Fauna and other natural things

[apl68]

This morning I was at the city park and saw a little amphibious bulldozer at work collecting the alligator grass around the banks.  Over the last few years the areas around the banks have been silting up and getting infested with weeds.  They're now trying to get the mess cleaned out to keep the pond from reverting to swamp.  It's a reminder that even our "natural" areas often require quite a bit of management.  We try to guide nature into directions we want it to go in.  It's our niche in the ecology.

[paultuttle]

This morning I was at the city park and saw a little amphibious bulldozer at work collecting the alligator grass around the banks.  Over the last few years the areas around the banks have been silting up and getting infested with weeds.  They're now trying to get the mess cleaned out to keep the pond from reverting to swamp.  It's a reminder that even our "natural" areas often require quite a bit of management.  We try to guide nature into directions we want it to go in.  It's our niche in the ecology.

Is the phrase I highlighted above a new way to say "beaver"? j/k (big grin)

_____

My own recent encounter: This morning, on my daily walk, I returned home to find a somewhat unafraid rabbit on our front lawn. I was within 10 feet of it (!!).

[mamselle]

A young turtle sunning itself on the log in the middle of the river allowed me to take a few photos.

Turtle photo-ops are rare.

M.

[apl68]

This morning I was at the city park and saw a little amphibious bulldozer at work collecting the alligator grass around the banks.  Over the last few years the areas around the banks have been silting up and getting infested with weeds.  They're now trying to get the mess cleaned out to keep the pond from reverting to swamp.  It's a reminder that even our "natural" areas often require quite a bit of management.  We try to guide nature into directions we want it to go in.  It's our niche in the ecology.

Is the phrase I highlighted above a new way to say "beaver"? j/k (big grin)

_____

My own recent encounter: This morning, on my daily walk, I returned home to find a somewhat unafraid rabbit on our front lawn. I was within 10 feet of it (!!).

That was a pretty bold rabbit!

I found out more about the work at the pond today.  I had to speak at the local Rotary Club at lunch, and the Mayor happened to be there.  She talked like that odd amphibious work vehicle was a bit of a home-built job.  Apparently the guy who operates it is much in demand regionally for cleaning out ponds.  Most of the work will be on the upper pond (The one upstream of the park causeway).  The lower pond is larger and less clogged, and the Game and Fish Commission's wildlife biologists have advised that leaving most of the existing grass in place there will provide good fish habitat.

[apl68]

I saw the amphibious pond rehabilitation work going on again this morning.  Wish I knew who it was who's doing it.  With a job like that, he'd probably be an interesting guy to talk to.

[apl68]

This morning I watched a lizard scurrying around the library's front entrance.  It froze for a while, and we stared at each other.  Then it turned, and the light caught it just right to see what a nice sheen it had.  Then it ran and hid in a crack not far from the entrance.  I hope it doesn't manage to wander inside, or it will create a panic, and I'll have to try to catch it, and might accidentally hurt it in the process.

Usually we just see them around the staff entrance in back.  We've had green anole lizards living back there for as long as I've been here.  Wonder how many generations of lizards I've seen there?

Even in an ordinary small town, you see so many amazing pieces of God's creation running/flying/swimming around.

[Thursday's_Child]

There's an amazing earthquake swarm going on in Iceland!  Map here:  https://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/

[mythbuster]

Here's a good explanation of what's happening in Iceland right now. I got hooked on this You Tube Channel when planning my trip to the Big Island. They have short weekly updates on volcano activity around the world. Volcanos are cool and much more common that I ever thought.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcFgbid8d9A

[mamselle]

Yes, this one's good, too:

    https://youtu.be/fcFgbid8d9A

M.

[Thursday's_Child]

Here's a good explanation of what's happening in Iceland right now. I got hooked on this You Tube Channel when planning my trip to the Big Island. They have short weekly updates on volcano activity around the world. Volcanos are cool and much more common that I ever thought.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcFgbid8d9A

And, it's now erupting!  There are several live-streams on youtube already....

[Langue_doc]

Deer sightings in two different states. The first sighting was during an evening walk when I heard a rustle in the bushes on the other side of the road. First came a deer, skipping across the path in the middle. The partner paused, saw me across the street, and just stood there looking at me. We must have stayed put for at least 5-10 minutes. The following week, in another state, we saw a couple of the most gorgeous colored deer, one with magnificent antlers. They took off, but not before we had a good look at them. In just a few months, around hunting season, the golden brown color will turn into an unattractive dark brown.

On the way out, I was driving along CT 15, enjoying not only the truck-free traffic but also the trees on either side of the parkway and the medians. On the way back, just a couple of weeks later, I was dismayed to see that many of the trees in the medians had been cut down leaving just brown earth and a few stumps that were scheduled to be removed. There were huge swaths of bare earth where the trees had been and machinery. Oh, Connecticutt, how could you cut down so many mature trees in the middle of a hot summer!

[mamselle]

It's sickening.

I've seen it in places where I was sure the whole point was just to give someone's uncle or brother or son with a landscape team some work.

We've got some kind of split-the-sewage thing going on, which will be good in the long run, but they just tore up a whole nature path, complete with wooden boardwalk, to do a part of the split-off.

Mad.

M.

[apl68]

On baking asphalt
A new cicada carcass
Crunches underfoot

[mamselle]

It's sickening.

I've seen it in places where I was sure the whole point was just to give someone's uncle or brother or son with a landscape team some work.

We've got some kind of split-the-sewage thing going on, which will be good in the long run, but they just tore up a whole nature path, complete with wooden boardwalk, to do a part of the split-off.

Mad.

M.

Ok, so, maybe "modified..." hmm...not "rapture," but "modified foreboding," maybe...

They did tear up a part of a garden but they left the fenced in parts alone and they've already finished, re-covered with dirt, and spread straw over all the area they tore up, so it looks like more respect was given the area than I'd anticipated.

Part of the pollinator garden was messed up, but they left the part of that that was in line with the other garden areas, and they didn't even knock the sign down, so it's less upsetting than it might have been (I'd been avoiding it for the past week, even after the "path closed" signs came down because I just figured it would make me mad...)

So, could have been worse, and I do agree with the splitting of sewage from run-off water that is the underlying MO of this project (which has been progressing for a few years now, from one watershed area to another). It puts less strain on the water purification facilities and lets cleaner run-off go straight back into the water cycle, which is wise.

So, maybe a 1/2-win//1/2-win??

M. 

[apl68]

On the morning trail
A turtle in no hurry
So I step around