nymphalids, and more Mourning Cloaks than I had cumulatively seen in my entire life. We were walking down the trail and Jan literally stepped on the tail of a quite large black rat snake, as one of my students tried to catch her. The trails were very muddy, though it didn't rain on us. I fell on my butt at one of the steep spots. At the location of the orchids, the pollen was so thick that I had a minor coughing fit. Still, it was one of the best field trips of the entire semester.

Yellow Lady-slipper From May 2012

Giant Swallowtail From May 2012

The next day I went to Kids Conservation Day to present my usual insect station, this time under the pole barns at the Extension Office to stay out of the rain. Fortunately, I had a bio-ed student to assist me. Thus, I did not have to give the same presentation eight times in a row. Afterward, I went to Kibbe Field Station. I hiked the same trail I always do, through the prairie, but it looks different every time. The trails had a couple of inches of water on them. Good thing I was wearing Bogs. I had the place to myself. The wind was calm and the place was so quiet, all I could hear was the buzzing of bees. The multiflora rose was in bloom, and even with my poor sense of smell there was a perfume in the air. It was magical. It was the first time I've had a cooperative Eastern Towhee. This bird normally hides in dense brush, but this one let me get within ten feet. This species, among others, was split from the Rufous-sided Towhee some years ago, making my old field guide antiquated. On the other hand, it instantly increased my life list!

Eastern Towhee From May 2012

This hike was the first time I carried two camera bodies around my neck: one with the long lens for birds, the other with a short lens for wildflowers and insects. I think the best shot was a Spiderwort with a fly on one of the petals. It turned out very sharp.

Spiderwort with bonus fly, From May 2012

The next day was the spring bird count, which I now do with LuBeth Young, a fellow faculty from the School of Education. We got about the same area as last year. It's really too big, but we drove most of it. I think we saw more indigo buntings than ever before, but the bonus bird was a Eurasian Tree Sparrow. I got a decent shot of a Gray Catbird from the car. They also like to hide a lot, normally.

Gray Catbird, From May 2012

The next night was the Super Moon, the full moon when it's closest to the earth. I figured the best place to shoot it would be at the riverfront. We took the dogs down there and set up chairs and a tripod. Our friends the Gonnerman's showed up to do the same--what a pleasant surprise. The moon came up not over the horizon but over some clouds. That was a bit disappointing at first, but we were able to use the clouds for some interesting effects.

Supermoon, From May 2012

One day a stray cat was in the back yard. They come around to eat Mr. Boots's food, as he's too old and emaciated to defend his territory at this point. I thought I'd give the stray a scare. I hooked up the leads on the dogs and slowly opened the back door. Then we busted out, the cat ran down the back yard, with the dogs and me in pursuit. I was at the end of a stride and already off balance when Big Guy hit the end of his extendable lead. I was going down. Rather than faceplant, I did a diving front roll and came back up on my feet. Now, there's the most athletic thing I've done in about 10 years, and no one saw it. Not even the dogs. Epilogue: The cat escaped into the woods. The dogs never got near it, even though I let go of their leads when I rolled.

Since I ~~ripped off~~ read this guy's blog, I've been wanting to try full flash macrophotography. I finally got the flash cable I needed, after ordering it with a bunch of other stuff, not getting it, filing a complaint and getting my money back. You just can't trust generic Chinese suppliers of knock-off photography accessories anymore. Or maybe you can, seeing that I appear to have gotten it without actually paying. Anyway, this technique works by strapping the flash parallel to the lens and angling it down toward the buggy subject. I had to tweak the settings a bit, but in short order I was getting pretty spectacular results. My first subject was a neat-looking (never to be identified) wasp in my prairie. The rest were mostly various interesting flies.

Click on the album link to see the rest. All the images are right out of the camera, not even cropped, though they were compressed in the upload to Picasa. Oh, and all were hand-held--no tripod.

From 2012_05_12 Full flash macro

I just finished about the worst final exams week that I can remember. I had no exams the first day, then was just swamped. All of my classes were bigger than ever, and there was much grading to do. I'd better stop the whining right there. On the last day, when I was done, I drove home listening to the Duke album by Genesis. The last two songs, "Duke's travels" and "Duke's end" are instrumentals that I particularly enjoy. As I was rocking out, I got a feeling that I hadn't had in years. Remember when you were little, and the last day of school was over and you went home? You had that awesome feeling of the entire summer vacation stretching out before you? I had that for a little while. I think it lasted until I figured out all the things I wanted to get done before I left on Monday. As I write this, most are done. Two trees felled, logged out, and brush hauled. Dead bushes at the rental house are pulled out and hauled away. Oh, almost forgot the moving of Savannah back home. A couple of fire department obligations also ate into the weekend.

Graduation is done. Many people told me that the commencement speech was the worst ever. I won't go into details. Tomorrow we leave for Ecuador. Savannah is going this time, which should be fun. When I return, I'll have a new Galapagos blog. Adios!

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

May 9, 2012 -- Crazy Spring

Joe Coelho — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:34:20 GMT

I got creative one weekend and took my macro lens into the back yard. I put extension tubes between it and the camera body, which provides a lot more magnification, but much less depth of field. I measured the width of the field of view at 1 centimeter. With a tripod, I got some interesting effects, but the wind was a pest. I intended to get just water droplets, but picked up a few flies as well. I find that flies have really interesting eyes, as well as bizarre body hairs.

From April 2012

This fly is maybe 2 mm long.

I took the extension tubes off and went out for another round. My elderberry bush was in full bloom, and I captured one of my best images in a long time, a honeybee hovering in front of the flowers of an elderberry bush.

From April 2012

Two weeks later, one of my students came into my office and told me I should enter an Earth Day Leatherman photo contest on Facebook, since there were only about 30 entries so far. I submitted the above honeybee photo, even though there was only about an hour left in the contest. I posted my entry on Facebook and asked my friends to vote for me. They must have done so, because two days later I was notified that I had won. I was pretty excited. I've won contests before, but this one was a real surprise, and paid with some nice goodies: a Leatherman tool, a head lamp, and a sweet pair of Hi-Tec boots. I was scheduled to do a POLIS talk that afternoon, but, battling a cold, I wasn't anticipating that it would be my best effort. Thanks to winning the contest, I went in high as a kite (natural high, that is), and nailed the talk.

