And it was Friday...the 13th...

I went to my regular CrossFit time and was able to write up a warm up for anyone else who happened to show up.

So myself and my friend Bill were the only ones to show up. My membership ends on Monday so I figured this would be my last day in the Wellness Center.

The COVID-19 was splashed in the news everywhere. The amount of people on the other side of the gym was diminished greatly.

Our coach was in the process of renting a place for us. Everyone was excited. Me? Not so much. I told Bill that after this, I was not going to be around 'crowds'. Not so much for myself but I need to keep my husband safe.

I hit Walmart afterward and picked up some fresh lettuce and fruits and some pepper. I saw people with gallons of milk in their carts and signs up with limits on certain goods. The isle for hand sanitizers was barren. I know you can make that stuff fairly easily and I had everything at home in my bag of vet/human first aid things.

I picked up veggie seeds and an extra bag of food for Charlie.

Then I headed for the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

And we hiked the Wintergreen Trail.

There I am a rare photo thanks to Bill of me after climbing a hillside to 

show Bill one of the ice caves.

Pictures from our hike.

Bottom of fern leaf on the bluff

Infrared shot from the lookout

And of course our pace setter...Charlie...

When I got home I opened my emails.

Banking should be on line or the drive up.
Master Naturalist Class was now cancelled.
All WI schools were cancelled as of Wednesday.
The VA had procedures for appts. Line up to get in the parking lot to get screened. Telehealth.
The nursing homes instituted more severe restrictions.
Local restaurants asked patrons to 'order out' and not eat in.

I spent most of the night awake even though I was tired.

How was our life going to change?
I didn't have to really wonder very much. Things were going to be a crapshoot.

