Bee A/C

I was walking past an unused section of the garden recently when a constant BUZZ sound caught my attention. I tracked it down and found this bumble bee ventilating what I assume is a nest ... I did not poke my nose in there to find out.

The location is an old squirrel chewed bird house that sits on a very tall (deer) fence post. It was mid-day on a brutally hot, dry, day. The bee stayed there in the sally port all during the heat of the day.

At least ... it seemed like the same bee was there. I suppose they take turns with different shifts ... with one bee spelling another. (heehee ... that's subtle humor right there.)

"Morning Sam."

"Morning Ralph"

(If you have a Looney Tunes brain like me, you might be picturing a sheepdog and a wolf clocking in at a pasture time clock, right now.)

Bee cool dudes and dudettes.

Pink

If I may step back in time a few months.

I don't think I ever posted this clip of my pal, Captain Denny Voyles catching and fumbling  releasing a grunt.

This is a White Grunt (Haemulon plumieri)... aka, Pinkmouth Grunt or Cedar Key Snapper in these parts. The White Grunt has a long list of other common names since they roam the entire Gulf -Caribbean region with its delicious mix of languages.



"English language common names are white grunt, black grunt, boar grunt, common grunt, flannelmouth grunt, gray grunt, grunt, Key West grunt, redmouth grunt, ruby red lips, and white snapper. Common names in other languages include aosuji-isaki, bocayate blanco, bococolorado, boquicolorado, cachicata, coro coro margariteno, gorette blanche, hemulon arara, jolle cocoon, roncadot, ronco blanco, ronco grande, ronco margariteno, ronco-ronco, and sard grise."
(Credit: Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Website)




Enjoy.

FC Almighty ... With Apologies To Evan and Noah.

The voice came to me one day as I crunched across the dusty, brown grass down by the pond ... only there was no pond, just a hole in the dirt.

"FC, YOU MUST BUILD AN ARK"

"No, I must not."

Notice how I did not question the source of the voice? I don't stick earbuds in my ears and there was no one else around, so ...

"YES, YOU MUST"

"No, that's not a good idea. Don't you remember the duck hunting boat I built in the backyard when I was 17?

"OH ... YES, BUT YOU ARE A BETTER BUILDER NOW, AND THIS ARK IS A DIFFERENT ..."

"Sorry, I'm still emotionally scarred by the experience. Remember how that old Minorcan fisherman,  Mr. Capo, leaned over the fence every day and criticized each cut, each hammer stroke? He must have told me a hundred times how he could do it better."

"HE WAS A BIT CRITICAL."

"A bit?"

"JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN FOR A MOMENT ... YOUR CONSTANT INTERRUPTING MAKES ME WANT TO SMITE YOU."

"Okay, okay, ... no smiting. I'm listening."

"THESE ARKS ..."

"Arks? Plural?"

"...WILL NOT INVOLVE BUILDING ANYTHING. YOU ONLY NEED TO DIG."

" Dig? Okay, I'm listening."

"YOU ARE TO GO FORTH AND INSTALL WATERING HOLES AROUND PFHQ SO THAT ALL MANNER OF BEASTS MAY HAVE WATER DURING THE DROUGHTS."

"All right, but ... couldn't you do that with like ... a wink and a nod?"

"I AM TRYING SO HARD NOT TO SMITE YOU RIGHT NOW."

"Okay, okay. I can dig holes."

"AMEN TO THAT."

So, I got busy of course. Currently there are 4 in-ground artificial water bodies scattered around PFHQ and 2 above ground "ponds". This spring has been incredibly dry with almost no rain for months.
We are as dry as back in 1998 when Florida was burning and an entire county (Flagler) was evacuated due to fires.
On a good note, it rained here yesterday and there is the promise of more!"

Even though iris can tolerate dry periods, having the arks around helped these potted irises to thrive and multiply.

The Florida Cooter babies I hatched back in '06 are the kings of the livestock tank turned "Ark" out by the garden.

The blue flag iris out in a mini-ark by the aquaculture tank were so happy to have water during the drought that they made fruit.

A mix of frogs found the different in-ground arks on their own.

This guy was added to the aquaculture ark as a tadpole rescued from the drying "real pond" on the east end of PFHQ.