I found a garter snake nearby with much of its tail missing. I call him Stumpy.

From April 2012

Maybe a lawnmower victim?

One day a student told me there were pelicans flocked up by the lock and dam in Quincy. I sneaked down there and, naturally, a barge was locking through. All the birds were on the other side of the river. By dumb luck, I ran into my former student who is now a park ranger for the Army Corps. He offered to take me over the dam to see the birds. Perfect! They weren't very spooked by us. I got American White Pelicans, along with Double-crested Cormorants and a Turkey Vulture in flight.

From April 2012

Swimming in formation, except for the one nonconformist.

One fine Wednesday I was expecting delivery of a new camera. I dashed home after wrapping things up at the office only to find a note from UPS. They had to have a signature. I called them and they said they would attempt delivery again that evening. I said I would be home, unless we had a fire. So, of course, we had a fire. Not the typical false alarm dry run that sends us home after 20 minutes, but a bona fide house afire, with flames coming out the sides as we pulled up. I took a hose line with my assistant chief. We went in and put out a lot of flames, but as we were backing out a part of the roof fell on our heads. It felt pretty warm, which I took to mean it was still on fire. I quickly got it off myself and was trying to get it off the hose while the asst. chief was trying to calm me down. We dowsed more fire before we got out for a break. My gear was all filthy with ashes and debris. We and others continued pouring water on smouldering portions for quite awhile. During the break I called UPS. They would hold the parcel at their distribution center, which was open until 7:30. Stacey and I got done cleaning up at the station just in time to race down to Palmyra and pick it up. Oh, and we almost ran out of gas in the process. I've never felt more like my life was a sitcom than on that night. They ran a close-up of my profile, including my sweet mustache, on the local news.

Fortunately, the next day I had my class out and was able to put to the test the new Canon EOS 7D. It's a more complicated camera than the 40D, and I certainly haven't mastered it yet. It does produce some nice images. Nearly everything below was taken with it.

From April 2012

Unusual white morph of the wild geranium

From April 2012

I've been seeing these caterpillars all over. I took one from the willow in the back yard and reared it. It has pupated, and I'll soon know what species it is.

From April 2012

Most of my class hikes are filled with wildflowers, but a student noticed this gray tree frog beside the trail. I don't want to overload this blog with wildflower pics, but if you click through to the online album, you'll see plenty.

The camera club attended the awards ceremony for the John Wood Community College Photo contest. We had quite a few entries, and scored 7 awards. I was glad my friend Dan had finally won a prize. He's one of the best (if not THE best) photographers in our group. The only problem is that we won't be able to tease him about it anymore. We got 7 awards overall. I won 2nd place in the animal category and Best Color Photo overall with an image of a butterfly I took last summer.

From Greatest Hits

After the meeting we had a festive dinner at a Mexican restaurant, then all ran home to get out of the weather. There was a spectacular lightning show on the way home. Naturally, I went out to photograph it. It's rare that we get lightning without rain or even wind. I set up in several different spots. This is the best one I captured.

From April 2012

I was parked on the side of a hill, looking out over Canton, which you can see in the foreground.

From April 2012

This was an old barn on the site of the Steyermark Forest Conservation Area in Hannibal. It was the first time I had been to this place. It was a nice woods, with lots of wildflowers.

One morning I went down to the river and there were some birds flying about. I set the camera on my usual Bird In Flight settings, parked at the waterside, and fired away.

From April 2012

This was the only shot with a catchlight in the eye, as it was cloudy most of the time and that black cap makes it hard to distinguish the eye at all. This occasion was the first time I'd been able to take advantage of the Canon 7D's superior focusing ability. It's perfect for this kind of work. Later I looked through the bird book to confirm that this was, in fact, a life bird for me, the Common Tern.

A pair of house finches had built a nest on our front porch light. It's been 4 years since the last pair of birds, also house finches, had set up there. I watched their progress and reported it to Nestwatch.org. On the second to last day before they fledged, I set up my turkey blind in the front yard and caught the female feeding the young. It's not the best shot, but it's a start. Next time I'll use flash.

From April 2012

Feed me! No, me! No, ME!

We went up to Keokuk for a camera club gathering at Jamie's family farm. They set up some props in a field for a photo shoot.

From Camera Club on the farm

Jamie blows bubbles in the bathtub.

I also took advantage of a nearby bluebird.

From April 2012

Eastern Bluebird

Flocks of Red Admiral butterflies have invaded our area as they migrate through. The have been too skittish to get near until recently. Our ninebark bushes were swarming with them, as they were one of few plants in bloom.

From April 2012

Red Admiral

As usual, click on the link below any of the images to visit the photo album of origin, where there will be many others to enjoy.

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

April 2012 - Wildflower madness

Joe Coelho — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 02:21:42 GMT

I've been out repeatedly with the Plant Field Biology class. We're all photographing wildflowers as much as we can. They are required to complete a "virtual collection," while I'm doing it just for fun and to work on my technique. Fortunately, I have a new lens that's perfect for this type of photography, a 24-105 mm Canon. It's the first "L" lens I've bought, and the highest rated one in my kit. I tested it out on some of our daffodils first, and also practiced some dog photography. I've gotten more action shots of our puppies. It's pretty good for the invertebrates and insects I've run across as well. I've identified a few new (to me) fungi on our hikes.

From March 2012

I have more interest in landscapes these days, apparently. I've captured a few sunrises and sunsets. For a long time I've wanted to get a good shot of a field covered in Henbit. This little weed springs up suddenly and can cover a large area in purple. I finally found a field with a background interesting enough to shoot--a group of farm buildings, silos, and even a windmill.

From March 2012

On one short jaunt to the creek next to my campus, we were surprised by a small orange animal that flew out of the leaf litter and landed it a shrub. It didn't look like any bird I knew, and closer inspection showed that it was an Eastern Red Bat, and likely a female. Everyone took photos, and the darling mammal just hung there on the bush the entire time.

From March 2012

To my delight, the small trees and shrubs I planted in the back yard years ago are beginning to mature. I just found that our Paw Paw tree is in bloom. Downward-hanging brown flowers arise along the branches, even before the leaves are out.

