Heartland Safari

A solitary Jonathan Apple Tree keeps vigil at the summit of a green Iowa valley. An exceptionally prolific tree, it produces so much fruit that branches break under its weight. The tree actually stands a few feet onto adjacent property, but we claim it.

Ideal Fruit: Jonathan Apple Tree

Updated August 12, 2024

There’s an old Jonathan apple tree (Malus domestica) at the edge of Owl Acres. Last year it was so heavily loaded with fruit that a couple of its branches broke under the weight. This year it has fewer apples but they’re bigger. And, alas, a lot of them are wormy. The big, sweet apples that […]

Trees

Songbird sits on a sunflower bud. Indigo Bunting has a solid, deep blue color

Learning to Sing: Indigo Bunting

Updated August 4, 2024

A male indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) arrived on Owl Acres in early May after a long nocturnal trek from the Caribbean. He decided to stay and began singing his song to attract a mate. I’ve thought that a bird’s song was something hard-wired into his brain, and therefore all indigo buntings should sound the same. […]

Birds

Common Housefly at rest against a bright background. Large compound eyes, and the animal’s major distinguishing characteristic: it has only two wings.

Marvel of Engineering: House Fly

Updated July 29, 2024

I really hate flies. More than ants. More even than mosquitoes. A single fly buzzing around my face is enough to drive me crazy. And everything we ever hear about flies is how dirty they are, how they carry diseases, live in manure piles, leave fly specks on the walls, and generally create havoc, disease […]

Insects and Spiders

American Bellflower

Updated July 22, 2024

There’s a lot of purple showing in the mid-summer landscape. On a bike ride along our favorite bike trail, we stopped to investigate. What are those beautiful blue to purple flowers growing along the side of the trail? My Picture This app says they are American bell flowers. Once we’ve identified them on the trail, […]

Plants

This land record in the Jasper County, Iowa, Recorder's Office, completes the chain of custody that connects previous owners to the current tenant upon the 8 acres that today are Owl Acres. "Owner" seems a bit less less appropriate these days. "Steward," perhaps.

The Dammeiers Come to Stay

Updated July 15, 2024

Henry F. Dammeier, the son of Sophia Prasse and Henry Dammeier was born somewhere in Germany on August 4, 1827. At some time before his 28th birthday, he emigrated from Germany to the United States, settling in Shannon, Carroll county, Illinois. Dorothea Marie Brockmayer, was also born in Germany in 1830. She, too, emigrated to […]

History

Photo from Jasper County, Iowa Recorder's Book 156, Page 180. Feb. 9, 1888 purchase by Frank S. and William Carrier and their wives of the 2, half-quarter sections (163 acres) that contain the future Owl Acres.

Prosperous Farmers: Abraham and Sarah Carrier

Updated July 8, 2024

The Carrier family was prominent in Jasper County during the last half of the 19th century, and for a short time, two Carrier brothers owned the land around Owl Acres. Abraham Carrier was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia, on Christmas Day, 1825. When he was ten years old, his parents, Salamon Carrier and Elizabeth Halvia […]

History

Aedes vexans as you don’t usually see or care about. A little insect sips nectar at a yellow flower with spiky white petals, moving pollen about and generally being a good citizen. Male Inland Floodwater Mosquito with his feather-like antennae, large compound eyes, crystalline wings and long, delicate legs, goes about his business, mindless of the evil machinations of the females.

Vexation: Mosquitoes

Updated July 1, 2024

For the past two years, mosquitoes have been practically absent from the landscape on Owl Acres. The years were dry, verging on drought. This year, we’ve had a fair amount of rain. It’s caused flooding, as well as filling up ponds and streams and ditches. It’s a perfect year for the dreaded mosquito. Mosquitoes are […]

Insects and Spiders

Contrasts: White Avens and Blackseed Plantain

Updated June 24, 2024

We fenced the yard for the dogs last summer and that necessarily created some new disturbed soil. This soil welcomed the seeds of a couple of native plants, and they’re growing happily against the fence. One is white avens, and another is blackseed plantain. They’re not new to Owl Acres, but they have claimed a […]

Plants

Road-killed snapping turtle lost the battle with its only predator.

Survival: Snapping Turtle

Updated June 17, 2024

Why did the snapping turtle cross the road? To find a good place to lay her eggs. Why did somebody deliberately run over her? Good question. Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) aren’t usually out and about on the road past Owl Acres. They’d rather stay near the creek. The females have one imperative this time of […]

Reptiles

Blue green lichen on walnut bark. The lichen is tight to the surface, like paint.

Productive Partnerships: Lichens

Updated June 10, 2024

Lichens—they’re everywhere. I recently traveled to the temperate rainforest of the Oregon coast and was intrigued with the profusion of lichens that grace this area. But you don’t need a rainforest to support lichens. Some 478 species of lichens live in Iowa, lots of them on Owl Acres. Lichens are often mistaken for moss, but […]

Fungus

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