He's one lucky frogling.


So, what's the lesson here?

Well, for one thing, water holes are vital during droughts and they don't have to be huge to be important to wildlife.

Three of these "arks" are 30 gallon garden pond tubs from Home Depot or Lowes. They have attracted all manner of beasties from insects to vertebrates. I did stock each with Gambusia minnows to prevent mosquito breeding, but most of the critters found them on their own.

There are deer tracks around the one that is deep in the woods, and an owl has been perched on a low limb over that "ark" almost every day this month.

I think he may be hunting some of those who come to the water hole.

I have plans for more, after all water is THE limiting factor for wildlife. The goal here is to help my critters get through droughts ... a lifeboat if you will, but one filled with water, not riding atop it.

Heck, I may even dust off those skiff boat plans I mail ordered back in the '80's and finally build that real boat.

After all, here at PFHQ, there are no neighbors to peer across the fence and critique my work ...
... except for Mr. Omniscient of course.

"I HEARD THAT!"

Oops.

Fried Fish and Cardinals

Above, you see Bear inspecting my dinner plate for possible flaws in presentation.

I told him, "This is not about pretty, it;s about eating."

He seemed fine with that, especially after I mentioned that I had fried up all the little dark meat "fishy" trimmings for him.

Those little tidbits allowed me to eat MY fish without a drool damp Lab muzzle pressed atop my thigh.
We both love good fried fish.



In fact, fried fish is the only way to eat fish ... in my world.



SHE likes blackened fish and while I agree it tastes pretty good, it's only a minor second to good fried fish with a thin and crispy corn meal crust.




If you are caloriphobic, dwell on this for a moment ...


Certainly breaded fried foods are not low fat. Even fried quick and hot, the breading will absorb some oil.


But ...


I think we should take a look at the traditional sides ... the evil minions of the American plate ... especially the restaurant plate.


Order a fried catch of the day in any restaurant and the typical  meal will include one or two hushpuppies, mounds of french fries or a baked potato with butter and or sour cream on top, mac and cheese, baked beans, and if you are at a Red Lobster (ugh)... baskets of cheese biscuits.

Now wash that down with unlimited soda ... don't get me started on this one.




THOSE are your cuprits.


Run back up and look at my plate.
I planned to eat a bunch of fish, ... fried fish, so my only side is unlimited salad (there really is other stuff in that salad, I know it looks like lettuce only).
The red stuff is homemade datil relish.



This concludes my soapbox session on American eating habits and also my defense of fried fish.

Summation: Plan your sides and don't eat it every day.

You are welcome.




But what about the blueberry crop you ask?

The cardinals are quite pleased with this year's blueberry crop as am I. As I have mentioned before, we share the crop.
There is plenty for both feathered and nonfeathered blueberry lovers.

I like them cardinal style, eaten right in the thicket, but in this blistering heat, what I really like to do is cram a bunch of them into some yogurt and dig in.

Yo, plait the video below and watch how the cardinal likes her blueberries.

How To Tube The Ichetucknee River, A Splash By Splash Tutorial

So, you want to tube the Ichetucknee River?

Good.

You won't regret going, ... unless you fail to pay attention, so tune in.

Do the following:

1. Before anything else, go to the state park website for Ichetucknee Springs State Park and READ IT! Pay attention to the part about the park closing EARLY AND OFTEN due to crowding.
2. Avoid a weekend or holiday unless you are insane.
3. GET THERE EARLY NO MATTER WHAT DAY YOU GO.
4. First timers should probably start with the south end half river float, expecially if you have little ones who might get chilled after a few hours in the spring water (72 degrees).  These guidelines will mainly focus on that trip, but you can start at the north entrance to the park for a longer float.
5. USE your sunscreen. You will float in and out of shade during the trip.
6. What to take:   a) nothing you would not want to lose in the river.       b) a mesh diver bag that can be tied to your tube is really handy for holding your mask, hat, sunglasses ... things that can get wet, but you may not want to hold or use the entire trip.     c) a change of clothes for afterwards.  
7. The less stuff you take on the tube ride the better, although I always recommend a mask and snorkel. Leave your fins at home if you are taking this trip. You do not need them and they damage the bottom vegetation.  
8. You don't have to hassle with taking your own tubes, there are vendors located just outside the park. We use the LOWES tube folks and it is always a good experience. A big basic tube costs $5 for the day and the LOWES folks will tie them on to your vehicle for you. After you finish tubing, you drop your tube off in the park and the LOWES folks take them back from there. Sweet.
9. The basic procedure once in the park is simply walk to the tram pickup, ride the tram to the upstream starting point, walk a short beautiful trail to the water, jump in and tube to the get-out point (about 2 hours), then do it again or dump your tubes and you are done.
10. REMEMBER, THE PRIME DIRECTIVE IS "GET THERE EARLY".