From March 2012

I've been out fishing to Lowell's a couple of times. The bass have been biting, and Lowell picked up a few crappie as well. Stacey and I went kayaking at Wakonda State Park one fine Sunday. I fished, but got no bites. We finished that off with a barbecue lunch with the LaCounts, who happened to be camping nearby. Yum!

From March 2012

I recently joined Twitter, and have been tweeting almost daily the new species (usually with photos) I've been seeing with the advancing season. Right now I only have about 5 followers, so if you are on Twitter please follow me @showmejoe1. I was also recently forced to join Google+. I don't have big plans for it, but feel free to friend me there.

One day while driving to work I spotted two turkey vultures fighting by the side of the road. It took awhile to figure out that they were not mating or fighting over food.

From March 2012

The left hand bird is holding the head of the other in its foot and biting its neck.

From April 2012

Dog-tooth violet. I love this one.

One day Lowell and I were out looking for a place to eat lunch when we spotted a fox in a field. Two quick U-turns and I got a distant shot of the thing. Seeing foxes is rare, photographing them even more so.

From April 2012

Red fox.

From April 2012

I love predation, even at the small scale of things. Jumping spider eats Eastern Tent Caterpillar.

From April 2012

Dutchman's Breeches.

From April 2012

Nice skink out at Lowell's.

Stacey, Savannah and I spent a lovely Easter break out in Indiana visiting the Nicholas side of the family. We stayed with Jarrod and Becky, who graciously allowed us to bring our dogs. They really enjoyed running in the fenced back yard. They had a mockingbird that would sing early in the morning and periodically visit their suet feeder.

From April 2012

Mocker

My class had a great day out at Siloam Springs State Park, where they picked up many new species of wildflowers. They were in a spot very close to the parking lot, but I had never been to that area. In fact, I had had terrible luck in the past, and often skipped the Park entirely. One of the students actually led us to this site.

From April 2012

Columbine

As usual, click on the link under each image to go to the web album, where many more fascinating images lie.

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

March 15, 2012 - Signs of Spring

Joe Coelho — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:17:31 GMT

The turning of the seasons is evidenced with new developments almost daily. I've already seen the first red-winged blackbird, common grackle, and butterfly (either a question mark or comma). The long-term forecast looks sufficiently warm that I have shut down the wood furnace. I'm going to miss pulling carts of wood with Big Guy, but I suppose we can do it in the opposite direction now. I've already cut one load of firewood.

From February 2012

Eagles are probably gone for the year, except for the residents. I had the good fortune to find a tolerant Cooper's Hawk on the way to work one day. That's a rare one that will certainly go into the next version of my hawk calendar. My camera club took a field trip to Runge Nature Center in Jefferson City. On the way, we saw a barred owl in the predawn twilight. The best image I got from the trip was probably an Eastern Bluebird. I haven't gotten tired of photographing the dogs at play. I tried to get something with Gretchen jumping for the ball. She was cooperative, but it was difficult to throw the ball and get the shot by myself.

From March 2012

Sunday morning I was walking the dogs in the back yard and I noticed little frozen spheres of water on the tips of the grass blades. On further inspection, I found that overnight guttation (drops of water produced by root pressure) had frozen as the temperature dropped. Some additional frost formed on some of the droplets. I took the macro lens to them for my growing series on strange meteorological phenomena. By mid-morning, they had all melted.

From March 2012

For awhile I've been trying to capture some Bird In Flight (BIF) shots in the back yard. I set up the camera so it's aimed at a spot that I expect the birds to fly through. I finally got the settings right and some luck, ending up with a chickadee that I'm very happy with. A couple of others are close, but not quite so spectacular.

From March 2012

I had a couple of opportunities to visit Lock and Dam 20 here in Canton, thanks to a camera club friend who works there, John Savoia. He took us onto the dam one day and showed us some of the interesting parts. Since I had just sold my wide-angle lens, I was limited in what I could shoot, such as close-ups of a stonefly. The next day he called me because a barge carrying big wind turbine components was locking through. I ran down there and saw the locking process. Then we got a rare treat: we climbed aboard and got a tour of the tug boat (actually, a push boat). It's an impressive machine, with enormous 16-cylinder engines. I went on top of the flying bridge to shoot the length of the barges. I used the old Panasonic to get wide angle shots. Otherwise, I just shot interesting things around the boat, like ropes and cables.

From 2012_03_11 Push boat

I don't often go out of my way to shoot landscapes, but I take them when the opportunity arises. I went to South Park in Quincy to see if the bloodroot was up yet. It wasn't, but the rising sun was shining through the fog onto the pond, and I couldn't pass that up. In one view, the old stairs to the upper portion of the park are visible. I call it "Stairway to Heaven." Yes, original, I know. On an early commute, and in part because of the time change, I saw an interesting sun coming up over Quincy. I couldn't get pulled over and ready in time to get it halfway up, but it still made for an effective shot through a telephoto lens. The sun was actually bright orange, but the camera can't capture that.

From March 2012

We are past midterm, and both my Galapagos class and Plant Field Biology class have started. I'm really excited about the plant class this year. I'm incorporating the entrepreneurial component. They all have their cameras and are learning to operate them. They will make a virtual plant collection of digital images, rather than the traditional one of dead, pressed plants. Flowers are just starting to pop out now, mostly ornamentals and alien weeds, but the first wildflower, the spring beauty, has just begun to show up. We walked out in the woods today, mostly learning leafless trees. One student found an antler, and another spotted some mushrooms. We were getting ready to cross the creek when big John found a crayfish in the creek. It turned out to be a large colorful one, so I was all over it. I shot some with the macro lens and polarizer, but the shots with the 50mm prime turned out best. Our project is shoot enough good wildflowers to make a calendar. I hope to improve my flower photography technique this year. Expect a lot of wildflower pics over the next few months.

From March 2012

Click on any photo caption to go to the Picasa album, full-sized images, and more fun stuff.

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

February 16, 2012

Joe Coelho — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:36:54 GMT

It's been almost a month since I've produced a blog. I've been busy! I haven't gotten much photography done either. The eagles are around, at least. On cold, sunny mornings they've been down at the river in good numbers. One day my friend John let me onto the lock for a better vantage point. It turned out to be a good spot for sea gulls, as they were picking fish out of the water right in front of me.

