Our Window on Nature

Botanists rely on Latin names for plants to avoid confusion, since the flora they work with contains thousands of species, some of them common to many different lands. But it also strips away most of the romance. Would you be as interested in the appearance of a Houstonia caerulea as you might be about seeing a quaker-lady? Or does the pompous sound of Saponaria officinalis delight your ears as much as its other name, bouncing bet? Probably not.

So after we concede the absolute and concrete necessity of a system of scientific nomenclature, we intend to devote this column to more engaging - and colorful - names for our North American wildflowers.

Some herbs get their names simply to describe a part of the plant. For example, you would expect an umbrella-leaf to have leaves shaped like an umbrella — it does. And you’d expect the leaves of the birdfoot violet to be many lobed — they are. Anyone who has seen a beavertail or a fishook cactus recognizes immediately the source of the name. But so far none of them relates to the flower. (Read the rest …)

This weekend (March 3rd) there will be an eclipse of the moon — at least for those on the East Coast. The total eclipse will last for over an hour. A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, earth, and moon line up with the earth blocking the sun’s rays from striking the moon.

Unlike a solar eclipse, you need take no special precautions to watch the moon partially disappear on Saturday night. Even a total eclipse is only a partial disappearance because some of the sun’s light will be refracted (bent) by the earth’s atmosphere.

Depending upon the amount of cloud cover and dust in the atmosphere, the moon should take on a reddish or coppery cast during the eclipse. According to the Sky Tonight website

Only in New England, Québec, and the Maritime Provinces does the sky become fully dark before the end of totality. Farther west, the eclipse is nearing its end when the Moon rises …

If you live west of the Rockies, you’ll miss this show.

But all is not lost. This year will have several total eclipses of the moon, and on August 28th those of us in the West will see the display while those in the East miss out.

Since the eclipse will already be in progress as the moon rises, take a few minutes Friday evening to mark the location on the horizon near your home. That way on Saturday evening you’ll be able to view the event without missing the opening act.

The moon image was taken from the Distant Suns computer program. Distant Suns has both a free and a commercial software program that will display the night sky right on your computer. It’s what I use to help me explore the heavens. Check out their website at http://www.distantsuns.com/.

Each winter we have an influx of avian visitors from farther north. Most are small and visit our feeders, but a few larger birds congregate in our area. Within walking distance there are several roosts where we can catch the TV show if we get there early enough in the morning.

For the non-birders among you, TVs are Turkey Vultures. With a red featherless face, many consider them ugly up close, but when they soar in their search for food they are graceful masters of the sky.

Although they join together in roosts at night, they spend much of their day in solitary flight, but first they have to get warm. During the night the Turkey Vultures let their body temperature drop by as much as four degrees to save energy.

If they have found some protected area for the evening hours, they will edge out into the sun as soon as it comes up. And often, before they take to the air, they will spread their wings to bask in the early warming rays. Not a bad idea on these chilly mornings.

It’s the stuff of science fiction flicks - a species multiplying without restraint until it covers the earth. In one version, insects with no natural enemies soon devour all the plant life on the planet. Or the reverse, a plant extends its tendrils around all other living things, slowly smothering them to death.

Luckily, when plants and animals evolve in a particular habitat together, each species has its own control in the form of other plants or animals that keep its growth within bounds - as long as man doesn’t interfere.

But it seems to be the nature of mankind to always want to improve things just a little. Sometimes we do it by accident, but as often it’s a purposeful intrusion. And sometimes the result is havoc. (Read the rest …)

Sometimes instincts win out over logic. Many creatures have actions that just come naturally and they can’t help themselves. Ducks swim, frogs hop, birds fly. And beavers chop down trees.

In each case they are displaying their adaptation to a habitat, and if a beaver didn’t use its big teeth to imitate a lumberjack it couldn’t use the resulting lumber to build a lodge, make a dam, or store the tastier bits of wood for a winter meal.

Recently while exploring the banks of a local pond I found the distinctive marks of a beaver — chips of wood chiseled from the base of a tree, the clean cuts made by teeth designed for a specific job. And not just one tree, but on over a dozen, large and small. But the reason it’s happening right now is a bit of a mystery.

The pond is at its lowest level in the last ten seasons, and unless we get a deluge it’s unlikely that any water will overflow the banks this year. The only time I’ve seen beavers work hard at a dam is when there was running water to control, and their is no indication of dam-building at the only potential outlet. And it seems a bit late in the year to stock up the pantry, especially with such hefty pieces of timber.

But there might be another reason. The beaver isn’t the only forester working around the fringes of this pond. After years of neglect a local resident has taken on the job of clearing away much of the brush and brambles, cattails and small trees that have been encroaching on the fishermen’s access trails.

I think the beaver perceives these changes to it’s home turf as either a threat or a challenge. You can sense the competition when the base of some trees are half chewed through, and six inches higher there is the clean cut of a chain saw. Whatever the cause, this is one busy beaver. Perhaps he’s just trying to stock up on building materials before they all disappear.

The Beaver