When friends help you learn

I like throwing quizzes out there from time to time, and I think I stumped a few of you with my nut photo in the last post:

A couple of you, though, correctly identified it as a Beech nut hull. Good eyes, Jain and Nina! To be fair, anyone reading the post who lives west of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, or Louisiana, or most of Canada (except the extreme eastern-most portion of the country) would not be familiar with the American Beech tree or its nut because it only grows in the eastern third of the continent.

I made this quiz a little tougher than it should have been, because the nut hull was photographed from a funny angle, and it was seriously sprung open. I don't know that I have any photos of a closed Beech nut, because they all seem to be open and empty by the time I find them.


I want to thank Ruthie and Julie, who both guessed different species of hazelnuts. After doing a little research, I can understand their guesses. The reason I am thanking them is because they helped me to identify the American Hazelnut. When images of that shrub's fruit popped up on my computer screen today, I said, "No way!" Ladies, you helped me identify something that I photographed 2 years ago but had no idea how to begin looking up.

American Hazelnut fruit, photographed August 16, 2008
I was very excited about this, because these photos were taken just down the road from my house. I had no idea hazelnuts grew in Ohio, let alone right in my own neighborhood! I walked down the road this afternoon and found the plant in the spot I remembered. I was able to locate and harvest a handful of nuts, but I would say most had already been snatched up by the local wildlife. Next spring I will be on the look-out for the teeny, tiny female flowers that the shrub produces (the male flower is a catkin, some of which were still hanging from the branches), and will try to harvest some more nuts earlier in the season before the squirrels, chipmunks, deer and Blue Jays, to name a few, beat me to them. I read today that they grow well in the shade, and are good understory plants. Hmmmmm.... we have lots of shade and understory plants growing on our property. Could be something to try establishing in our land.

Thanks, friends, for helping me learn something new!

Can you name it?

Name that nut!

You better get it right, or Dave's going to throw a pile of leaves at you!

Boo!

If you are out hiking in the woods this Halloween, keep your eye out for the Giant Walking Stick!!!!

If you aren't careful, he will grab you with his huge octopus-like tentacles...

And drag you back to his lair...

And you will never be heard from again because he will eat your bwwwwaaaaaiiiiinzzzz!

Happy Halloween!!

It pays to look twice

This weekend, I was in need of places to hang my bird feeders to dry after a thorough cleaning. I usually opt for shepherd's hooks to act as drying racks. That means that sometimes I need to displace a hanging basket or two that is occupying said shepherd's hooks.

Just before I reached to remove one of the hanging baskets, an unidentified blob-like object on the hook caught my eye. At first glance I didn't know what it was. I thought it might be
a.) some dirt
b.) some poo
c.) larval form of unknown bug


This image doesn't do justice to my first glance at the mystery object, since its shape is slightly more telling from this angle. In case you haven't identified it yet, it's a frog.


A sweet little Gray Tree Frog, methinks.


Except I'm not sure. We have both the Gray Tree Frog and Cope's Gray Tree Frog in southern Ohio, and the only way you can tell them apart is by the rate of their trill (Cope's is faster and less melodious). Since this frog wasn't making any noise, its true identity remains a mystery.


What good camouflage this would be if he were on a TREE!
I was worried about this tiny frog making it through the night since the temperatures would be dipping down into the low 40's. I know frogs have mechanisms for dealing with cold temperatures, but they are usually burrowed underground by the time it gets really cold. I checked in on him this morning, and he was still there, and still breathing. Later in the day, though, I became worried that he make an easy meal for the Blue Jays that were hovering around in the trees very near this shepherd's hook. I checked the hook early this evening, and froggy was not to be found. Either he was able to move to a safer/warmer location, or he did indeed become someone's meal.


Despite his exquisite natural defense of camouflage, he was out of place on that hook. If he caught my eye, it's not hard to imagine that the sharp eye of a hungry bird would have seen him, too.

Room with a view

When you have a house in the woods, it's hard to go wrong with a window view. The views from the house are great, as are the views from the guestudio. But I have a new favorite perch, one that looks like it will make for good birding come winter. Here, have a look for yourself.

Here's a slightly more magnified view.


Pretty nice, huh? Some might say that the seat looking out onto this is "fit for royalty." Can you guess where it is?

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Here's a hint, it shares the room with this:


That's right, the best seat in the house is... the throne!

Nice views can be had from the main room, too, though. It looks really nice during the day when lots of natural light is streaming through the windows.



I can't WAIT until its finished!

Asters aplenty

These days I'm enjoying all of the asters that are blooming in the woodlands, meadows, fields and roadside ditches. They seem to be everywhere. The aster family (also known as the composite family) is a large one, and contains many flowers that we may not immediately identify as asters, such as Dandelions, Chicory, Ironweed, Joe Pye Weed, and yarrow to name a few, as well as various coneflowers, sunflowers and daisies (the family is also called the daisy or sunflower family). But come fall, I think many of us could look at a plant and correctly conclude "That's an aster."

As to what species in particular, I can only readily identify the showiest of them all, the New England Aster, shown here:




In the same field I found this specimen...

... and this one that is similar, but obviously not the same.


In our woods we have lots of these, which I believe to be White Wood Aster.

It seems to change color from white and yellow to pink and purple with age.
If anyone out there knows of a good guide to asters, I'd love to hear about it!