It Hardly Seems Possible

Yesterday we woke up to frigid temperatures, snow covered ground and thick layers of ice on pond and puddles. Exactly what you would expect in the first week of March in Chicago. But today is an entirely different story.


With a high of 67 degrees it seems like a whole other world. The turtles are basking in the sun, clearly enjoying the warmth.


There quite literally is not a cloud in the sky and what a stunningly blue sky it is too.


The Canada Geese are clearly feeling spring in the air as many of them are already paired off.




There are tiny shoots of green appearing amongst the leaves and mud.


The trees are putting huge energy into some fat, round, sticky buds.



The conifers are producing clusters of tiny new pine cones.


And the poor daffodils are very confused and pushing out very early buds.


Even the seagulls are full of the joys of spring, squealing and wheeling effortlessly in the warm winds blowing over the lake.



This certainly isn't a normal spring day in Chicago but you most definitely will not hear me complaining.

Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

DEPARTMENT FIELD TRIP

Usually in the summer we have a three day camping trip together as a Department, which we combine with collecting specimens to replenish our living collections. Unfortunately this year, everyone's schedules were so crazy that we were never able to find a three day gap that suited all of us. I sent a couple of my staff out on a one day collecting trip, mainly to collect native fish species for our Riverworks Exhibit but that was about all we had done in the way of getting out in the field.
Last week we finally managed to get our entire Department together for a quick trip to Indiana Dunes State Park. As if to continue the theme from last years trips, the day started with dark skies, thunder, lightening and heavy rain. We all studied the weather sites closely and determined that at the time we had planned to arrive in Indiana, the rain would have just about stopped. So we loaded into several vehicles and headed out.


One of the local rangers had kindly agreed to meet up with us and give us a tour of an environmentally sensitive area which is usually not open to the public, Pinhook Bog. Indiana’s only true bog it is a special geologic feature of this region. The Bog is a glacial kettle. At the end of the Wisconsin Glacial epoch, (14,000-15,000 ybp) a large chunk of ice remained buried at this location as the ice retreated northward. When the ice melted, the clay soil sealed the basins. The runoff from higher ground around the bog is the only water source. There are not streams or groundwater inflow or outflow. Evaporation from the open water and plants is the only loss of moisture. A bog is different than swamps, marshes or ponds because of this limited exchange of water. The water in the bog is stagnant, acidic, and nutrient-poor.


The outstanding feature of Pinhook Bog is the tree covered mat of sphagnum moss. Sphagnum moss is a stringy, delicate moss of a light-green color. The mat floats on top of the water and can become three to six feet thick, yet it can have a pocket of a few inches in the middle. As the mat thickens, larger and larger plants take root and grow. Under the mat a peat bed develops. The acidic water slows the decay of the sphagnum moss and other plants. In its current state the plants that are growing there have to be tolerant of an acidic environment, like the magnificent Pitcher Plant.


Although it was a little late in the season for orchids there were still a number of Orange-fringed Orchids in bloom and their characteristic shapes and delicate blooms were very appealing.


There was also an occasional Touch-me-not or Jewelweed peeping out from amongst the foliage. Called Touch-me-not because when the seed capsule is ripe, the slightest touch will cause it to eject it's seeds.


There were very few signs of vertebrate life, except for us but this one Green Frog did hang around long enough for me to grab a quick photo.


After having walked around the bog we headed out through some dense woodland and it was then that I began to realise just how much rain we have had in recent weeks. Apart from the obvious, copious quantities of mud, there were so many fungi of every shape, size and colour.




Having left the Bog, we headed to a nearby picnic area to have some lunch. Vincent, our department culinary expert was in charge of getting us all fed and in spite of the fact that somehow none of us had remembered to pack cooking utensils (!) A solution was found and soon we were all fed.


Even the picnic area had it's own crop of fungus but don't worry, we weren't tempted to add them to the menu!


One little visitor who spent a long time hanging around was this pretty little Hackberry Butterfly.


Our boss had gone all out on the treats! We had a choice of chocolate, red velvet or vanilla! This is the real outdoor life!!!!


Before we all fell asleep from a sugar coma from the cup cakes, we decided that another walk to explore some more of the local habitat would be a good idea. By now I was on a mission - fungus hunting!



It is a fascinating life form because it really does come in a seemingly endless array of forms.



There were a lot of Stink Bugs around too but I totally failed to get a clear picture despite numerous attempts (and one or two swear words thrown in for good measure.)


After we were done with the dark, dampness of the woodland, our last stop was the shore of Lake Michigan so that some of us could roll up our trousers and wade in the water.
It wouldn't be strictly true to say that we didn't collect anything on this trip (apart from the obligatory mosquito bites of course.) I made sure that no one left the beach without carrying at least a couple of nice flat stones with them as they always come in useful when we are setting up habitats for our animals at the Museum.


