Arrowhead

This is the arrowhead plant, as it is commonly called, due to its arrow-shaped leaves.  It likes to grow in wet, marshy ground, and in shallow water.

This plant is a member of the sagittaria genus, named after the constellation sagittarius - the archer.

Arrowhead is also called duck potato, and wapato.  Wapato is a Cree or Ojibwe word.

It has edible tubers.  In fact,  we learn from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, edited by Bernard DeVoto, that the corps of discovery was introduced to wapato as an important food source in late 1805 by the native people living on the Deschutes River.

Another name for this plant is said to be katniss, although I could find no trustworthy source to back up this claim.  Katniss is the heroine of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  Katniss' father tells her that as long as she can find "herself" - meaning the katniss or arrowhead plant, she will never go hungry.

As fall swiftly descends, our local varieties are beginning to fade and wither, but they are still beautiful!

All In a Day's Work

Exploring along the river the other day, I saw these huge black birds descend from the treeline onto a sandbar in the distance - six of them - and they were massive.

They swooped in like the winged steeds of the Nazgul* and I felt that I was watching some ancient drama unfold.  Indeed, I was.

I hustled across the nicely mowed grass of the park and into the overcast woods, intent on getting a close-range photo.  Disregarding the poison ivy, I hurried through the woods, carefully stepping over the sticks and leaves - quieter than Natty Bumpo in a Cooper novel.**

Edging slowly out of the woods, I faced the ultimate decision.  How dirty was I willing to get?  I could stay where I was and be happy with blurry pixels, or I could surrender to the bog between me and them and get much sharper photos.

What are Keen's for except to be sprayed down after an adventure?

Throwing caution to the wind, I pressed forward and sank into the mud, but I got my pictures.

I was able to positively I.D. the birds.  I knew it.  They were vultures.  What else in the mid-western birding world is that big, and that black, and congregates like that?

"Well, well, well, what do you know?" I said to myself.  I had just written a post on turkey vultures a few days ago, and now here were six of them at once.  You can read that post here:  http://foundonthetrail.blogspot.com/2013/09/turkey-vulture.html

The Canada geese nearby raised a warning cry as I began snapping away in the early morning breeze.

A wake of vultures

A group of vultures eating are called a "wake".  Roosting vultures are called a "committee", "volt" or "venue".  (Thank you, Wikipedia.)  This was definitely a wake, because there was something dead over there, just over the rise of the sandbar.  They were noshing on it like early morning coworkers gathered around a big brown bag of Panera bagels.

Eating carrion - it's all in a day's work.


*The Nazgul were nine men turned into ring wraiths by the power of evil in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.  They went abroad on horseback, and later upon the backs of fell winged creatures.

**James Fenimore Cooper was an early 19th century American author who wrote the Leatherstocking Tales, including The Deerslayer, The Pathfinder, and The Last of the Mohicans.  The series' hero was Nathaniel Bumpo, otherwise known as Hawkeye.  He was famous for his silent passage through the woods and his amazing sharpshooting abilities.  Some call Cooper's frontier novels the forerunners of today's westerns.

Downy Gentians

Look at these beauties!

I found these lovely flowers while walking out at Scott County Park last Saturday, on the Glynn's Creek Trail.    The trail is mostly through woods, but one glorious stretch takes you past a tall grass prairie, and there they were.

Their lovely purple blossoms caught my eye immediately.  They were tucked away everywhere in the tall grasses, and I went from blossom to blossom like a kid in a candy store, delighting over each one.  They were so pretty!

I particularly loved over the whorled, two-tone petals on the not-yet-fully-opened blossoms.

These downy gentians (so-called due to the tiny hairs on their stems) are sometimes called prairie gentians.  They are among the last flowers to bloom in the late summer, but as I think anyone would agree, they are well worth the wait!

The white and green stripes inside the blossoms helped me identify them. although it was hard to get a look inside as the bees were very busy collecting their pollen!

