Joseph Meyer on Nostr: “When you’re sure of what you’re looking at, look harder.” - Richard Powers, ...
“When you’re sure of what you’re looking at, look harder.” - Richard Powers, Generosity
Forty-four years ago I enrolled in a field biology class where we went out to survey wildlife using transects and quadrants for plants, binoculars for birds, and paint dabbed onto abdomens for ants. We wrote into our college notebooks what we observed of bird behavior. There were formulas to be used later for estimating plant species dominance and ant colony population size from data we collected. Today, inspired by those memories, by the delightful observations of humans by author npub14wmt5gszape869luw47getsmseftl6lr9cjhx9xqm6kdzj5qkk2qs4gy7u (npub14wm…gy7u), and the writings of novelist Richard Powers, I venture out far too late in the day when it is already hot in Texas.
I find a spot to sit on a limestone outcropping of an escarpment above the dry bed of Slaughter Creek in Austin. A Carolina wren calls from out of sight in the distance. A slight breeze causes a few leaves and acorns to fall from nearby Texas live oak and Texas persimmon trees, making papery noises as they tumble through the remaining foliage. The sky is clear and light blue.
A turkey vulture soars high overhead, silently on the thermals with no need for any exertion by the flapping of wings. The sometimes fallible Merlin app tells me it hears a great horned owl. It sounds more like a blue jay to me. I restart the app and Merlin vacillates between the owl and a blue jay. An unidentified bird with pointy wingtips flies low over my head, flapping noisily in the air, perhaps a nighthawk chased away by the blue jay.
A yellow-jacket wasp flies through Texas kidneywood with tiny drought resistant leaflets on its compound leaves and dark peeling bark that reveals a whitish cambium. Extract from its bark was used medicinally by indigenous people. The wasp briefly alights three times before continuing on its way. Yellow butterflies and white butterflies pass by, not stopping to show me their identification.
A passenger jet flies overhead. I hear a train horn a few miles away. I can’t spot a single insect on the ground at noon and don’t wish to disturb siestas by overturning stones. It is far too hot outside for this senior citizen, so I follow the insects’ example and walk home to my air-conditioned shelter. On the way, I see more of the butterflies, the yellow one a southern dogface, the white one with an orange border a common mestra. Like the wasp, they visit a Texas ironwood which may provide some kind of respite from the heat, perhaps offering tiny droplets of water or sap along its stems.
#Nature #Biology #Ecology #Environment #Plants #Birds #Insects #RichardPowers
Forty-four years ago I enrolled in a field biology class where we went out to survey wildlife using transects and quadrants for plants, binoculars for birds, and paint dabbed onto abdomens for ants. We wrote into our college notebooks what we observed of bird behavior. There were formulas to be used later for estimating plant species dominance and ant colony population size from data we collected. Today, inspired by those memories, by the delightful observations of humans by author npub14wmt5gszape869luw47getsmseftl6lr9cjhx9xqm6kdzj5qkk2qs4gy7u (npub14wm…gy7u), and the writings of novelist Richard Powers, I venture out far too late in the day when it is already hot in Texas.
I find a spot to sit on a limestone outcropping of an escarpment above the dry bed of Slaughter Creek in Austin. A Carolina wren calls from out of sight in the distance. A slight breeze causes a few leaves and acorns to fall from nearby Texas live oak and Texas persimmon trees, making papery noises as they tumble through the remaining foliage. The sky is clear and light blue.
A turkey vulture soars high overhead, silently on the thermals with no need for any exertion by the flapping of wings. The sometimes fallible Merlin app tells me it hears a great horned owl. It sounds more like a blue jay to me. I restart the app and Merlin vacillates between the owl and a blue jay. An unidentified bird with pointy wingtips flies low over my head, flapping noisily in the air, perhaps a nighthawk chased away by the blue jay.
A yellow-jacket wasp flies through Texas kidneywood with tiny drought resistant leaflets on its compound leaves and dark peeling bark that reveals a whitish cambium. Extract from its bark was used medicinally by indigenous people. The wasp briefly alights three times before continuing on its way. Yellow butterflies and white butterflies pass by, not stopping to show me their identification.
A passenger jet flies overhead. I hear a train horn a few miles away. I can’t spot a single insect on the ground at noon and don’t wish to disturb siestas by overturning stones. It is far too hot outside for this senior citizen, so I follow the insects’ example and walk home to my air-conditioned shelter. On the way, I see more of the butterflies, the yellow one a southern dogface, the white one with an orange border a common mestra. Like the wasp, they visit a Texas ironwood which may provide some kind of respite from the heat, perhaps offering tiny droplets of water or sap along its stems.
#Nature #Biology #Ecology #Environment #Plants #Birds #Insects #RichardPowers