What else is new? Snow geese are moving around, and seldom a day goes by when I don't see a big flock, usually on my drive to work. I've also learned that if I drive to Quincy early in the morning, like at dawn, I have a better chance to see an owl. Of course, there isn't enough light for decent photography at that hour. You can't win!

Big Guy is getting better at hauling firewood in the cart. It tends to loosen him up though. So on some days, he pulls a load, then drops a load!

Here are some shots taken over the past month.
Direct link:

February 2012

Slide show

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

January 20, 2012 -- Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Joe Coelho — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:53:52 GMT

Don't get me wrong--Canton is a great place to see eagles. Bald eagles. Close up. People do come from all around to see our eagles in winter time. But eagles are not our most unique bird. That title falls to a nondescript little foreigner: the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. This little dickie bird occurs all over Europe and Asia, hence, the name. But in the New World it is very narrowly distributed. From a dozen birds introduced 142 years ago, the Eurasian tree sparrow now ranges from St. Louis, MO, to Keokuk, Iowa, right along the Mississippi River. It is a highly desirable species for those working on a life list--that compendium of all the bird's you've seen in your life. However, it's neither abundant nor common here. I've only seen about 4 or 5 of them in 12 years. Fortunately, I saw one in my neighbor's back yard recently, and was able to snap a half-decent photo. They are not often observed in town, as they are apparently outcompeted by the closely related and much more abundant House Sparrow. They resemble the House Sparrow male closely, except that they have a distinct, black cheek patch and a chestnut cap instead of gray. There is no sexual dimorphism--males and females look alike.

From January 2012

I have seen this bird in my back yard, Fenway Landing, and Wakonda State Park. It should be possible to see it in any lightly wooded area near the river, but it may take some hunting to find it. It is an irregular visitor to feeders.

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

January 15, 2012 - Skijoring

Joe Coelho — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 02:07:25 GMT

After a long warm fall and early winter, true winter has finally hit us. We had a 40-degree drop in temperature, and a cold day of blowing snow. I went cross-country skiing first thing Sunday morning. The conditions weren't ideal because the wind had created drifts in some places and bald spots in another. Opportunities to ski are rare here, as snow seldom stays around long. Indeed, by the end of the day our yard was reduced to muddy patches. I took a fairly short route around the college; I wasn't even tired by the end. I really missed my goatee, which used to keep my chin warm in winter, but firefighters have to be clean shaven.

When I was done I took Big Guy out for an experiment. I had read about skijoring--having a dog pull you while you ski. It looked like fun. But with a dog completely untrained for it, and being an out-of-shape skiier of modest ability, I should have had no expectation but disaster. I put the harness on him and snapped a long lead to the rear ring of it. I ran the loop of the lead through the belt of the fanny pack that I use while skiing. The plastic snap buckle would give me a quick escape if needed. Big Guy has a natural ability to follow hand signals. This talent came in handy when I was directed him with a ski pole. We made it through the neighbor's yard into the open area behind the college houses. Mrs. McKenzie passed by on her morning run just in time to see me fall on my rear. I got back up and was going along straight when Big Guy spotted a squirrel. Actually, there ended up being three squirrels. This is when I got the ride of my life. He put on a burst of speed and power that propelled me forward at more than a brisk pace. I was laughing like crazy while steering with the skis to keep him from pulling me sideways. The ride only lasted 20 or 30 meters. He stopped at a tree and I fell on my butt again. Sadly, my 25-year-old ski boots chose this moment to give out. The sole separated from the upper on the right one. They served me well. But the experiment was over, and a success. I took the skis off and Big Guy back to the house.

My skis and boots are pretty old, and I was afraid I'd have to buy new equipment. There are many types of bindings, and mine are quite outdated. Fortunately, I found a used pair of boots on eBay. Hope they get here before the next snow. I posted a pic of my old boots in the gallery below.

The snow also gave me a chance to try out the adaptations of the sled I've made for hauling firewood. They are much like the system I have set up for the wagon, except there's a rope passing through the PVC pipes. Speaking of the wagon, I took some photos of the apparatus to show my brother Mike. I might as well share them here. Big Guy is progressing in his lessons. Considering how long it took him to learn to sit on command, I'm confident he'll become a serious puller in time. He has plenty of strength, and will do just about anything for treats.

Link

Dog Cart

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

December 28, 2011 -- Snowy Owl

Joe Coelho — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:26:13 GMT

Now that classes are out and I have some time to dink around, I've been cruising around looking for birds. I heard there were Trumpeter Swans out near Wakonda State Park, so I went out there to have a look. No swans, but I did have an American Tree Sparrow land very close. Gave me a great pic. I'm not sure many people appreciate the simple beauty of these little birds. I got a nice Song Sparrow in town, as well as some Eurasian Collared doves. I stopped at the Slough one day for a Belted Kingfisher that was perched on a wire. It was a bit far out, but I got a few decent shots.

On the colder mornings when we know the ball fields are frozen we take the dogs down to run. I've gotten more shots of their antics, but one day I noticed some little fingers of ice sticking out of the infield. After we took the dogs home, I went back with my macro lens and shot the most interesting ones. After a bit of research, I found that they were needle ice.

"Needle ice is a phenomenon that occurs when the temperature of the soil is above 0 °C (32 °F) and the surface temperature of the air is below 0 °C (32 °F). The subterranean liquid water is brought to the surface via capillary action, where it freezes and contributes to a growing needle-like ice column. The ice needles are typically a few centimetres long. While growing, they may lift or push away small soil particles." -- Wikipedia

I knew the local weather man loves interesting meteorological photos. I sent them in and they showed them all on the evening news. He explained the phenomenon. Of course, the conditions that day were ideal for the formation of needle ice.

I also sent in the picture of Big Guy as "Reindog". They ran that on 12/27 in the morning. They mangled Stacey's name, but kept the image on screen for a long time.

While looking for hawks in the area, I got yet another Red-tailed Hawk sitting in a tree. On a trip to Monticello on Christmas, Stacey drove and pulled over so i could get some distant images of a hunting Northern Harrier.