The name "gentian" comes the name of the ancient Ilyrian king, Gentius, who ruled beginning in 181 BC.  He was said to have used this plant to treat a sickness among his people.

Mudflat Friends

Ok, this wasn't really a mudflat, since those are formed by tides on coastal wetlands, but that is the word that came to mind when I saw these shorebirds out at Nahant Marsh.

Notice the difference in beak length between these two birds.

The bird in the foreground is a killdeer, and the one in back is a sandpiper.  They were out in the mud exposed by the low water level in the marsh, searching for food.

I have found both of these birds to be extremely difficult to photograph.  They are leery of people, and fly away before I can usually get within a good shooting range.  It was fun to catch the two of them together like this in one photo, and have each one show up pretty clearly.

Wild Turkey

This is a wild a turkey.  I am posting this photo today so that it will be back to back with my post from yesterday on the turkey vulture.  They both have bald heads and so share a name element.

Wild turkeys can be much more majestic than this, especially when the toms spread their tail feathers into big, beautiful fans and strut around in front of the hens.  One day I hope to photograph such a sight!

I took this photo along State Street, between Scott Community College and Crissey House - the oldest residence still standing in Riverdale, Iowa.  There is often a small flock of wild turkeys foraging there, in spite of the daily stream of noisy traffic along Highway 67.  This is unique, since wild turkeys are normally very skittish.  If I see them at all on my nature walks, they are usually hustling into the cover of tall grass or underbrush.

Has anyone else in the local area seen this particular flock?

Turkey Vultures

Turkey vultures are hawk-like birds who ride thermal waves in the sky, often in small groups.  They have darker underbellies than hawks, and have a more wobbly flight.

Turkey vultures have a bald head that is dark pink or red in appearance, with a white-tipped beak.  The appearance of their head, being similar to that of a wild turkey, gives them their common name.

While sometimes called buzzards or carrion crows, these are misnomers.  Their scientific name is quite grand:  Cathartes aura.  Loosely translated, this means "purifying bird".  This is related to the fact that they eat carrion, which otherwise would stink up the world in a big way.

This one was spotted above Nahant Marsh, soaring around in a circle.  Evidently something already dead had caught its eye - or rather its nose, for that is how turkey vultures most often identify their next meal.

Hummingbird Moth

When you see a new critter two or three times in a week, it's time to look it up!  That's what happened to me this week, with the hummingbird moth.

Have you ever seen one?  They look a lot like hummingbirds in size, shape, and behavior, and yet they are moths.

It's hard to distinguish what they are when you see them because they hover around blossoms in a manner similar to hummingbirds, with their wings beating so fast they are a blur.  Their motion in flight, however, is slightly more fluttery and less darty than an actual hummingbird - if you know what I mean.

I finally had my camera with me when I saw this one on Saturday.

This is a white-lined sphinx moth, and it is one of the hummingbird moths.

It has six legs, one pair of antennae, and an incredibly long proboscis for sipping nectar.  In fact, it sometimes exceeds ten inches!

So, the next time you think you see a hummingbird, double-check and see if it might be one of these unique creatures instead.

House Sparrow

House Sparrows.  Yep, they're an invasive species, but still interesting.

Fun Fact #1:  According to allaboutbirds.com, house sparrows were first introduced to the United States in 1851, in Brooklyn, New York.  Click here to read about that:   http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/house_sparrow/lifehistory .

Fun Fact #2:  The larger the black patch on a male house sparrow's throat, the more dominant he is in the pecking order of the flock.

Fun Fact #3:  The scientific name for the house sparrow is Passer domesticus.  Passer refers to a small, active bird, and domesticus means "belonging to the house".

House sparrows are extremely common in the lower 48, and are different than our native North American sparrows, such as the song sparrow and the white-throated sparrow.  If you look through a field guide at the sparrows depicted there, you will see the difference in body shapes between these two branches of the sparrow family.