My brother in law Frank and family demonstrate the terrific tubular tieing of the Lowes Tube Rental folks.



My daughters demonstrate pre-tubing beauty in the parking lot. The building in the background is the park concession area with food and restrooms. This is where you can leave your car keys ($2) while you tube and where you can change into dry clothes afterwards.



My son and his cousin Frankie demonstrate suave debonairyness.
If you can look good in a tube, you can look good anywhere.



Getting in is as easy as plunking your butt in the tube from the dock, or you can jump in and then mount your tube from the water.
Caution, the dock stays wet and therefore is slippery.

Smile, you are tubing.
I am just demonstrating what not to do in this picture.

Summer Owls

Friday's mid-day, steaming hot walk with Bear was surprisingly productive in a critter/bird sort of way. I had my camera with me, but we move a lot when Bear and I "walk" so pictures are hard to get. Even so, we spooked all manner of beasts.
I  decided to head back to the house after practically tripping over a young indigo snake while walking Bear and missing the two swallow-tail kites that hovered over the house.  I turned Bear back through the shady palm hammock, intending to drop him off in the airconditioned comfort of PFHQ, while I took a slower quieter walk around for pics.

As soon as we stepped under the cool palm and oak canopy of the glade, an owl swooped overhead and landed on a well lit branch.

Maybe if I ran Bear back to the house, he would still be there for a picture.
We ran.

I returned.


The owl was gone.

I looked around, scanned the trees, but no sign of him.
I am used to this, so no big deal ... I will just go poke around the palmettos in case that indigo did not travel far.

At the palmetto clump, I looked up and ...

There he was!
Plus, he wasn't alone.

Sweet.

With my PFHQ barred owls, I find I can get really close to them if I avert my eyes and ooooze over slowly towards their perch.

Often, I can get directly beneath them and this was one of those days.



I love owl expressions.

"How DARE you?"  always comes to mind.




There is a video of these two, but it doesn't contain a whole lot more movement than this photo...

... just a lot of staring, glaring, and panting in the cicadacacaphonic heat.



Aerial Refueling

Consider the following ...

Flaps down, landing gear engaged.

Aerial refueling in progress.

Refueling complete, you are clear to disengage.



The feeder has been taking up the slack during the gap between coral bean blooming and the onset of trumpet creeper blooming in the garden area.

The now massive trumpet creeper (which I never should have planted so close to the blueberries) popped open the first of many blossoms to come yesterday.

The nearby coral bean which, this year,  bloomed like there was no tomorrow has finally run out of steam, just as the trumpet creeper begins opening clusters of  juicy orange blossoms.

There's coral honeysuckle too, so the hummers have a bit of a buffett going on at the moment.

Yesterday was the first day off for me this summer and I spent it here at PFHQ.

It was a delightful,  critter-filled day.

Owls, Swallowtailed Kites, songbirds, hawks, snakes, lizards, bugs, fish, turtles, frogs ...

Just excellent.

Pictures to come.

Coons, Bears, and Hogs

This Gulf Frittillary cocCOON is attached to the underside of a garden hose where it leaves the faucet. It is a pretty radical looking coccoon to start with, but what really lepidopterates my mind is the fact that just a few hours earlier, it was a caterpillar hanging there.
In the morning walk with Bear, I spotted a faded orange GF caterpillar hanging from that spot puparing to change to a new phase in it's career.
I didn't have my camera ... (remember, I was attached to Bear by a leash) so I missed that shot.