A while back I found out about a contest for photos taken in state parks. I didn't have much I was really happy with, so I went out to Wakonda State Park one morning before work, took a short hike, and took some spontaneous wildlife photos. This squirrel with a nut ran up to me and I shot it with the macro lens. It turned out pretty well, so I submitted that one, and a nice image of a grasshopper. Of course, the squirrel won (semifinalist, wildlife category). My friends know that I hate cutesy, furry mammal photos. They are so cliche. Apparently, they are also what people want!

From Greatest Hits

We wanted to take a small vacation during this break. I had been hearing about the great Snowy Owl irruption this year, and knew that there were three or more sighted regularly at Smithville Reservoir. That's in Missouri, but on the other side of the state, just north of Kansas City. These were the closest I could find, but at least they had been reliable. As an aside, this is an Arctic species that rarely makes it down to these latitudes. Apparently, it's a bad winter for lemmings, and the hungry birds have moved down to find food. We loaded the dogs in the Lil Egg and drove across Highway 36. After getting directions to the owls from the park office (it's a big lake), we were just minutes away from seeing our first Snowy Owls. That's when Gretchen barfed in Stacey's lap. She had been sick a few times before we left, but we thought it was out of her system. We made an emergency stop at a tiny grocery store in Paradise so that Stacey could change and I could effect clean-up. After order was restored we continued around the lake and across the dam, where ALL reports had said the owls were always present. We didn't see any. We parked at one end while I glassed the area with binoculars. We saw some vehicles stop on the dam, and a large white bird fly out and land about 50 yards from them. That was it! My 323rd North American species. Stacey then drove us up to the spot where the owl landed. I stuck the long lens out the window and shot about a hundred frames. We continued down the dam and saw another near the end. Stacey parked while I walked up and tried to get close. It flushed and went down toward the lake. Another photographer and I walked down to get more shots of it. What I didn't know was that Gretchen had barfed again, and Stacey was forced to clean it up. Stacey has a strong aversion to vomit and is a known sympathy puker. It took a lot for her to get this done. After one more attempt at the bird on the dam, we went to the motel in Kearney where we were staying. Though the Super 8 is "dog friendly," we suspected we could be evicted if our dogs were not well behaved. Unfortunately, Big Guy decided to bark at almost every little noise. He's big. His bark is deep and loud. He's normally not that vocal, but it was a noisy hotel, with other dogs in it. We got him under control, but he still woke us up a few times in the night with the occasional bark. And Gretchen threw up again.

In the morning I left at the crack of dawn to make another attempt on the owls. I saw two on the dam and another in a tree on a golf course. The latter was a juvenile, and I would have loved to have gotten some shots up close, but it would have required two wrong things: 1) trespassing on the golf course, and 2) almost certainly flushing the bird. So I confined myself to the dam birds and headed back to the motel. We packed up and headed for home. Gretchen had had some evil bowel movements, and rewarded us with the most horrid farts all the way home. We still don't know what she got into, but she seems to be over it now. We've never had so much difficulty traveling with the dogs, even on the much longer trip to Nebraska last year. We'll chalk it up to experience. Meanwhile, here are all the recent photos (direct link followed by slide show):

Misc. birds and needle ice:

December 2011

Snowy owls only:

2011_12_27 Snowy Owl

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

December 15, 2011 - End of semester

Joe Coelho — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:33:14 GMT

There's been a delay in this blog that reflects the lack of opportunity for photography of late. The insects are all gone, and the birds are just coming along. One morning I went into the back yard to photograph the last wildflower of the year (a common violet) when I noticed some interesting patterns in the frost and leaves. The dogs are always around, and I took the opportunity to get some images of them. I created a calendar of Big Guy images for the "Giant Schnauzer Calendar", and I've already sold two! I also got him in a silly Christmas reindeer hat.
I heard about some peregrine falcons hanging around the Bayview Bridge in Quincy. I stopped several times and finally spotted one sitting on a squirrel cage ladder on one of the bridge stanchions. It was a distant shot, and far from ideal but better than nothing. I was more excited to see this life bird finally. Later I saw a red fox on top of one of the stanchions. Freaky! After checking for this falcon one day I drove through Quinsippi Island, which gave me the chance to shoot a red-tailed hawk, a bald eagle, and a deer. Pretty good for one morning.
I had planned to take the family up to Wisconsin after Christmas to visit our friend Ron Cronacher. Sadly, he passed away before we could make the trip. He was a good fishing buddy and all-around friend. It would have been his birthday last Sunday. We'll miss him.
I've been wanting to contribute to conservation photography in any way I can. Awhile back I had one of my images picked up by ARKive, which catalogs endangered species. Recently, I uploaded some photos of a softshell turtle to iNaturalist.org. That record was just picked up by the Missouri Herpetological Atlas. So I posted a couple more of the small-mouthed salamander that I shot out at Lowell's a few years ago because it was rare in the area. That was picked up by the same atlas and the Global Amphibian Bioblitz. I've been uploading all my backlog of amphibian and reptile photos, as they seem to have the most impact. The insects and flowers would be overwhelming, and more difficult to identify. Fortunately, I seem to have a good memory for every place I've shot the herps, as all photos must be georeferenced.
We have been enjoying all the Xmas parties lately. Fire department was Monday. Again, I made the video. Our friend Delbert deservedly won Firefighter of the Year. QU had their faculty/staff party tonight, and camera club is Saturday. 'Tis the season!

Almost forgot! Here are the photos:

Direct link.
https://picasaweb.google.com/showmejoe/December2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Slide show.

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

November 13, 2011 - Fire season, deer season

Joe Coelho — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:56:23 GMT

Last Sunday night after I had about an hour of sleep the pager went off. The Canton Motel was on fire. Stacey and I spent much of the middle-of-the-night hours fighting that one. I got our large-diameter hose hooked up to the hydrant, then put on an air pack and put water on the red stuff. We got it out fairly quickly, but smoldering bits kept going for a long time. As there was no power to the building, it having been closed for several months, this suspicious fire is still under investigation. I tried to get some photos of the fire, but the crappy little camera I keep in my gear finally died. Fortunately, our friend Theresa Gunsauls shared some of her shots with us. I taught three classes Monday in something of a zombie state, and caught up on sleep that night.

