Discovering the world around me.
Snakes have been maligned for literally thousands of years. If we’re talking about the venomous kinds, they deserve it. But of the 28 species of snake found in Iowa, only four are venomous—timber rattlesnakes, eastern massasauga, prairie rattlesnakes, and copperheads. The other day Bryan saw this fellow in the grass near the shop. It’s a […]
Continue reading Friend, not foe: Western Fox Snake
My favorite flavor in the whole world, more favorite than chocolate, or smoked porkchops, or pecans, is cherries. Those big dark Michigan cherries; those spotted Washington cherries, and yes, the sour cherries that grow here. I love to eat the sweet ones by the handful, reveling first in the beautiful shape of them, round and […]
Continue reading It’s the pits: Cherries
Our mulberry trees are about ready for picking. The fruit is beautiful—cone-shaped, about an inch long berries with stems still attached and full of seeds. It is soft, sweet and fragile, a purple that will stain anything it comes in contact with. The flavor is delicate as well. They make lovely pies and cobblers. […]
Continue reading The Fruit of Broken Dreams: Mulberries
Early in the evening on a blustery April day, I heard a bird singing a melodious but changing song. He sang a phrase twice, then switched to another song. I had just been introduced to the song of the brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) and was ecstatic to actually capture its song on this afternoon. The […]
Continue reading Champion Mimic: Brown Thrasher
After I bought Owl Acres, I loved to come out to the country and enjoy the soundscape, barbecue over a fire in an old washing machine tub we found in the fence row, and think about the house I would build. On one of those beautiful summer evenings I invited the kids to come out […]
Continue reading Things That Go Zoom in the Night: Little Brown Bats
On a lovely May morning Dave and I are strolling along the road when a beautiful song seems to be aimed right at us from a tree a short distance away. Its tone is kind of like a robin’s, but it starts its song with a clear whit-whit sort of whistle, and then follows it […]
Continue reading Seed Cracker: Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
On a cool spring morning, we roll out of bed at 4:30. The goal is to watch the sun rise over Owl Acres. It’s been doing that forever, but I don’t remember many times, if ever, that I’ve paid attention to the sunrise per se. Today I have asked Bryan to narrate the event. We […]
Continue reading Prairie Sunrise
For several days in late April, I’ve heard kinglets in the trees. A golden-crowned kinglet (Regulus satrapa) one day, and a ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula) a few days later. The ruby-crowned song is loud, rapid and full of excitement. Their golden-crowned cousins sing more sedately and at a higher pitch. First of all, they are […]
Continue reading North American Royalty: Golden-Crowned and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets
On a morning walk, I hear a high-pitched whistle, and a rapid chatter seeming to come from the same tree. My Merlyn Bird ID tells me that what we have here is a brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). He is shiny black on his body with a dull brown head. He’s courting the smaller, drab brown […]
Continue reading Easy Pickings: Brown-headed Cowbird
When I was a little girl, we had a huge lilac bush in the yard. It was big enough to play in, hide under, and explore. And whenever we came in from that play, Mom started searching in our hair for ticks. When she found one, which she often did, she lit a cigarette, kept […]
Continue reading Little Vampires: Ticks