Speaking of BEARS, our Bear got a new toy last week. It's an inhairitance from a fine dog who owned a best buddy of Junior. That pup is gone now, but his toy lives on by tormenting Bear relentlessly.
There is an inner ball that rotates in the larger outer ball and that inner ball has slots for inserting doggy treats. As you roll it a treat occasionally drops out.
Bear rolls it a lot.

It's noisy and challenging and Bear loves it.

The HOG plums are ripening and falling.
 I am especially proud of these little ripened ovaries as I planted their momma tree from a seed. Forced by competition with a black cherry tree (that I also planted from seed), she has grown uncharacteristically tall and straight. I think her DBH must be a good 5-6 inches now.

I have been collecting her fruits for the seeds this year. I want to start them and then plant them as a hedgerow along my southern boundary. It's mostly woods on the adjoining property, but the occasional occupants did some recent clearing and it makes me grouchy to see it.
Plus, these are great native wildlife plants with...
 ... plum purty flowers in the spring.

Flippin' Out



Don'cha hate mornings like this?



"Hey, watch out for turtles on your way in. It's like a turtle migration this morning."
She called after only a few minutes on the road, I was still walking Bear and had not left yet.
Sweet!
I was hoping for lots of turtle shots on the way in to work after getting that phone call. It has been all work and no play this week and I was short of fresh photos for PF.
Plus it had rained nicely last night ... FINALLY ...and I figured the critters would be on the move this morning.

As luck would have it, all I found in 20 miles was this poor musk turtle, upended and waiting helplessly for the first predator or big truck to come along.

I was in the other lane when I saw him, but there's not much traffic on this piney-woods road, so it wasn't a big deal to wheel the JEEP around and check him out.

I was dreading a cracked or mushed shell, but he seemed fine.




I suppose he was just tapped by a spinning wheel and sent spinning earlier that morning.

He was frisky and snappy, all good signs to me.
I left him in a roadside ditch with instructions to avoid the asphalt in the future.

This is the second turtle conference I have had this week.

A few days ago, a gopher tortoise was at the road edge, and just about halfway on to the asphalt. It was in the opposing lane on a quiet two-lane road so I pulled the JEEP over until I was in front of the gopher.

I pointed a finger out the open window of the JEEP and said, "NO!" while shaking my hand the way you do at toddler (or a dog named Bear) who is reaching for something dangerous.

The gopher looked up at me, hissed, and turned around towards its burrow high on the road bank.

I drove on.

Mission accomplished.

The parental finger wag ...
I still got it, baby.



Deep 'N 'D Datils



Here we have the upper canopy of the famous Datil jungle. These are youngsters awaiting final transplant.
Their roots are cramped in tiny pots and it makes them grouchy, like a woman in stylish, but uncomfortable heels.

Relief is imminent, larger pots and fresh potting soil awaits.
 I fell behind in my transplanting and these ladies are way overdue for ... well, you know how it feels when you get home and kick off those high heels?

Yeah that feeling.

(No I don't wear high heels, but I am a keen observer of the smarter sex)

The season's first datil pepper ... another year's promise fulfilled.

Summer is about to get a lot hotter.



Black and Blue

I can hardly keep up with these beautiful blue beauties right now.
Even with an unrelenting drought, they deliver.
I love them for that.
So do the cardinals.

The blackberry bush I planted nearby is finally old enough to make a decent quantity of berries. It's one of the thornless varieties for the south, but I can't remember.

I need to, because I bought two varieties that day and one of them has thrived while the other has barely clung to life.
One is Arapaho and the other is Navaho ... I think.

Arrrrghhh.

MUST.
WRITE.
STUFF.
DOWN.

The drought continues here, which is a good thing today as the girls are doing a big yard sale and I am running back and forth to my old classroom, hauling my stuff home.

It can rain tonight.
That would be lovely.

Final Thoughts From This Location

No pics today.

I'm at work long after I could be home.

I have spent the entire day cleaning out my classroom and saying goodbye to everyone from the cleaning ladies to the cafeteria ladies, and all the teachers in between.

While it was a great excuse to get hugs from the cuties I work with, it is a little bittersweet after 22 years at the same school.

They gave me a great send off and I tried to be funny and not cry like a little girl at the morning faculty meeting.

Channeling my inner Spock helped.