A Marsh Mallow

You might know the halberd-leaved rose mallow as a hibiscus, because that is what it is - Hibiscus laevis.

I photographed these at Nahant Marsh, which is the perfect place for them since they like sunny conditions and wet soil.

I first learned of their proper name from Nahant Marsh's Facebook page.  Check out there photo of this plant here:  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151552422863344&set=a.10151015943813344.408969.135482933343&type=1&theater

These wildflowers are native perennials, and vary in color.  Those shown here are faintly pink, with a deep pink center.  The blossoms are five inches across or more.

The leaf shape is reminiscent of a handled broad-axe - hence the name "halberd".

Note the large, halberd-shaped leaf to the right of the blossom.

And I just have to throw this in - we get the word "mauve" from French, where it refers to the particular tints of the mallow plant.

Among all the creatures that benefit from it (there is even a particular rose mallow bee), I was pleased to read that the rare and elusive bobwhite eats the seeds of this plant.  (Shout out to my bobwhite wood badge friends!)

Mystery Tracks

I found these mystery tracks and am not sure what made them.

Track #1

Track #2

Track #3

Any guesses?  Post your thoughts in the comment section below.  Maybe we can figure this out!

Dragons & Damsels

I found this stunning little creature last Friday.  At first I thought it was a black butterfly, and fumbled with my camera to get a picture of it before it fluttered away. Much to my surprise, when I got home and put the pictures on the computer, I saw that this was a dragonfly.  Or so I thought.

Calopteryx maculata, resting on a poison ivy leaf.

When I researched a black-winged dragonfly, I was let to understand that this ebony beauty was really a damselfly.  Isn't that a great name?!  I picture a beautiful lady with sparkling, flowing scarves and a wind-billowed, shimmering dress standing on a castle rampart with her hair streaming behind her.

So what is the difference between a dragonfly and a damselfly?

Well, the biggest difference that I think would help a person identify them in the field is the way they hold their wings at rest.  Both dragonflies and damselflies have two pairs of wings.  However, a dragonfly will rest with his two pairs outstretched, and a damselfly holds hers upright, like a butterfly at rest.  (Hency my mistaken initial identification.)

Here is a dragonfly (below).  You can see how his wings are outstretched as he rests on the stalk of grass.

Libellula luctuosa, resting on tall grasses near a lake shore.

The damselfly (in the first photo) is an ebony jewelwing, and what an apt name.  It is lovely and shiny.  This one picture is a male.  The bodies of the males are more of a metallic green, and the females are more brown.  Their scientific name is Calopteryx maculata.  Calopteryx is from the Greek, meaning beautiful wing.  Maculata refers to the white spot the females have on the tips of their wings.

The dragonfly (second photo) is a male widow skimmer.  The males have white coloring at mid-wing, whereas the females do not.  His scientific name is Libellula luctuosa.  I had a hard time finding the etymology of Libellula, but it may be related to the Latin word for booklet.  Luctuosa has reference to mourning, and may be related to the black coloring on both the male and female.

Asiatic Dayflower

I was walking along a new trail in an urban park.  The cobweb factor was probably 7 out of 10.  The weeds on both sides were up past my elbows.   Then a splash of blue caught my eye.  Turning to look, I saw what I at first thought was a violet.

Hunkering down to get a closer look, I realized this was not just a common violet.  It was something special, and the only one of its kind as far as I could see.  It had two large blue petals, and what appeared to be tiny yellow flowers coming out of the center.  "That's different," I thought, and snapped away.  I felt like a real botanist at that moment!

Note the third flower petal, which is white, and is located behind the stamens in this photo.

When I came home, it was easy to google this unique flower and find out what it was.  It's an Asiatic dayflower.  These flowers last for only one day.  They bloom in the morning and do their best to attract pollinators with their showy yellow stamens, which I had at first taken for tiny flowers.

The Asiatic dayflower is an invasive species, but you can see why it was brought here.  It is very delicate and beautiful, and I felt like I had found a rare jewel.