One morning walk...

I do love morning walks, although they are more erratic than they used to be as I have my husband's things to attend to before I can go. I don't get to hike out for morning sunrises any more. That was such a huge pleasure for me for many years.

An interesting result of that is I've noticed a tree/bush that I have missed somehow. 

It has the most amazing flowers and wonderful scents in the spring. How it came to be here is a mystery. Probably seeds spread from birds?

The flowers are tiny but profuse and the smell is heavenly. While I was trying to get a good shot of the tiny flowers I kept hearing a noise. I looked around for bees, then recognized the sound.
Humming birds, they were darting in and out of this bush like little bombers.

The best I can figure it to be is the Sweet Olive Bush  Autumn Olive.

 

I searched for other flowering shrubs along the gravel road and found that the Nanny Berry Bush was starting to show blossoms.

I have actually enjoyed following this bush through its phases last year. The hard part was being able to recognize the leaves and shape of the bush which is crowded in among other brush along the ditch on this dead end gravel road.

By September the berries form and are bright red against the green leaves. By fall, the leaves turn read and the berries turn black-purple.

Last September--->

Nanny Berry Bush when the berries turn black.

The Highbush Cranberry bush is slowly opening its flowers. It also is located in the ditch alongside the dead end drive.

Even the grasses are flowering.

And the Dandelions are fading away sending their seeds flying on the lightest of breezes.

A missed sunrise
new surprises...

Dandelion Wishes....

Busy busy!

Between the humidity and the two days of rain, I've gotten a lot done around the inside of the house. I'd picked up 2 dozen ears of corn from a farm stand and have it all frozen and put away now.

I did laundry except for the stuff I want to hang out to dry. That will have to wait for the rain to stop. Being forced to stay inside made me clean the house and scrub the floor. Yuck. It needed it.

In between rains, I grabbed the SD card from the Trail Cam and see that this guy has been using the forest trail.

I did see him the other morning when I was checking the meadow pasture. I can't help but be in awe of our wild creatures.

I finally had some time to look at the photos I took last Friday when I hiked part of the West Ridge Trail. 

Much of the first mile of the trail is in fields. But this time I decided to really try to be interested or more aware of 'what' was in the fields around me. Normally, I consider this trail ... at least this first mile quite boring.

Charlie didn't care, nothing is boring to him. He uses his sense of smell to keep up with things that are occurring in the present and the past. Imagine being able to have his sense of smell. 

I was excited to find this grass on both sides of the trail in great abundance.

I haven't ID'd it yet, but the first thing that came to my mind was Bluestem grass.

Another delight along the trail was blackcaps. The ripe ones were so danged sweet! I had to stop often to grab some to eat.

There were a few spots where this butterfly weed grew wild.

Such a brilliant orange.

Then we went into the woods and headed down the trail for a ways.

The undergrowth was SO thick it was hard to see into the woods for any distance until we got into an area with a heavy canopy of maples.

I found Downy Rattlesnake Plantain! And...I found it flowering! Wow...wow! Wow!

It is considered an Orchid. Did you know that? I did not!

Below is a photo of one of the new plants. They are so beautiful!

When I walked the trail, I finally got to an area where I knew I should find fungi. I found them too. 

The last ones are Golden Oyster Mushrooms and I've seen them now in this same area in June and August. They thrive all summer long when they have moisture.

This was also the trail that the fellow at the bicycle shop recommended for a bicycle ride experience. I may try it. But in order to make a loop to get back to my vehicle, it will take some road riding or 9 miles of hills, roots, and rocks to get back.

I'm going to first check out another nice bike trail that was made out of an abandoned t train right away that isn't too far away. 

The Pine River Recreational Trail in Richland County. Apparently there are a multitude of trails even closer to home in my own home town. Looks like it is time for me to put on my exploring cap once more!

Fence Checking & Weird Stuff

Usually just after sunrise I head out to do a daily fence check. I can walk the meadow admire the changes each season brings. The grasses have seed heads and are waiting to drop them. 

The Queen Anne's Lace is beginning to bloom and the milkweed is just about done blossoming.

If there is a good morning dew or fog, I get to stop and admire my favorite spiders who start to appear in abundance at the end of July through August. Orb spiders.

Orb Spider shadow!!!

If I stand quietly just after dawn along our fence line, I can watch the deer emerge from the woods and cross the meadow to the east of us.

In another few weeks and up until gun season, I'll probably sneak out a few times a week to sit in a tree with my camera and watch for some does and bucks in velvet. It is fun to catch them on the trail cam but even more exciting to watch them in real time.

I collected some Queen Anne's Lace to dry while out walking.

I just love their beautiful patterns.

Down in the valley I found an area that had a curious slime mold growing all over the place. It seemed to grow at the base of little plants and small saplings. Odd, but not so odd because of all the rain and humidity we've had. It makes for perfect growing conditions for slime molds.

One of my favorite slime molds to find is fresh Dog Vomit Slime Mold. AKA: Scrambled Egg Slime Mold or Fuligo septica. It is hard to miss as it is such a bright yellow. The patch was very tiny. It probably only is visible for about 24 hours.

I was SO excited to find this tiny patch!
[I know, I am odd.]

