HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

I blinked and it has been three weeks since I last posted anything! How did that happen? I had a wonderful week away in San Diego but as for the other two weeks, I am really not sure where they went. I know work has been fairly crazy but then, when isn't it? So I honestly don't have an excuse for the long break, I guess life just got in the way, as it does!
My break in San Diego was blissful, my husband was attending a conference so I had the lovely, long, sunny days to myself. I was horribly lazy and spent my time strolling along the seafront and enjoying the seafaring atmosphere.


Our hotel was right on the seafront so even lounging in our room or lying by the pool I could watch the shipping traffic. San Diego is one of my favorite cities. The fact that it is always sunny and warm does help but also it is a refreshing combination of traditional structures, ultra modern buildings


and a bustling sea port.


There is also a huge military presence


Most of the hardware is kept well away from public access but some decommissioned vessels are open to the public.


The vast majority of vessels are current and active, and every day there is some training going on somewhere. The Navy SEALs were practicing retrieving people from the sea one day when I was watching, the helicopter flew down so close to the water that it almost disappeared into the spray it created.


One of the most spectacular civilian craft was the massive Americas Cup trimaran. It was in port for the entire time we were there and it really is a remarkable vessel. It is hard to convey the size of it with a picture


But maybe this shot of one of the crew working up in the rigging will make it clearer. Check out the size of the mast!


And what of the 'natural' world? Well what was in evidence had a common theme - fish eaters! No surprise there then! Sea lions spent their days along a similar line to me, the vast majority of it spent lounging on the seafront, with an occasional foray out for food. At least I didn't have to catch my own!


The best dressed fisherman was definitely this dapper Snowy Egret. It doesn't matter how many times I see this species, I can't get enough of those outrageous yellow feet!


I had plenty of chance to get my fill of this guy as he was totally focused on his fishing.


It was definitely one of those vacations that I didn't want to end.


All I have to do now is get back into the groove of posting regularly!


Photo Credits - CJT & DominickV

SKYWATCH FRIDAY - SWIRLS

For this weeks skywatch I spotted soft swirling clouds that looked as if they had been applied to the sky with a paint brush.


And sitting in amongst them is the softest half moon, just barely visible.


Until I zoom in a little more............


For beautiful skies from all around the globe, check out Skywatch Friday.


Photo Credits - CJT

MACRO MONDAY CICADAS AND THEIR ENEMY.

To some they are the stuff of nightmares as they leave their sub-terranian homes and climb silently up tree trunks. Then the skin down their back splits open


and out climbs something not so silent - the cicada!


Much is made of the invasions that take place every seventeen years from the periodical cicadas but the regular appearance of the dog-day cicada, so named because they appear in the dog days of summer goes almost unnoticed until they strike up their strident courtship tune.


Although they are referred to as annual cicadas, most of them have a life cycle that ranges from two to five years, depending on the species. The vast majority of which is spent underground living amongst the roots of the tree on which the female first laid her eggs.


When the final instar of the nymph stage emerges from the ground and molts into the adult form this creature only has another five or six weeks to live. Maybe that explains the volume and urgency of the call!


The cicada has numerous perils to avoid, not least of which is the fearsome Cicada Killer


These wasps have synchronized their life cycle to coincide with the dog-day cicadas. A couple of weeks after the cicada start to emerge, adult cicada killer wasps also emerge from underground. They dig burrows in soft, well drained soil and then go out in search of their prey. When they find a cicada they sting it to paralyze it and then carry it back to the burrow (this gives you some idea of the size of these wasps.) The female lays an egg on the hapless cicada, then puts it into the underground chamber and seals it up. Thus providing her off spring with a ready food source.


Even the macro world can be a savage, scary place! Check out the minutia at Macro Monday, hosted by Ed.


Photo Credits - CJT

SKYWATCH FRIDAY - A METALLIC MORNING.

One morning last week I woke up to this dramatic sky over the lake.


Not exactly a shiny summer morning but quite dramatic for a skywatch posting.


To see the sky from every corner of the globe, check out Skywatch Friday.


Photo Credits - CJT

FINDING EDEN

Yesterday we headed out to Markham Prairie to the south of Chicago to check it out for a potential butterfly restoration site.


