Non-native

My post and photo yesterday featuring a beautiful ditch lily (tiger day lily) against a dark background generated some discussion. Is the plant invasive or non-native (both). Are ditch lilies harmful? Depending on what you read, they can be as the plant tends to soak in nearly all moisture - robbing the moisture from neighboring (native) plants. And the plant readily spreads and is easy to establish.

Yet, many people - myself included, enjoy the tiger lilies. Their colorful blossoms add a pleasant touch to many miles of drab roadside ditches. Can there be a happy-medium when…

Invasive? I Didn’t Know That

Drive just about anywhere this time of year and you are likely to see colorful orange lilies (aka: ditch lilies, tiger lilies, etc.) in full bloom. Earlier today I was fortunate to find this blossom among many with a dark background behind it. Seeing how pretty it was, I needed to document it, and I did.

Out of curiosity I did a little research on ditch lilies and was surprised and disappointed to learn they are an invasive plant. Depending where you look on the Internet, some sites even warn of the danger of ditch lilies - especially how they can outcompete native plant species.

Having read the domination-type growth pattern information, I plan to try to establish a better plant in our area now hosting ditch lilies. My plan is to…

Showing Restraint

Bright and early this morning Kristy and I pulled the boat to Volga Lake to catch bluegills, crappies, and maybe a trophy catfish. According to the weekly fishing report in the paper and online, our chance were pretty good for enjoying a meal of fresh fish tonight.

Well, like anything you read in the paper or on the Internet, reality might vary some from the written/typed word. In several hours of fishing Kristy pulled in two little bluegills. I, on the other hand, restrained my angling skills so any/all fish that did enter our area would be likely to thrill Kristy. That is what you do when you are a sensitive, loving spouse - you refrain from catching fish so others can.

While I was holding back on the fishing I was…

My Project is Ready

For the past few days I have been hinting that I found something special and was working on a project associated with what I found. As of a few minutes ago, I posted a video “Thank You” to Paul, Eric, and the leadership at the City of Waverly for their wildflower plantings. You can view the video at this link:

Waverly Wildflowers

This picture was from my wildflower wanderings this morning.

Softshell Turtle on the Run!

If I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes, I may not have believed it. Had I not recorded it, you may not have believed it.

While paddling on the Mississippi River today I paused at a sandbar to stretch. As I roamed the vegetation I came across this softshell turtle that was moving from where it had dropped eggs back to the river. As I followed it, the turtle took off in a mad dash to reach the water. Had the turtle been chasing me, I am not sure I could have out run it. Who knew softshell turtles could move so fast! Not me!!

Be sure to click on the link to watch the turtle run.

More From My Project

As I did yesterday, today after work I roamed wildflowers to soak in the color, the sights, the sounds, and the overall ambience a prairie habitat provides. During my outing I recorded many images. To show the wonder of a prairie I plan to put together a presentation for viewers to enjoy. For today I will post a few samples for your consideration.

How Have I Missed This?

Every now and then I somehow “stumble” upon something that nearly takes my breath away. Today was one of those days.

Since I want to do this justice, tonight I am going to share a preview of what I found. It may be soon or it could be longer before I share more of this beautiful area with details. For now these will have to suffice.

Ground Level

From what I could tell this morning, rain showers were headed our way. Expecting to get wet if I waited too long, I ventured out into the shaded timber early. It seems the low light levels matched the low shooting levels since almost all of my photos were created at ground level. That’s OK since the lower among us…

Dripping Neck Strap

For the first time this season I found fragrant water lilies in close enough range for photography. As often happens when I photograph water lilies, there seem to be so many options for images of the pretty white blossoms. And, time after time I go home with very similar compositions to what I made the last dozen times.

Today I was well on my way to repeating history - producing water lily images that nearly matched previous water lily pictures. This time though, I stopped what I was doing and put in more effort to be creative. Let me walk you through my process.

My first image was taken with my…

A Pause for Thoughts

This afternoon I met with a friend of mine, his father-in-law, and many other friends gathered to remember and say farewell after my friend’s wife died too young and unexpectedly.

Denise was a friendly lady - in fact I never saw her without a smile on her face. Sadly, cancer took her much too soon. Yet another good person lost to that nasty disease.

I have often said if there is anything good about a funeral or Celebration of Life, it is that those that gather reconnect. There is a party of sorts, minus one person. There is sadness, yet there are smiles and even laughter. Still, there is a sense of loss that for me causes me to reflect on my own mortality. I silently think about where I am in life, where I want to be, what do I need to do to get my list checked off? Am I happy with my status or is change needed?

As I drove back from the remembrance I paused for a few minutes along the river. I needed…

More to Come

This will be a very brief post. I paddled early this morning. Along the way i say great blue herons and I photographed them. More to come!

Breakfast Club Routine

Early in the morning along the river is the location of the Breakfast Club, all doing their routine. It is also a time to eat or be eaten as the predator/prey interactions are frequent. Some die so others might live. It happens every day, we just don’t often see it.