After the meeting, it was off to dissect a classroom and the 22 years of stuff it contained.



It's no wonder teachers are poor. As I take apart this room I find that I purchased about every other item.

It is amazing what you find when you start cleaning a classroom ...

• Pictures of kids from so many years ... pictures you thought to save at the moment, and then forgot about, ... but once rediscovered, you can't quite bring yourself to toss them.

• Binders of this and that, empty ones, stuffed ones, dusty ones you once valued, but obviously did not need, ... the binders in the store room chart the whims and fads of the education business. Oh they were HOT at the time, but not for long.

• All manner of office supplies that you really could have used this year if you had just known they were behind that big tub of specimens. Seriously, a few weeks ago I would have killed for a few paperclips and now I am drowning in them.

• My favorite discoveries, besides the old photos were some student projects that were just so cool at the moment, you had to keep them to show the kids next year, and then they got pushed behind the new crop of cool stuff. You hold the project, see the name, and remember that rascal who made it.

So anyway... it's transition time here.

Lots of changes here ..., all self-induced to prevent stagnation and find some new challenges.

All good, but not without pain.
I am leaving some very special people behind ... (ya' know who you are). I used to do that all the time in the Park Service, but it has been a while since I did any moving on.

So where am I going?


I'm still teaching, still in the local area, but  ... on an island in the Gulf of Florida.

I will be the entire high school science department and AND part of the middle school science department at Florida's smallest public school.

More on that later, I still have boxes to pack and junk (but no student photos) to throw away.

Break's over.

Ho Hum

Last week, Bear and I sat on the porch, waiting for the hummers to visit the feeder.
 It was a hot day, so I came prepared with a glass of iced blackberry/pomegrante green tea (unsweetened of course) and some dark chocolate peanut M&M's.
Just call me "AntiOxidant Man".

Bear had some water and a biscuit.

We snacked and waited.

We waited and waited.

Then, we waited some more.

Bear, ever the genetically engineered bird dog, never wavered from his post.

Other things flitted and flopped by, but no hummingbird came to the feeder.

I was becoming hummingbored.

Eventually my supply of M&M's and green tea ran out, and yet still no hummingbirds.

Bear suggested we investigate the feeder.
He noted that the CLEAR sugar water had a slight change in transparency and I had to agree he was right.

Perhaps our solution was growing a culture.

I decided to flush it all out, sterilize it and then fill it with fresh nectar.

That is when I discovered these ...

The feeder's fake flower feeding tubes were all jammed up with dead ants.

It was late when I discovered the ant carcass clog, so I grabbed the nearest thing that offered some size reference.


That is a standard 5cc syringe in the background.







These might be harvest ants (Doug?).






We are pretty droughty here and perhaps the lure of sweet water was too intoxicating to resist.






In any case, they apparently entered through the feeding tubes meant for a hummers bill and then died inside.






Every single flower was clogged, but not for long as I took the feeder apart and completely sterilized it.






The next morning, I replaced it with a fresh batch of nectar.






The hummer was feeding an hour later.






Bear has been unbearably smug ever since.






He says it is a "bird dog thang" and I would not understand.

Dragonfly Dry

I have 3 artificial water bodies in or next to my garden and blueberry patch this year. Each contains minnows, tadpoles, duckweed, iris, and a host of volunteer critters.
We are currently in an intense drought situation. High temperatures, steady breezes and no rain have all combined to dry up most nearby natural water sources.
Even my "big" earthen pond  at the front of PFHQ is once again a shallow puddle, crowded with minnows and tadpoles who aren't quite sure what to do next.

It is heron heaven, shallow, and jam packed with possibilities.

I am running ark missions from the real pond puddle to my FC ponds, but I will not be able to rescue everybody.

I think all of this dryness has shifted the dragonflies to my little mini ponds for their reproductive shenannigans.

I don't recall seeing so many in the garden area before.

.



They are perched on the iris, the nearby tomato plants, and even the blueberry bushes.
Maybe they are why I haven't had any insect damage to my tomatoes this season.

Now if I could just teach them to chase blueberry stealing cardinals away from my blueberry crop.

Yesterday evening I was deep in the blueberries, picking, and all of the sudden a host of cardinals, chickadees, and titmice arrived.