Vincent, our Director of Arthropod Conservation, and his team have been working really hard all summer raising literally thousands of imperilled butterflies for release onto suitable habitats in an attempt to restore populations to appropriate sites.


When they do releases they take between one and two hundred butterflies to an area that has the required host plants to feed future caterpillars and also good nectar sources to sustain future generations of butterflies.


The butterflies we want to restore to this site are Silver-bordered Fritillaries Boloria selene So named because they have little silver coloured spots on the underside of the hindwing.


Markham Prairie is an ideal spot for them. It is one of the very few remnants of original prairie remaining in Illinois and it has a massive variety of native prairie plant species including members of the violet family which is the host plant for the Silver-bordered Fritillary.


One of the rarest plants in this area is the Ear-leaved False Foxglove Tomanthera auriculata. We had missed them flowering so they were very innocuous. But it was good to see such a rare plant thriving.


There were also a healthy array of invertebrates




And even an occasional vertebrate too


The area covers about one hundred and fourty acres


We were all very happy to think that future generations of this charming little butterfly is going to be given the opportunity to repopulate this wonderful natural area.


Oh and I almost forgot to mention, we actually managed to have a day out in the field without any rain - for the first time this year!!



Photo Credits - CJT

HARRISON'S FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME

I have mentioned before that we have a particularly charismatic box turtle at the Museum called Harrison. During the warm summer months I try to get him and the female turtles some time outside whenever possible to give them some natural sunlight and enrichment.


We are soon going to be having a new temporary exhibit from National Geographic called Critters Cams which shows all the research projects that have and are being done around the world using small cameras attached to various different species of animals. In order to publicize this upcoming exhibit we were racking our brains for an novel idea and one afternoon when I was out in the park with Harrison, watching him rambling around, I came up with the solution. Enjoy!



Here is the star with his special tiny, lightweight camera attached.


Needless to say the local media are delighted with the publicity potential of this piece so Harrison is likely to become even more of a legend!


Photo Credits - CJT
Video Credits -
Filming - Harrison
Editing - Brian
Voice-over - CJT

DINNER TIME

One of the species in my care at the Museum are Chicago Garter Snakes Thamnophis sirtalis semifasciatus and one of our females has just given birth to nineteen lively little babies.


This is one of several species of snakes that gives birth to live young, rather than laying eggs. This system is known as oviviporous, the unborn snake develops in an 'egg' inside the female and gets its nourishment from the egg rather than directly from the mother. As the time of birth draws nearer the shell of the egg gradually dissolves away and is reabsorbed by the mother so that when the babies are born they are only enclosed by what looks like an embryonic sack.


The adult form of this snake has very attractive yellow stripes running down the sides of its body and they are said to resemble the black and yellow garters that gentlemen used to wear! Hence the common name of Garter Snake.


The natural diet of these snakes is a little different from most of the other snakes I have, they mostly consume earthworms and other small invertebrates and occasionally fish. So what to serve as a first meal for my new arrivals? Whatever it is, it has to really small!


Their mother is particularly fond of Silversides so I decide to give those a shot. I buy them frozen and just thaw them out as I need them. These fish are about two inches long - have you ever tried to fillet a fish that size? Trust me it is quite tricky. Why do I need to fillet it? Well when a snake swallows something with bones it would usually swallow it whole so there would not be any bones sticking out, as soon as you start to cut something up to make it smaller, the bones become an issue - hence the filleting!


Then each fillet is cut into snake bite sized pieces! And just to give you an idea of scale, these are the tongs I am using to feed them, against my finger, and FYI I have small hands!


Well I am happy to report that all my efforts on the food prep front were extremely well received!


Each of them gobbled down between six and eight pieces each!


And for an animal that is considerably thinner than a shoelace, that leads to a very bulgy stomach!


This is one of the aspects of my job that I really enjoy - seeing these tiny little creatures getting all ferocious over a microscopic piece of fish!


And even though the pieces really were tiny, they still put up quite a struggle!


But what these guys lack in stature, they make up for in enthusiasm :)


It took me a long time to get all nineteen of them fed, as you can imagine.


But at least they get to sleep it all off when we are done.


The next meal is diced earthworm and believe me, that gets really messy!

For all kinds of fun and fascinating posts about the natural world, go to Nature Notes, you'll be glad you did.


Photo Credits - CJT