faulker015

Here on our Littleton, Colorado, farm, I do not bother raking the leaves.  While we have a large number of deciduous trees and shrubs, I'm inclined to let nature handle their autumn debris.  Besides, it can be entertaining, watching the leaf armies race across our driveway and "lawns." In this semiarid climate, the leaves rarely get bogged down by precipitation; they may be stabilized by a snowfall for a day or two but the intense Colorado sun rapidly frees them to rustle across the landscape once again.  Eventually, the armies settle down beneath the shrub lines and wood borders, providing fertilizer for next spring's growth. It's a win-win situation.  Entertainment and no work for me and natural nutrients for our trees and shrubs.  The mounded leaves also offer winter protection for many invertebrates, at least until they are discovered by the birds, mice, raccoons and skunks that visit the farm.

Walking through South Platte Park the other day, I looked ahead and saw bright red masses on the side of the trail.  Initially thought to be some type of fungus or slime mold, I found that they were large clusters of small bugs.....milkweed bug nymphs to be exact. Found throughout North America, from southern Canada to Mexico, these true bugs feed exclusively on milkweed plants.  Eggs are repeatedly laid on the plants by the adult female; during her month of adulthood, she will lay thousands of eggs.  Upon hatching, the nymphs molt five times before reaching the adult stage; each nymph phase is about 6 days in length.  While the elongated adults have a striking black and orange pattern on their dorsal surface, the younger nymphs are bright orange-red.  Both adults and nymphs may cluster where milkweed seed pods are abundant and their bright coloration warns potential predators that they are toxic (due to compounds ingested from milkweed sap). Unlike most insects...

On our way out of Pensacola, Florida, this morning, my wife and I visited Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park, southwest of the city.  The Preserve's 4200 acres stretch east of Perdido Bay, occupying (and expanding) the former site of the Perdido Pitcher Plant Prairie.  Known for its orchids and carnivorous plants, the refuge is accessed via a network of earthen trails and boardwalks. Short on time and de-energized by the heat, we settled on the Tarkiln Bayou Trail (1.5 miles roundtrip), which leads southwest from the parking lot on State Route 293.  This paved walkway first crosses a woodland of slash pine and saw palmetto and then snakes atop boardwalks where pitcher plants (primarily of the white-topped species) abound in the shallow wetlands.  The trail ends on the east shore of scenic Tarkiln Bayou, which is surrounded by tidal marsh and empties into Perdido Bay. This State Park is named for tar kilns, locally used in the 1800s to process pine tar that was collect...

Today, I made a circuit across the Swiss Plateau using the country's fine train network; smooth and efficient, the trains provide an excellent means to explore the landscape.  The Plateau region, nestled between the Alps and the Jura mountains, is characterized primarily by rolling farmlands (dairy cattle and sheep predominate), dotted with lakes and scenic towns. As a birder, I was pleased to see a large number of black kites and red kites on my journey, joined by a half dozen white storks.  Though I passed through Lausanne and Bern, my primary stop was at Neuchatel, at the base of the Jura Mountains and on the north shore of Lac de Neuchatel.  A visit to the splendid lakeside park turned up several more European birds (red-crested pochards, chaffinches and black redstarts, to name a few) and offered a spectacular view of the Alps to the south. On my final leg of the journey, I found that vineyards are abundant along the base of the Jura Mountains, certainly a reflection...