Tuesday was the camera club meeting. I always look forward to it, but feared I would have little to show. Fortunately, a leopard frog that has been frequenting our little fish pond made an appearance one sunny day. he even stayed put in spite of the dogs' antics in the back yard. I got some good shots with the macro lens. So I had at least one good photo to show. Tracy showed me Arizona Highways magazine, which has a regular photo contest twice a year. Some of the winners weren't that good, and I thing the top prize winner of the last contest was a photoshopped fake. Anyway, their prizes are pretty good, so I went through all my Ruby photos from two years ago and submitted a bunch for the next contest. You can see them on ArizHwys.com.

Friday I had only one meeting in the afternoon. I took my time driving in to Quincy, stopping at various sites to try to get some interesting photos. I saw a nice buck at the state park, but by the time I got my camera up and ready he had high-tailed it. I did get a shot of the burned up combine next to the highway. It's been there for several weeks. Wish we had been there for that one. There were three combine fires in our county this fall, and we didn't get any of them. This is called fire envy.

Firearms deer season started on Saturday. I got out to Lowell's early. I didn't hunt the archery season this year, and was surprised at how much I missed being out in the woods. Some of the places look very different since the windstorm, and growth has changed some of the trails. I sat in a good stand and saw more squirrels than I thought the county could hold. No deer appeared, but I did see a pileated woodpecker. As the morning progressed I kept drinking coffee and adding layers, but eventually I got cold in spite of my efforts. I climbed down out of the stand and walked around the trails. That warmed me up some, so I got back up into a different stand, number 3A, one of my favorites. I saw no deer, but was amazed to see a butterfly flit past, perhaps a cloudless sulfur. I went in about 11:30 and we went to Durham for lunch. I hadn't seen John in a year, since he only comes up from St. Louis for deer season. It was fun to catch up. After lunch we worked on replacing Lowell's garage door opener. I have lots of fresh experience with that technology, having just replaced my own.

By the time we got done it was about 3 p.m. I was about ready to go home, but Lowell mentioned that we only had about two hours of light left. I figured I could stand that long sitting in a tree. I went back to 3A and didn't see anything for about an hour and a half. I tend to do theoretical forestry while sitting there, thinking about which trees I would cut down to improve the timber stand. Suddenly, a buck came over the ridge right in front of me. He was less than 20 yards away. I slowly moved my hands toward the gun. He walked along the trail to my left. I could see he was legal (>4 points on one side). I held up the gun where he would walk into view of the scope and pulled the trigger as his foreleg passed the cross-hairs. He ran about 20 yards like he hadn't been hit at all. Which is to say, he didn't drop dead right there as expected. As he paused on the ridge I thought i saw him coughing blood out of his nose. But it was kind of dark already. I could have shot again, but I didn't have a good angle. It would have just ruined a lot of meat. If he was well hit, he should go down soon. I watched him run east through the woods. If he got far enough, John would have a shot from his stand. I packed up and got down. At the site of the shot, there was no blood. When I got to the ridge where he had stopped, there was a 3-foot diameter circle of bright red blood. A steady trail of red led me through the woods. I kept thinking he couldn't go far like that because he was going to run out of blood soon. Shortly, I found him piled up in a draw. Woo hoo! The buck is a 10-pointer, but not symmetrical. One side has an extra brow tine, the other has an extra fork at the end of the main beam. I called Lowell and he came out with the tractor. I gutted it and loaded it into the bucket of the tractor. We hauled it back, hung it up, and hosed it out, using all of Lowell's handy set-up for doing so, including an electric winch.

It was a bit big for the trunk of the Lil Egg. We loaded it into Lowell's pick-up and they hauled it to my house. I hung it from the sweetgum tree in the back yard. The dogs were quite interested in the smell of blood on my hands. I spent most of Sunday (today) butchering it. My enthusiasm for that process has waned considerably. Perhaps next year I'll have it done by a meat locker, or give the carcass to a friend, if I am lucky enough to kill something.

Direct link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/showmejoe/2011_11_06LeopardFrog?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Slide show:

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

October 22, 2011 -- Night Life

Joe Coelho — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 01:13:29 GMT

One morning I was at home getting ready to go when I noticed a couple of birds wander out of my prairie. To my astonishment, they were Northern Bobwhites, or what most folks would call quail. Of course, I ran for the camera because I have no bobwhite photos that look better than a passing blur. It was a cloudy day, which required high ISO. Most of the pics were fairly grainy and vague, but I got a few viable ones, at least enough to notch another species for my bird photo gallery.

Stacey and I met some other members of the Canton Camera Club for dinner at a restaurant on the Mississippi River in Quincy one night. They are still a fun group. Afterward, we went around town doing night photography. We started at the river, shooting the bridges and other brightly lit things. That took a lot longer than we thought. We hit some other spots, like the neon Pepsi sign at the distributor's building, and a strange purple cone at the Kroc Center.

It has been quite cold most of the week, but today it warmed up toward mid-day and some butterflies were out. The usual nymphalids were present, along with the expected skippers, but a monarch on October 22 is a surprise. It's running very late, and should be in Mexico by now. With a damaged wing, lack of nectar sources, and poor weather, it will find the trip difficult.

I lumped all the images into one album. If the slide show does not appear, click on the direct link.

Direct link:

2011_10_11 Bobwhite

Slide show:

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

October 5, 2011 -- Fall follies

Joe Coelho — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:03:31 GMT

There are still some butterflies and other interesting things hanging around. My neighbor has turned his attention to his yard this year, which has worked out well for me. He has outstanding flower beds at a time when almost nothing else is in bloom. I shot a monarch and a buckeye on his place. That group starts with an image of a crescent moon, which looked kind of cool one night. Others were mostly in my yard. I'm just putting links on this week, not slide shows. You'll have to click on them to see the each photo album.

2011_09_25 Tagged Monarch

After a class exercise in building rabbitats (brush piles to provide shelter for rabbits), we had an Environmental Club outing and pulled out our canoes. Fun ensued, including a race in which most of the canoes were stuck together.

Canoe Day 9/27/2011

We've been taking our dogs down the the ball diamonds for exercise. The large, fenced area gives them plenty of room to run. We do carry bags and pick up the poo. I decided to try to photograph their frolicking. I used the same settings as one would for birds in flight, but still got some motion blur, even in full sun. They're fast! I caught them in funny poses. Though some of the images look violent, fear not. These two are best friends and they do this every day without harming each other.