We are coming up on the great months for finding all sorts of cool Fungi and odd things growing in the forest. I can't wait!

Anyway, this was my morning walk. Checking on my mules and checking on the fencing.

Have a great week.

Agrostology

The study of grasses.

I won't become an expert at studying grasses, but I am learning quite a bit about something I've taken for granted all along.

Grass.

Well, it is more than that. To a farmer, what grows in his/her pastures is important to know. Do they have good forage? 

The photo below is of my ridgetop neighbor's oats. She is 85 [yes! she farms at 85 after having 4 heart valves replaced last year! She moves a bit slow while getting into her big red tractors, but she still farms!]

I've always adored her yearly plantings of oats. 

Oats can be so photographic!

How about Timothy Grass?

I've seen it, I know it is in our hay and I walk through it on the roadside. 

BUT

I never thought to look at it closely or 

take its portrait.

The photos below show Timothy Grass showing off its Spikelets.

Cool word. Spikelets.

It is the flowering parts of the grasses.

This one below has a Stink Bug on it!

A few days later in a different light [early morning].

What about them cool Spikelets??

While checking out the grasses, of course I came across clover. It is a legume and not a grass. Well now, that is another difference I'm learning about the world I walk about in.

White clover.

Purple clover!

Next up? Another legume. This I found in another neighbor's field. I always just made an assumption that IF it is green and grows and animals eat it ---> it must be grass.

Boy, I could learn a few things.

Alfalfa.

However, I do know that this also has beautiful tiny blossoms so I'll make it a point to keep walking up to this field every day to try and catch a photo of that.

This is another good forage crop for hay.

And that ends my knowledge list of grasses right now. 

I do know that come winter, I will look through these photos with fond memories and curiosity. They will remind me of how beautiful and green summer is. 

And how stunning something as simple as 'grass' or 'legumes' are.

I never realized how difficult grasses can be to photograph. 

I may never be a true Agrostologist, but I am having so much fun learning about something new.

Wow...

Monday was such an incredible day. I woke up just before dawn. As is my routine, I go out to check the fence lines.

I've been trying to ID grasses so this bejeweled grass head caught my eye.

I don't know what grass type it is. I have to admit that I am horrible at ID'ing common grasses.

I spent about 10 minutes or so just trying to get a good shot of the droplets of dew. In the left side of the photo there is a mosquito that has had a meal sitting on the grass!

You might have to click on the photo to see it. This skeeter probably is the same one that was chewing on my forehead while I was trying to manually focus on the droplets.

I don't know what kind of bee this could be. I looked up 'tiny green bees' and ended up with an answer that ID'd it as a sweat bee. Apparently they also love nectar from flowers. I learned from an Entomology site that hunting for insects is best done in the early -- early mornings. Look for insects waiting on plants where the morning sun will shine and warm them up.
 

When Charlie and I got back from checking the forest fence, the sun was breaking up the fog over the neighbor's meadow. This is the view across the fence from us to the east. That tree was heavy last year with apples. 

This is one of my favorite wild apple trees.

Looks like I'll have lots of apples again this August to pick and juice up for jelly!

Another view through the fence line to the east. Monday was going to be hot and humid.

Not only did Monday feel hot and humid, it felt like ... as my Grandmother would say:

It is going to storm.

As is happened, the storm did edge around us and dump on a town about 10 miles away with heavy rain, wind, and hail.

We lucked out.

It was Tuesday that it was so 'stupid' hot, that I stayed inside and read a book.

Something Curious

In all my years on this planet, I've never really given a second thought to something like:

Grass.

I mean, grass is something that is walked on, stepped on, mowed, or waded through in the summer if you walk through a wild meadow.

I went out looking for something interesting in the morning light and found this.

It was grass that was at least 4 feet tall on the other side of the fence in the neighbor's meadow. At one time the neighbor let us use this meadow for extra pasture. We mowed it and maintained it. It has been left alone now for 7 years. 

I was surprised at how beautiful this grass appeared in my lens while I was searching for spider webs with dew drops on them.

So I took some photos of it. When it came to saving the file, I had no idea what to call the grass. So I started a search. I kept getting frustrated because I couldn't find good information regarding grasses anywhere.

So I ordered a book. Field Guide to Wisconsin Grasses.

I didn't know there were so many kinds of grasses! There are over 11 thousand species of grasses in the world.
I never thought of grass as very important.

In fact after looking at this book, I am beginning to understand that I don't know much about grass, period.

I never knew the difference between grass and sedges.

So I'm starting to muddle my way through Agrostology. I'm more or less just curious. I'll walk around and clip some tall 'grasses' or photograph them just for fun.

Grasses can be beautiful once you start looking at them without just thinking about the lawn.

I collected this variety just by walking up my driveway to the mailbox.

I have figured out what one of the grasses may be:

Rye Grass.

Here is a hint. My neighbor said he spread a mixture of Rye and something else alongside his driveway last year after we had work done on it.

I need to figure out how to use the book and become familiar with the terms it uses, but this looks to be a good learning project. 

The real test will be getting good photographs of grass in the 'field'. I'm always up to learning new things and photography challenges.

I wonder where it will lead me?

[Oh, that first photo? It just might be Orchard Grass. But I won't say it for sure. I have so much to learn!]