All too soon it was time to head back into the city but it was lovely to have spent the day outside, and the best part of all? It didn't rain on us!!


Photo Credits - CJT

ABC WEDNESDAY

Well I feel that I have been very neglectful of my blog of late, all I seem to manage to post is ABC Wednesday and Skywatch Friday but I guess that is the nature of this time of year. I tend to hunker down, work a lot and not do a whole heck of a lot else.
And so to ABC Wednesday, this week we are on to the letter 'D' so I am going to do D is for Digitalis purpurea.
Digitalis is the genus more commonly known as Foxglove. There are numerous species but I am going to stick with the one I know, the Common Foxglove. This spectacular flower always reminds me of early summer in Cornwall where they grow everywhere, in the hedges, along footpaths, and of course in my mother's garden.


In amongst the wild riot of colour that is my mother's garden in summer it is easy to get lost but this is not the case with the statuesque Digitalis, this spear of dramatic purpley/pink blossoms can grow up to eight feet tall! Last year when we went to visit my parents, it was a particularly good year for Digitalis as you can see from this picture of my husband, out hiking.


Extracts from Digitalis, called Digitalin, have long been used to treat heart conditions. Digitalis is a classic example of a drug derived from a plant formerly used by folklorists and herbalists: herbalists have largely abandoned its use because of its narrow therapeutic index and the difficulty of determining the amount of active drug in herbal preparations. Once the usefulness of digitalis in regulating pulse was understood, it was employed for a variety of purposes, including the treatment of epilepsy and other seizure disorders, now considered inappropriate.


As a child I could never resist wearing the blossoms on my fingertips but now I am most content to sit and watch a beautiful big bumble-bee work its way systematically through all the blooms, gathering pollen.

For many interesting posts about the dastardly, dramatic, dynamic, diabolical, delightful letter 'D', check out ABC Wednesday.

Photo Credits - CJT & Dominick V

ABC WEDNESDAY

This week it is the letter 'B' for ABC Wednesday so I am going with B is for Bark. I am not talking about the noise that a dog makes but rather the covering on a tree. I have always loved the huge variety of patterns and textures that bark comes in so I figured why not?


Bark serves as a waterproof, defensive layer for the tree, helps prevent loss of water from the tree by evaporation, acts as a barrier against attacks by insects and diseases, insulates the tree from drastic temperature changes, and in some instances, protects the tree from fire damage. It also serves as a shield to protect a very important part of the tree—the cambium layer.


The cambium (a watery layer only a few cells thick) is the generative layer, giving rise to both xylem and phloem. Xylem carries water and minerals from the roots to the leaves. Phloem carries manufactured food (sugars) from the leaves to the roots.


Bark also rids the tree of wastes by absorbing and locking them into its dead cells and resins.
Thickness of the bark varies with the different tree species. In some, the protective armor is quite thin, but in others it can be very thick. For example, the bark on a few of the giant sequoia trees in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is two feet thick.


As the growing tree expands by adding a new sapwood layer, its protective armor becomes too tight, and the outer bark splits and cracks. Definite bark patterns are produced by each species as a result of this cracking, and these patterns are so distinct that some trees can be identified by them. The outer bark layers also are shed in many different ways. Birth bark peels off in paper-thin strips; sycamore bark flakes off in large, thin, brittle plates; cedar bark peels off in long, fibrous strips; and the cinnamon-red plates of the ponderosa pine flake off in bits like jigsaw puzzle pieces.


So there is plenty going on under this tranquil exterior! Because bark does serve so many purposes, there are very few trees that can survive being ring-barked. Ring-barking is when a horizontal strip of bark is removed all the way around the circumference of the tree either by animals or man, thus essentially cutting of its 'circulation'. The tree will then slowly die.


There is one big exception to this. The mighty Baobab Adonsonia digitata. The debate continues to rumble as to whether this can truly be called a tree or rather the worlds biggest succulent. The bark on the lower part of the trunk often bears scars caused by local people who harvest and pound it to retrieve the strong fibre.


Although the bark is often heavily stripped by people and elephants, these trees do not suffer as a normal tree would from ring-barking. Baobabs have the ability to simply continue growing and produce a new layer of bark. The wood of the baobab is soft, light yellow and spongy.

You may have worked out by now, I love trees, their shapes and structures and their shade but I have to confess, although I would be able to tell you the names of many trees in the area of Africa where I used to live, I have been very lazy about learning North American trees, so please don't ask me to identify all the trees I have photographed above!

To see how B inspires other people go to ABC Wednesday.

Photo Credits
All Bark Pictures - CJT
Baobab - Robin Pope Safaris