Going, Going (But Not Quite) Gone.

The pond has a strong population of herons during the summer months with three species represented. The weather is changing and now the numbers are thinning out fast. This seems to be the last Great Blue Heron.


All the mature Black-crowned Night Herons have moved south but there are still a few juveniles making the most of the masses of Blue Gills living in the pond to feast on and fatten up before they fly to warmer climes.


A heron fishing is the definition of focus.


Do not disturb!



Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Sunlit Seed-heads

I love how many different forms of seed-heads grasses produce and the late afternoon autumn sunlight shows them off perfectly.





Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

The Wonderful Wood Duck

Is there anything more opulent than the glorious male Wood Duck in his magnificent breeding plumage? He just looks so handsome.

Siesta Time

The animals in the park certainly seem to be making the most of the beautiful autumn weather we have been having. Happy, sleepy ducks :)


This squirrel had obviously just been wading on the waters edge and was using the warm afternoon sun to dry off and warm up.




Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Autumn Colours

I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Autumn. I love the season for itself, the colours, the smells and the crunch of dried leaves underfoot but at the same time I can't help but feel that it is a harbinger of doom. It indicates that very soon the temperatures will plummet to minus who-knows-what and we will be layered in ice and snow for months on end. That just takes the edge off all the beauty of Autumn for me unfortunately.

As Busy As A .......................

Well September may have been lousy but we are being blessed with a few beautiful autumn days now that October has arrived. The honey bees from our hives are certainly making the most of the sunshine and gathering the last of the years pollen to tide them through the long, cold months ahead.

Changing Things Up

I am amazed how many of my friends' blogs I have read recently who have either been considering no longer continuing their blog or just feel like they have nothing to say. What is going on? I have felt as if my blog has been in extended death throes for months now but rather than pull the trigger I have been trying to work out why I wasn't spending time blogging any more.
I have another blog which I thoroughly enjoy and, of course, there is also the dreaded facebook. So what gives? Why is 'the rambling' just not happening?
I think I have come up with a solution - I am always posting about work!!! All work and no play............. so a new leaf has been turned. I am going to try to do shorter posts, some photos of something that catches my eye, something that makes me smile during my day and leave it at that for a while. If this involves something at work then fine but we'll see.
And so with that in mind, today's post - fun with fungus.

Fun in the Field

So it seems my resolution of trying to post every week has degenerated to the point where I post once a month! Oh well, it is better than nothing I suppose.
We have been trying for several weeks to schedule our annual department field/collecting trip but it seemed every time we set a date the weather thwarted us. Firstly there were monsoon level thunderstorms, then there was excessive heat which our team member who harks from Alaska couldn't quite face, then there were various vacations to work round but finally, rather like the proverbial herding of cats we managed to all get together on the same day.



The primary objective of the day was to collect some more native fish species to replenish our tanks, on display in the 'Riverworks' exhibit. This is most successfully done using a seine net to scoop the fish gently out without injuring them and then selecting the species we need from the net before releasing the rest.


Another activity that I always encourage is the gathering of crayfish. There is a very aggressive invasive species throughout Illinois called the Rusty Crayfish which is out-competing many native species. We scoop up as many of these as we can because we have lots of aquatic turtles in our collections who like nothing more than hunting and eating crayfish! Boy did they get a big treat - a whole bucketload!



I have been particularly lucky to have some really fantastic interns this year so it's always a great pleasure to be able to give them the treat of a day out in the field. And as you can see they were extremely enthusiastic about joining in with whatever was going on.


Here is Alex proving that chest waders are optional!


And also proving that 'girls rock!!' Because Amy didn't feel the need for them either :)


So who the ones wearing the waders? Our two male interns!!! YOU GO GIRLS!!
It wasn't all water though. We did get the chance to see some beautiful butterflies mud-puddling along the shores of the river.


These are Giant Swallowtails Papilio cresphontes
and this is a Red-spotted Purple Limenitis arthemis astyanax


A little less flamboyant but no less beautiful is this Hackberry Emperor Asterocampa celtis. Drove me crazy trying to get it to stay still enough for a photo though.


And of course, the damselflies were not to be ignored either.


Another highlight of the day? I finally got to 'christen' my new wellies on their first ever field trip :)


What a great day. We all came home hot, sweaty, muddy, tired and happy. What more could we ask for?


Photo Credits - CJT

Sabino Canyon

I downloaded these pictures over a month and a half ago and I never got round to finishing the post - what on earth possible excuse have I got for neglecting my blog for so long? Umm none really. Every time I had some free time I just didn't feel like sitting in front of a computer (I know, lame, but that's all I've got.


Whenever we visit Arizona I have a little personal wishlist of animals I really want to see. Last time we were there I managed to see two that were really high on the list. We were visiting Sabino Canyon. I am not a big fan of hiking when it is hot so my husband had used the incentive of visiting the hummingbird monitoring site at the bottom of the valley to entice me. As we were heading out to it, this delightful little horned lizard scuttled across our path - check one! Somehow I had always thought they were bigger but I was quite entranced. It seemed as though he was so confident of his camouflage on the rocky ground that he just ignored us and went about his business which gave us a great opportunity to photograph him. However with the sun directly overhead and him being the same colour as his surroundings it was surprisingly difficult to get a good shot. Now I will have to pour over my reptile books and try to find out which species of horned lizard this is.

The very top of my wishlist, surprisingly wasn't a 'herp' but a mammal. I love pigs, always have and while this next character isn't actually a member of the pig family it bears enough of a resemblance to pigs to have won my heart. I have so wanted to see a Javelina and when we arrived at the hummingbird monitoring area there it was rooting about in the undergrowth! Perfect.


Ironically the hummingbirds were a bit of a let-down because the only two species that I saw were the two I most commonly see at my own feeders and the light was nowhere near good enough to get decent pictures. (You'll have to visit my other blog to see what they really look like.)



However I was so delighted with the Javelina that it really didn't matter. The classification of the Javelina is that it belongs to the same order as pigs and even to the same sub-order but it is from the family Tayassuidae which is (ironically) the 'new world pigs!' Their outward appearance is obviously very 'pig like' even down to that lovely snuffly snout but the foot structure, digestive process and the dental structure distinguishes them from true pigs.


By now it was really starting to warm up and most wildlife was very sensibly lying low and avoiding the heat, apart from the silly humans of course. The few exceptions were the endless array of beautiful lizards striking the pose as they thermoregulated on various rocks along our path. Again - one of these days I will get down to trying to work out the species of some of these but for now I just want to get this post out!
Check out the length of the toes on the hind feet of this guy.




Eventually even the lizards realised that it was too hot to be out in the sun and as they disappeared into the undergrowth we made our way back to the car and to a long, cold and much needed, drink. But hey - I got to see two new species on my wishlist so the sweating was worth it.


Photo Credits - CJT & DominickV