Hungry.

Boy were they surprised to see me.






UPDATE:  It is raining.

Please Do Not Pick The Flowers ... Violators Will Be Eaten.



CHOMP!



Red Dyeless

Ahh, FC finally made the switch from red dye nectar. All it took was a good switching by Zick and Myamuh Native.



I'ma lookin' achoo.



Beats A Zero

We have a science fair at our school.
For years I wrestled with the whole concept of the science fair. There are some pretty clear fairness issues that revolve around your family finances, Mom and Dad's education level, and this year, a tanking economy.

If Tamika's uncle is in the microbiology department at the local University and Evonne's parents are unemployed migrant workers, ... these two ladies are not playing on an even field.

That becomes an issue when there are awards and competition.

(Calm down, I'm not against competition, I'm just sensitive to unfair starting gates)

The thought of parental involvement has never bothered me. Parent's actually involved in their student's learning?
What a concept!

Bring it on.

Heck, I don't care if some Dad think's the Improved Bread Slicing Machine is his baby.
 If he spent time with his kid working together and they both learned something about each other and maybe a little science, then color me happy.

We have a shortage of parental involvement here in anything but sports ... you feel me?

Maybe if we had a Football Fair ...




So, where am I going with all this Fairy Angst.


A few years ago, I pushed to restart the Science Fair here at our school.  My reasoning was based on two things:


1) Doing an actual experiment is the best way to grasp what science is all about.


2) Standardized testing rules the lives of kids, teachers, and administrators. Florida's science FCAT is an all encompassing science test that most of you could not pass ... and I am talking about the 8th grade version.  It covers every branch of science so you had better be a decent biologist, chemist, physicist, astronomer, geologist, researcher, etc before you take it.


Scientific thinking is about 1/4 of the test and there is no better way to get a grip on the scientific method than by doing it. Even if our kids did poorly on ... say , space, if they were strong in scientific thinking, they could still improve their scores.


Almost every strategy decision we make these days is testing related.
Not by choice.


And that is where the Science Fair comes in.




Since January, we worked up through the method, coming up with a project idea, planning the experiment, setting up the display board.
This was not all we did, but it was a theme running through our other science topics.


The school bought display boards at a discount and sold them at cost so kids could afford them.
We provided free printed headings for their boards.


The fair was actually back in April.
Even with all the help, some kids did not bother to do a project.


I was not sympathetic after 4 months of assistance and some very flexible bending over (thank you P90X) backwards on my part.


"If you failed to turn in a science fair project, you now have a huge zero which wll devour your GPA like a Florida sinkhole in a Winter Park auto dealership".


"You had better come up with a plan to fill it in."


Weeks passed with no movement to fix things by the handful of kids that dropped the science fair ball.




And then, while teaching a high school lesson on renewable energy sources, specifically, wind power, I made a statement I often make to my students.


The statement, which I make more and more these days, was ...
"You don't need me, Google it"


We were talking about small scale wind power and I mentioned that a lot of people build their own out of old washer mowers, pipe, and some odds and ends.


"You guys don't need me, you just need to use the internet for something besides Facebook. Google it. Go on Youtube and search "windpower". There are videos of people building their own wind turbines to power their homes and farms

And then something really cool happened. At the end of the period, the quiet, smart kid who only does work that interests him and therefore has a string of zeroes scattered among A test scores, came up to my desk.

"Could I make one of those wind turbines to make up for having no science fair project."

I pulled up a short youtube video of some Homer in his back yard showing how he made his wind powered generator. We watched it and I pointed out all the other related videos stacked up to the right, just waiting to be viewed.

Then the bell rang.

The next day he started on the project in his shop class.

Every day he raced through his work and then asked to go down to the shop class to work on his wind turbine.

 Most days, I let him.

If he goofed off on what we were doing in class, I did not let him. Along the way, we talked about issues, supply parts, and his progress.

In the end, he produced a wind powered turbine that actually generates electricity from some old pvc pipe, a washer motor, some sheet metal,  and scrap bits of this and that.

They hooked it up to a meter down at the shop class and it was generating electricity, but I did not get the actual measurement ...yet.

You can watch his project spinning in the Florida breeze below.