October Dogs

Stacey and I went to watch some fireworks in our official capacity as firefighters. The show was pretty fast and furious. I didn't have time to mess with the camera much, but I got some decent stuff.

2011_10_01 Fireworks

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

September 23 - The End of Summer

Joe Coelho — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 12:07:31 GMT

The end of summer is typically the last opportunity to see butterflies. A few may reappear on warm fall days, but many species are still flying and abundant now. I found a nice monarch in the back yard on Monday, which was also the day we tagged the most monarchs, just three days after the usual peak of the migration. There's also a warbler in the slide show. I seldom see warblers during their fall migration, but I had little else to do on Thursday afternoon while we were waiting for monarchs to show. Of course, the slide show begins with our dear Gretchen, having destroyed yet another roll of toilet paper. Later in the week she chewed up Stacey's toothbrush. These intrusions are partially due to the temporary displacement of our main bathroom as we have the vanity replaced.

I noticed one day that the sea star and urchin were next to each other on the front glass of the aquarium in my office. I took a couple of quick shots with the old Panasonic. You can see the tube feet on the urchin. Recently, it was shown that genes for visual receptor pigments are expressed in the tube feet, so they can probably see a lot more than we thought.

At the end is an image of a "cornado," a dust devil in a corn field that I photographed just outside of Canton. The TV news (WGEM) is always asking for weather photos, so I uploaded it, hoping that the weather man would say "cornado" on the air because I coined the term. Not only did they post my pic on their Facebook page, they showed it during the intro and the weather segment. The weather man, Brian Inman, said it more than once. He even mentioned that the phenomenon was not uncommon, but he just like saying "cornado." Stacey and I were dying of laughter.

Direct link:

2011_09_19

Slide show:

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

September 15, 2011 - Fall insects

Joe Coelho — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 01:53:41 GMT

Tomorrow is the statistical peak of the monarch season, but we have tagged very few. It's shaping up the be a bad year, maybe the worst. Last year we used all 100 tags in our possession. This year I bought 200, but we'll be lucky to use 25. I have 4 caterpillars in my office. I gave a little monarch presentation at a grade school. They had just hatched out two butterflies that I was able to tag.

It has turned much cooler here, and I am grateful. Fortunately, there are a few insects remaining about. The last image in the slide show below is a female Carolina mantis eating another female. I found them outside my front door on a milkweed plant. It was dusk and I had little time. The on-camera flash did the trick.
Direct link:

2011_09_05 E Pondhawks

Slide show:

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All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

September 2, 2011 - Studio Bugs

Joe Coelho — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:55:34 GMT

It's been blazing hot here, setting a record of 104 yesterday. In my Ecology lab, we had to go out in the afternoon and catch grasshoppers. There was no way out of it. We survived, and I got 150 grasshoppers to work with. Some of the species are rather interesting to look at, and I set up my home insect studio to photograph them favorably. One can produce excellent results with this technique, but it may look artificial. Nature seldom has such even lighting. I also had a cicada and the rainbow scarab as volunteers. It was a good day to spend mostly indoors.
Direct link:

2011_09_02

Slide show:

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

August 28, 2011 - Birds & Bugs

Joe Coelho — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:09:00 GMT

I'm the only one I know who keeps wasp nests on his back porch. Of course, these are specialized "trap nests" which are attractive to only a few species. Although I haven't collected any data on carpenter wasps in years, I still find them fascinating. From my kitchen table, I can see them bringing in caterpillars to feed their young and mud balls to seal off the cells in their nests--1/2-inch diameter holes bored into foot-long boards. Sometimes when I see one arrive, I'll run outside and try to photograph it. I'd like to get one in flight carrying a caterpillar or mud ball, but I haven't gotten it yet.

I was outside watering what's left of our garden with rainwater when I found a Rainbow Scarab in a bucket. It was still alive, so naturally I saved it for photography. This is a large, striking species of dung beetle. It's not uncommon, just nocturnal. I see one every couple of years. I used an entomologist's trick of shooting my flashes into a styrofoam bucket to even out the lighting.

Today I went out to Lowell's. We fished a couple rounds of the lake and I caught a couple of foot-long bass. I photographed another green heron, and a deer that spooked after it got a good look at me. After lunch in Durham (where I had the world's best chocolate malt) we worked on the canoe trailer. I had brought out the first canoe I had obtained back in April, a 15-foot plastic Coleman I call "The Spirit of St. Francis." We loaded it on the trailer and found that the vertical spacing was just barely adequate to accommodate it. We noted the trailer was lacking in lateral stability, whereupon, Lowell described the relevant physics. He said, "You can't have zero moments. Zero moments require infinite force." I said, "I love it when you talk dirty." Lowell had planned some braces reduce the moments (wobbling). We decided it would be good to test fit the other canoes on it first. We towed it over to the shed and loaded a few on, where we found that the bottom ones would rub the trailer in front, and that they wouldn't stack properly without considerable overlap of the curved bows and sterns. We need a redesign and slight rebuild. While we were at it, we measured all the canoes. I was supposed to get five, fifteen-foot Osagian canoes, but I got more than my money's worth. For one thing, one boat is a Grumman, and we knew some were longer than others. It turns out that only two were 15 feet long. Two were 17, and one is a monstrous 19 feet. You can mount a major expedition in a 19-foot canoe.

Direct link:

2011_08_28

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All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

August 14, 2011 - two trips to Lowell's

Joe Coelho — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 02:15:47 GMT

I went out to Lowell's on Wednesday and again on Sunday. Wednesday the fishing was good. I caught several bass and a large catfish, as usual, on a spinnerbait. The channel catfish had a big overbite. I was watching a green heron at the edge of the lake, holding the camera on it and waiting for it to come out from behind some weeds. Suddenly, it turned and grabbed a frog out of the water, then ran back in the opposite direction. I hit the shutter button and caught a burst of frames. One of them turned out to be in focus. Look for it in the slide show below. Turtles, dragonflies, and muskrats rounded out that adventure. Oh, and a fawn. We also spent some time with the chainsaw cutting down an old dead tree and clearing a trail.