Today I watched hungry frogs, hungry birds, a moth victim, and fresh water bryozoans expanded - an indicator of a diverse habitat.

Time to Say “Thank You!”

Sometimes in life we don’t have the opportunity to say “Thank You!” as quickly as we would like. Today, 15-years after the fact, I was able to express my gratitude for assistance received during very difficult times for so many in our corner of the world.

On May 25, 2008 an EF-5 tornado struck Butler County. Most people remember that Parkersburg was hit, but the tornado remained on the ground for 43-miles, devastating everything in its path, including other communities and rural residences. Sadly, lives were lost in the storm. Many, many other lives were changed forever by the incident.

Following the tornado, Bremer County and nearly every county in Iowa were hit by record-breaking flooding. Again, so many lives and communities were changed forever.

During both incidents Butler and Bremer County – along with other counties in the paths – received assistance from the Iowa National Guard, including soldiers based out of Waterloo. During those incidents the soldiers responded to the tasks, completed their missions, and left the area for their next call. I was never able to say “Thank You!”

Today the Waterloo-based 133 – " Ironman Battalion” invited area people to a “meet and greet” of sorts. We heard a presentation by several soldiers, talked with the soldiers, viewed their equipment, and for those interested – we flew over the Cedar Valley in a Chinook helicopter.

During the presentation one soldier – Colonel Hunter – mentioned responding to Parkersburg and Waverly in 2008. My time to say thank you had come! I watched and waited and finally had an opportunity to shake the hand of a gentleman that made a difference to so many people. Granted, he was part of a team that made a difference, but to me he was the person I could thank on behalf of all of the guardsmen and women.

Colonel Hunter, I again thank you for your service in 2008 and beyond. Your leadership, integrity, and belief in our country has benefitted each of us. Know that you and your fellow soldiers were appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to talk today.

Thank you!

All of the Money$$

It doesn’t seem to matter how much money I have invested in camera equipment. Sometimes, like today, my good Nikon simply was not the correct tool for the job. My Nikon, with an off-camera flash (flash connected by a cord), was too large to physically fit in the small space allowed above a barn swallow nest.

When I was too cramped with my Nikon, I then switched to my GoPro with an auxiliary light. The GoPro fit in the small space, but could not focus as close as needed, resulting in blurry pictures.

Finally, it dawned on me that I may have the proper tool…

Not Looking…They Appear

Twice today, when I was not even looking for any outdoor or wildlife images, subjects appeared.

Subject #1 were several wild garlic plants. Quite some time has passed since I last saw wild garlic. When I did today, I paused for a minute or so to document their presence.

Subject #2 was this…

Inspired Macro Images

Unbeknownst to me a fellow emergency manager in the area is also an outdoor/wildlife photographer. Recently Jason began sharing some of his outdoor images with an emphasis on macro photos. Seeing his images was an inspiration for me to…

A World Without Birds

Imagine a world without birds. There would be a silence that is difficult to describe. We would hear noise from the wind, but no birds calling or singing… only an odd type of silence would be heard.

Gone would be the flashes of colors - the yellows, reds, blacks, whites, oranges, and sometimes blues. We would have colors of wildflowers, trees, grass, soils, and sky, but missing would be the hues that catch our eyes flitting about.

Think of how overrun with insects and grubs we would be. Conditions would be much, much worse than things can get now - all because we are missing birds.

I am not sure we always….

From an Assessment to a Vision of the Future

Every now and then I pull out and set up my camping equipment. This would be the gear I use for backpacking or wilderness paddling outings. Tonight I pulled out my tent to check it out.

I have to be honest, I have never…

Story Details

So often I learn things during my outdoor explorations. Today was another case of a woodland education.

Dotting quite a number of nettles were shiny little round balls. My first thought was I had found some sort of moth or butterfly eggs. However, with the wonder of the Internet I learned that I had found nettle galls.

Nettle galls are formed by the wood nettle gall midge - a very small/tiny insect.

As I read this information I took notice of the specification of the “wood” nettle versus stinging nettles. Until today I thought I was being affected by stinging nettles when it may well have been wood nettles. I am still researching the differences and to learn if either are native to Iowa.

Now the “balls on the nettles” story has been explained.

A second story from my trek was a feather I found on nettle leaves not far from the galls. I doubt there is much to this story since there was not a large collection of feathers to suggest a predator/prey interaction. Instead I would guess a bird simply lost the feather as it flew through the timber.

Unless I learn differently, the feather story has been explained and is now closed.

Scenes from the Scene

If you follow me on Facebook you know that last night I played a victim in a missing person exercise at the Volga River State Recreation Area. In the scenario I fell off a cliff and was lying unresponsive about one-third of the drop down from the edge of the cliff. The reality is I really was lying on a small edge one-third of the way down, but I climbed up to get into position.

I hiked and climbed to my precipice about 5:15PM. From that time on I …