I felt pretty lucky. Spring was coming.
Foraging in the woods would be a wonderful way to get exercise and fresh wild veggies.

~~~~~
And as always. Things are rapidly changing again today, Sunday.
The schools are closed now and won't extend until Wednesday.
A tent is being set up to triage people in the hospital parking lot.

I am done being a part of the madness. I am going to actively become isolated for my husband's sake.

Scuds, Fry, and Marigolds

My dry notes from yesterday.

March 4th.
Temperature 39 degrees F.
Valley in the Drifless Region by a large spring.
Head of the spring.
Amphipod Scuds were emerging from the sandy area among the grasses and vegetation.

Fry: Just hatched brown trout found in the stream in several spots.
Egg sacs?

Trout spotted in various areas.

Evening saw and heard Mourning Doves.
Question: Do they migrate as I never here them during the winter in this area.

Now for how I write things.

I took off hiking with Charlie with the goal of going to the Big Spring in the valley. It is a rather long hike and I had to follow the snowmobile trail in part to get there. I should have brought my Yak Traks. The gravel road was mushy, the snowmobile trail was packed ice and the side of the trail is still nearly knee deep in places.
I made my way over 3 or 4 stream crossings as the creek meanders back and forth across the valley.
I found the remains of a doe that had been stripped by coyotes, birds, and probably 'possum.
At one of the crossings I stopped to just watch the water for a bit.

What I saw was pretty amazing.

From above, while standing, it looked like some tiny tadpoles trying to swim upstream.
So I got down on my knees [ouch] and got close with my little pocket camera and waited. I took a series of shots hoping to catch the little buggers and this is what showed up.
Not a tadpole. I think frogs may live in quieter ponds, but hey, I am just learning.

A Baby Trout! I found out later that the proper name is an Alevin which is still eating off the egg, then it becomes a Fry. I think this is a Fry. Trout Lifecycle.
Who knew I'd even get excited over this? See those little bubble like things? I think they are eggs waiting to hatch!

Charlie and I followed the tracks of the 4 wheelers. The snow where I usually find Skunk Cabbage was still over knee deep.
I finally made it to the Big Spring.

The spring flows out of this hillside and joins the creek. The water flows even in the coldest parts of winter and covers these mossy rocks with frost.

Below is the view from the wall looking towards the valley. This is where it gets exciting. This is where I've never really sat and 'looked' before.

Below the arrow points to the Marsh marigolds that are just coming up through the water.

Then at my feet....

I catch some sense of movement. Again I have to find a way to get down close to the water. These little bugs are flipping and moving in bits and pieces with the slow flow of the spring. Those are granules of sand below them.

It isn't until I get home and look closely at the photos that I see the ones buried in the sand or...are they coming out of the sand?

I know so little!
I discover that they are Amphiopod Scuds and there are quite a few varieties of them.  These guys are notable because the jerk and swim sideways!
They roll up like a rolly polly and then spring open. Very fun to watch!
They eat everything dead vegetation, plant matter, and dead critters that are found in the stream.

They seem pretty insignificant except that they are only found in fresh clean water!
That makes sense. No one visits this place except me I think. The cattle left this land 15 years ago.

So.
The instructors want us to have a 'notebook' to present at class. So I am going to use a larger notebook and print the photos of the interesting critters I've found so far and glue them in my notebook. I am not going to try and draw these!

They would become Stick Figures!

I think I better print up some photos to glue in my journal!
Yes?

Being that Naturalist

The simple definition is: One who studies Natural History.

Or...

A Naturalist is someone who studies the patterns of Nature.

Oh, well now I feel better.

I am in the 'wonder' stage right now. Our instructor had told us to go out and just sit in a spot and wait for a while. Look around, use all of your senses, and just observe.

Okay.
I'm supposed to take a notebook and write what I see and draw things that I see.
I am SO much better with a camera.

However I decided to do just that. I was going to make my daily trip to the creek anyway with Charlie.
So I found a huge rock to sit on and did some pondering.
A Naturalist is someone who studies the patterns of Nature.

Well, I have been doing that for about 20 some years while living on this place. But now I had a chance to learn much more.

I started to pick out some of the green blue stones [limestone bits] that I wanted to use to make a 'fairy house barn' with. I watched Charlie wander around close by smelling the scents of the animals who had recently come down into the creek for water.

After a bit I just thought I'd look down and see what I could see.
Tiny rocks. Nothing exciting. There was one of those bluish pebbles I could use.

But...wait!

There was a funky looking almost clear bug moving around. If I hadn't just sat still and gazed at the water between my boots I would have missed this.
I didn't know what I was looking at, so I took a photo for when I got back home and could look up aquatic creatures in one of the Handouts I'd gotten.

Then I noticed these rocks that had little piles patterns of rocks the size of sand on them.

What was holding them together?

So I pulled one off a rock and pulled it apart.

 Curious. A tiny larvae?

Some sort of living thing. Immediately I felt sort of bad that I'd opened it.

I had NO clue what it was. However I did recall seeing this sort of thing before and just ignoring it while I was seeking out other things along the creek.

Caddisfly larvae of some sort. They build stone houses around themselves and eventually emerge as a tiny fly that trout eat. Found in healthy and clean waters.

Wow. How cool was this? How many years have I walked right over these little wonders and never knew what they were?

I have to admit. I was pretty darned excited at this new discovery.

So now I was able to recognize what this was. Little houses for Caddisfly larvae on rocks that I'd walked over and glanced at. These are covered with silt.

Last but not least.
My love for rocks. I do love looking at rocks. When we were kids, Grandma used to take us Rock Hunting in a different part of Wisconsin. We'd hunt pretty rocks and often could find agates. I'm in a different geological region so I am still trying to learn what our rocks are.

I think this is a Stromatolite?
I could be all wrong about this. But now I am on a specific search for a really good example.

I think I have some rocks that have much neater fossils in them than this one in my garden but it is still under about 6 inches of ice and snow.

Well, I best get to my paper journal now and write that rather dry and factual entry.

I think I've been an informal Naturalist for a long time now.
I'm naturally curious about the woods, the creek, and the land around me. I enjoy watching the creek change over the years as well as the land itself.

First impression of the Naturalist Class

Actually a Master Naturalist Class.

First impression.
5 out of 22 participants are under retirement age.

Most every single person in the room except perhaps 4 of us have had formal training in Biology, Ecology, or some higher degrees of study. Let's just say, as many listed their colleges and degrees and Masters degrees, I started feeling smaller and smaller....
wondering how I could crawl under the table when it came time to introduce myself.

Then I had to speak out to the others.
So much I wanted to say but after listening to all the degrees I just said:

My name is Val Ewing.
I came to this part of Wisconsin by accident. I met a fellow on a Wagon Train and fell in love and moved here.
I don't have a degree in any of this, just life experience.
Why do I have an interest in this class?
Hmmm, well the first year I had a tiny pocket camera I decided to go out and find every wild flower and plant I could daily and record where I found it, when I found it, and record what it looked like.
What was my inspiration?
[Goodness so many things to say but I picked the one thing that really stood out the most.]

My Grandmother Pearl was a Naturalist of sorts. She could hear a bird and identify it, she could walk past plants and tell you if you could eat them. She took us berry picking in the wild woods and we encountered bears. She knew her fish, and she knew wild life tracks. In fact, I was pretty sure she knew everything about anything in Nature.
I wanted to be like my Grandmother.

The fellow next to me didn't have a degree either but was eloquent in his little speech talking about how he liked to roam and stop to look at things and wonder why. [I wished I'd used that line!]

The binders we were given are worth the price of the class itself. But they are huge and weigh a ton! I've already found a hand out that I think Allison and I could really have fun with as a pocket guide.
Wonderful Wacky Water Critters published by the University of WI.

So it looks like I'm going to have to write a field journal. Most of the samples given are so dry.
Saw a Robin, 35 degrees out, sunny, ...date
and location...

Meh. You all know me. I just can't write like that.
More like.
I was wandering down to the creek when I spotted the first green leaves of a wild strawberry plant. I sat on a log to ponder it for a while and listened the the chickadee above me and I'm sure I heard a Robin. And of course I'd go off on a tangent regarding life in the forest and regrowth including wondering ...if the strawberries will be so sweet...and yadda, yadda....

Uh oh, I am in trouble!