Sunday the fishing was again pretty good, at least for me. I caught seven largemouth bass in two rounds of the lake. We took an early lunch, came back and worked on an old boat trailer that Lowell had out back. We took the old deck and other extraneous parts off of it. I was amazed that the tires were still good, quite good, in fact. It will be part of a future project that is under development. Afterward I stopped at Bob and Jaime's to drop something off and photographed a cicada killer and some butterflies in their yard.
Slide show:

Direct link:

Aug 14, 2011 Lowell's

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

August 7, 2011 -- Florida Vacation

Joe Coelho — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 02:20:03 GMT

We took our family vacation this summer to stay with Bob and Jaime at their condo in Lake Wales. From there we made many short trips to interesting destinations. First, we hit the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, where we met Bob's daughter Robin and her husband Brian. It's quite a nice aquarium.

The next morning I was stung by fire ants while walking about the back yard. While I am a hymenopterist, I don't go out of my way to experience these events. The stings themselves were inconsequential, rating barely a 1 on the Schmidt scale (which ranges from 0 to 4), but the pustules and itching that followed were very inconvenient.

We went to the Lowry Park Zoo that day and met Bob's other daughter, Rochelle, and her daughter Riley. It was a really good zoo, and we got a lot of cool photos. From there we went to Venice Beach, which is known for its shark teeth. I actually found a shark tooth while walking along in the surf. The gulf water is much warmer than that in California or the Galapagos. Savannah found half a shark's tooth.

As we drove home that night I saw a big bird cross the road to avoid the car (it had been eating a road kill). Recognizing it immediately, and having wanted to see one for some 30 years, I suddenly yelled, "CRESTED CARACARA!" This awoke Savannah from a dead sleep. She was not amused, especially since I had done the exact same thing about 10 years ago for a scissor-tailed flycatcher. The flycatcher has been a running joke in our family, and the caracara is becoming one, usually modified as "crested caca." We turned around to have a better look. I have murky, distant images because it was already sunset.

The next day we drove down to Fort Myers and spent the night at a motel. On the way, we stopped at Manatee Park. There were no manatees, as they mainly hang out there during winter. Incredibly, Savannah spotted a bobcat. I hadn't seen one in the wild in 25 years. I took a stab with my camera as it ran through the brush, but all I got was a blurry shot of a palm frond. Bob, me, and Bob's friend Tom went downtown and did some night photography. The following morning we drove out to Sanibel Island to get an early start shelling. Sanibel is well known for the diversity and abundance of shells that wash up on its beaches, and Jaime has been hunting them for some 25 years. She took us to her favorite spot and we began our walk down the beach. Unfortunately, it was high tide, which covers up a lot of shells. We found quite a few by wading the shallows, rather than walking on the sand. We even saw a couple of small stingrays in the surf. Savannah really enjoyed finding shells, and has spent hours cleaning and curating her collection.

The last day we went out to Bok Tower Gardens, which is only 6 miles away. It is a fascinating place, full of flowers, plants, butterflies and other wildlife. I'm not much into architecture, but the tower itself was pretty awesome. I fell in love with the place. Bob and I spent the afternoon relaxing while the ladies went to the mall.

I almost forgot to mention that just after we arrived at Bok Tower, an employee said that a woman was on the floor and they had called 911. I had lost track of Stacey, and spent several panicked minutes looking before finding her in the visitor's center. Stacey and Savannah sprung into firefighter and lifeguard mode, respectively, and took care of the lady until the paramedics arrived. After it was over, the manager gave us two passes for our next visit and free lunch.

Here are my best photos from the trip, more or less in chronological order.

Slide show:

Direct link:

Florida 2011

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

July 16 - Waiting for the heat wave

Joe Coelho — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 01:56:51 GMT

As of this writing we are awaiting a forecast six straight days of 99-degree highs. But lately we've had a few days of relatively cool weather, during which I've been able to cut and split some wood. I've been taking photos around the yard when opportunities present themselves, all with the macro lens.

From Summer 2011

I hadn't seen a Russet-tipped Clubtail in a long time. This one was in my prairie.

For my birthday, Savannah and I kayaked the Wyaconda River. It was hot and buggy, though the scenery was good. We saw a lot of wildlife. It started off roughly, as the put-in was blocked by trees that had been downed by the recent wind storm. We had to bust through some poison ivy to get our kayaks in the water. I got a tick and several chigger bites from that experience, but the ectoparasites weren't done with me. It's probably been 15 years since I had...

From Summer 2011

...a leech. It was a very small one. I used the awesome power of osmosis to kill and remove it.

From Summer 2011

A pinch of salt goes a long way.

From Summer 2011

I saw another clearwinged sphinx moth, this time in the back yard. This one isn't as colorful, but I caught it in midflight with its tongue out.

From Summer 2011

This colorful bug nymph was in our garden. Wish I'd gotten just a bit more depth of field out of this.

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.

July 6, 2011 -- Garden Club

Joe Coelho — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:13:31 GMT

Tuesday held a rare occasion when I was able to attend a meeting of the La Grange Garden Club. We met at Linda's house and car pooled to Quincy to see "Hosta Heaven." This guy is an expert on hostas and has his back yard tastefully landscaped with them. I learned a lot about hostas, and now have a greater appreciation for them.
Here are some photos of the place:
Slide show:

Direct link:

2011_07_05 Hosta Heaven

Afterwards we went to QU North Campus and I showed my prairie to the other members. The Monarda was in full bloom. Some of those images will be in the previous slide show. We had lunch at Sprouts and went to a member's home in rural LaGrange. She had great flowers, but perhaps more interesting to me were all the butterflies they attracted. I ended up taking 499 frames this day, but only show the best here:

Slide show:

Direct link:

2011_07_05 LGC Member gardens

Wednesday I was back on campus to meet with students. I went to dig a mulberry tree out of the prairie and noticed a Great Golden Digger Wasp on the milkweed. I ran back to the truck to get my camera. Naturally, the wasp flew off as soon as I arrived. There were a few other things of interest there, but I haven't been able to identify them. I can't find my copy of Butterflies and Moths of Missouri. I also found that the storm had broken two windows in our greenhouse.

Slide show:

Direct link:

2011_07_06 NC Prairie

All text and photos copyright Joe Coelho unless otherwise mentioned. Use by permission only.