Category: Why

The White & Black Squirrels of Hudson Wisconsin

11/6/2024

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Smokey skies continue...

10/19/2022

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We have only had two days (since my last post) where the air quality levels were below 50.

Even in the house, with air purifiers running, my throat is raw and my nose feels gummy. To add insult to injury, TPTB made the decision early on that there would not be an effort to put the fire out, just contain it, as it was mostly burning in wilderness areas; if businesses, homes, and people were going to be displaced then the effort to put it out would commence.

I miss playing outside and having my windows open. Thank goodness that rain is finally coming to Seattle this weekend!

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Excellent Reads

8/22/2022

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Nature Photo Book pick: WILD HONEY BEES by Ingo Arndt and Jurgen Tautz. Dive into the biodiversity of a healthy forest hive. The images are absolutely breath-taking. For beekeepers and beepeekers alike.

Scientific Inquiry: If you ever wondered about the honeybee "dance language" hypothesis, you need to read this wonderfully readable and thoroughly researched book.

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Sometimes

7/24/2022

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another from Suellen Saidee Cook

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People...

4/8/2022

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bird & bee from Katie Daisy's With Love, Adventure, and Wildflowers Notes

I have had this quote pinned to my bulletin board for over 20 years...and it has never seemed truer.

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Beyond the Pale

12/12/2021

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Do Vaccines Make Us Healthier?

4/30/2021

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What an excellent question!
Do Vaccines Make Us Healthier? (video) ... Canadian Doctors Speak Out:

Then, for those of us who have had covid and disagree with the MSM covid messaging: enjoy this animation "Being Selfish".

Keep asking questions~
Tracey

Post-Covid update 8/14/22:
I guess we aren't allowed to ask that question anymore;
If you'd like to know more:
Circle of Mamas

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The Birds & the Bees :: Part 1

6/16/2019

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Cloacal Kiss: Red-rumped swallows mating ©Narendra Pandit

"The birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees"...
Ah yes, spring! One of the questions many people have is how exactly do birds make babies?

Bird sex: to begin--most male birds do not have a penis
There are almost 10,000 species of birds and only around 3% have a penis. All of our male songbirds, eagles, hawks, gulls, cranes, owls, pigeons, hummingbirds and woodpeckers do not have a penis. Flamingos, penguins, and albatrosses have also completely lost their penises. Birds with penises include ducks, geese and swans, and large flightless birds like ostriches and emus.

In the kingdom of aves, 97% of male and female birds have what's known as a cloaca; the cloaca is a multipurpose internal chamber that ends in an opening used for discharging sperm or eggs. It is the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts.

Springtime antics of songbird mating may include the male showing off his clever dance moves, singing repertoire, and feather displays, along with loop-de-loops, gifts of food or trinkets, and general lovebird tom-foolery. If the female is receptive, eventually she will land, shift her tail feathers to the side, and the male bird will swoop in for a swift tail-to-tail "kiss" as their swollen cloaca bump together for the transfer of sperm (above photo). If you have ever been lucky enough to witness the cloacal kiss, you know that if you blink you will miss it.

Our backyard birdhouses have housed many families of songbirds over the last 20 years, and this year we have a birdhouse full of tiny chickadees. YAY!

not my photos, credit goes to Bluebird Bet @ Sialis

Chickadees usually lay 6-8 dime-size eggs in a soft downy nest constructed by the female. Mother birds sit on their eggs for 12-13 days, and then for two weeks after they hatch, both parents work long hours to feed the voracious nestlings. We enjoy watching the adults fly in with a beak full of food, perch in the Stewardia tree and call, wing in to the "bee-peep" of the babies to deposit the grub, and then leave with a white fecal sack-keeping the downy nest clean and tidy.

Kristen Martyn, from Wild Birds Unlimited reported that "Research by Doug Tallajmy (entomologist at the University of Delaware) found that one pair of chickadees delivered food once every 3 minutes to their nest. Estimating that they forage during the hours of 6 am- 8 pm (entirely realistic during nesting season) means they make approximately 390-570 trips with insects to the nest each day. Hatchlings are in the nest for approximately 14-18 days. This number does not include the insects required once the young ones fledge, but are still cared for by their parents for another 1-2 weeks." That is a lot of worms, bugs, berries, and seeds! No wonder the parent birds are looking raggedy.

I am guessing that our nestlings are almost two weeks old, as we can see their tiny black heads as they peek out of the birdhouse. They will be fledging soon.

Can you spot our birdhouse nestled in the bay laurel?
Chickadees prefer a home that is 65% shaded and has an unobstructed flight path to the entrance.

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What Is A Weed Anyway?

5/11/2019

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A Weed is but an Unloved Flower
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox-

Every morning for the month of May, Grow Wild is sending me a sweet botanical illustration
of a common weed along with articles regarding our ever-changing relationship with these remarkable (and mostly unappreciated) species of the plant world.

Sign up here to receive your own stunning botanical illustrations plus links to weed-related topics such as: weeds in literature and history, weeds as food security, why weeds matter to pollinators, and perhaps most importantly: what weeds mean to gardeners.

June update: all weedy blog posts can be found here: https://www.growwilduk.com/wildflowers/learn-about-wildflowers/what-weed-anyway/can-weeds-be-beautiful

If you'd like to delve a bit deeper, check out Weeds of North America by University of Chicago Press. "Dickinson and Royer provide much-needed background on these intrusive organisms. In the battle with weeds, knowledge truly is power. Weeds of North America is the perfect tool for gardeners, as well as anyone working in the business of weed ecology and control."

This encyclopedic 656-page tome is available here as a paperback or kindle...
(and it will certainly keep me from weeding my front slope of dandelions for another week or two!)

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Blue Moon, Super moon & Lunar Eclipse

1/1/2018

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2018 is starting off strong for moon-gazers: tomorrow, January 2, we'll have the chance to enjoy the year's first full moon/super moon; then, on January 31st, it's a blue moon, super moon, and a lunar eclipse! According to Space.com, along the U.S. West Coast, the total phase will begin at 4:51 a.m. PST. The farther east you go, the closer the start of the partial phases will coincide with moon-rise.

When is a full moon called "blue"? It turns out it has nothing to do with color, but rather it is thought to come from an old English term meaning "betrayer"; this term is used to describe two full moons that occur in one calendar month, and usually happens on average every 2.7 years. There will be no shortage of full moon/blue moons this winter season, as we'll have another double in March (no full moon in February).

In 2015, we were treated to a Super Moon Lunar Eclipse, and I captured the above image from my backyard. This YouTube re-post from 2015 explains the celestial clockwork behind the magic.

Enjoy!